Mold on top of kraut

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Mold on top of kraut

Postby Duggamite on Sat Sep 10, 2016 10:30 am

I started a batch of sauerkraut about 3 or 4 weeks ago and kind of forgot about it. I went to check on it this morning and found a layer of blue mold on top and the top layer of brine had turned brown. I removed the mold along with the top whole cabbage leaf and poured out the brine. The shredded cabbage below is so densely packed that it didn't fall out, so I scrapped a little off that top layer and added more water to keep it submerged. It still smelled moldy though, so after a little reading on some of these posts, I rinsed the cabbage again (dense cabbage still in the jar) , wiped the inside of the jar with a paper towel, poured a little Bragg's vinegar in there and swirled it around the sides and put some more water on top to kill the mold and prevent more from growing. Will this save my kraut or is it a lost cause? I was going to leave it for another couple weeks at least to see what happens, but now I'm a little nervous about eating it.
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Re: Mold on top of kraut

Postby khoomeizhi on Sat Sep 10, 2016 6:58 pm

if what you've done makes it tolerable to try, it would probably be worth trying a little and seeing how it goes. but if it always retains a moldy flavor, you'll probably never like it, and you may as well toss and start over.
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Re: Mold on top of kraut

Postby Tibor on Sat Sep 10, 2016 7:25 pm

You shouldn't add water to keep it submerged. You need very salty water to cover. 1TBS salt to 1 cup of water or thereabouts. I've never seen blue mold on kraut ,so I can't advise you on that. Also you didn't mention how much salt to cabbage ratio you added when you began or if that gave you enough brine cover to start with.
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Re: Mold on top of kraut

Postby alisoncc on Sun Sep 11, 2016 5:13 am

Any mould other than white would have to make the contents very suspect. I would have little hesitation in binning it.

I make small fresh batches of kraut every month. So whilst I am consuming one batch another is fermenting. Think I've mentioned before, if eating for the probiotic content of the raw kraut this peaks at three weeks. Whilst it will keep for months or even years, the good bacteria do degrade over time.

Having had a long history of gut problems I wouldn't want to tempt fate by even thinking of eating anything I may consider suspect. Not worth the risk. Cabbage is cheap enough, and for me knocking up another batch is no big deal. Use quite small metal-clip (Fido??) jars of 700ml (1.5 US pints) capacity, and normally make two at a time. Did two jars this afternoon, mix of green and purple cabbage, gives a nice pink kraut.

Alison
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Re: Mold on top of kraut

Postby Christopher Weeks on Mon Sep 12, 2016 8:50 am

If it's a small batch and it's as bad as I'm imagining based on your description, I'd toss it. If it's a huge batch and losing it is a significant economic/nutritional loss, I'd cover it in strong brine and sniff it every few days to see if it recovers a pleasant scent.

When deciding whether to toss it, here's what I do: Sniff. If it smells putrid, toss. If not, taste a little. If it tastes putrid, toss. If not, eat a little and wait 48 hours. If you remain well, eat it at will.
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