My uncle swore adding a whole jalapeno to my kimchi jar would prevent mold, but it just made everything taste like spicy pepper water.

Has anyone else gotten fermentation advice that sounded totally wild but you tried it anyway?

3 comments

3 Comments

Mold prevention is a real concern, but some of these old tricks seem more like superstition than science. A whole jalapeno floating in there probably just makes a mess of the flavor. Is a little surface mold on ferments even that big of a deal if you just scrape it off? Seems like keeping everything clean and under the brine is the only advice that actually works. What's the weirdest tip you've heard that actually turned out to be true?

christopher_west11mo ago

Well now you've done it, you've gone and insulted the sacred jalapeno floaters union. They'll be picketing outside your fermentation station I tell you. But seriously, that whole "scrape off the mold and it's fine" advice always made me nervous. I tried it once with a batch of hot sauce and spent the next two weeks wondering if I was going to grow a third arm. The weirdest tip that actually worked for me was putting a clean rock on top of the fermenting vegetables. I felt like a caveman doing it but it kept everything submerged perfectly. No fuss, no mold, just a rock that now permanently smells like garlic and dill.

kai_west2mo ago

Honestly thought the bay leaf in the sauerkraut thing was nonsense. Tried it once and the batch was noticeably less mushy, which was a surprise.