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I always thought my sauerkraut needed to be totally submerged for the whole ferment
I was listening to a podcast with a guy from Portland who runs a small pickle shop. He said something like, 'A little bit of float is fine, you just need to keep an eye on it.' For years, I'd freak out if a single shred of cabbage peeked above the brine, adding more water and messing with the salt ratio. After hearing him, I tried a small batch of kimchi last month and didn't obsess over a few floating bits. I just pushed it down every couple of days. It turned out perfect, maybe even better because the salt level stayed right. It made me realize I was stressing over a tiny detail that didn't matter much. How do you all handle stuff that floats to the top during a ferment?
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wood.uma5d ago
Totally agree, and @harris.andrew has the right idea. I just push floaters down with a clean fork when I check it, works every time.
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harris.andrew5d ago
That Portland guy is onto something. I used to treat my ferments like a science project, weighing everything down with fancy glass weights. Last summer, a whole garlic clove escaped and turned blue at the top of my pepper mash. I just fished it out, and the hot sauce was the best I've ever made. Now I just use a clean spoon to push things under every time I walk by the fridge. It's one less thing to worry about.
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