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?

2 comments

2 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?

kai_west11d 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.