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My sauerkraut turned into a science project for a solid month | Fermentation Station - Opinions Matter

My sauerkraut turned into a science project for a solid month

I started a batch of plain cabbage kraut last fall, using my usual method with a ceramic weight and airlock. Everything looked fine for the first week, then a weird pinkish film showed up on top. I skimmed it, thinking it was kahm yeast, but it came back thicker. I spent the next three weeks reading forums, changing my salt ratio, and even moving the jar to a different spot in my kitchen. The problem was my tap water. I live in Denver and the mineral content shifted after some city work, which threw off the fermentation. I finally figured it out when a friend told me to try filtered water. The whole batch was a bust, but the next one with bottled spring water worked perfectly. Has anyone else had a batch go sideways because of something simple like water?

3 comments

3 Comments

simona776mo ago

Wow, I always thought water was water for ferments, but @emery_carter is right about minerals messing things up. I'm switching to filtered water from now on.

emery_carter6mo ago

What kind of minerals in your water cause that pink slime? I read somewhere that high iron content can turn ferments weird colors and mess with the good bacteria. Makes total sense that city work would change things. I only use filtered water now because our pipes are old.

joseph_adams666mo ago

Yeah, the pink stuff is usually from manganese or iron, and it loves to show up when the city flushes the pipes. I had a whole batch of pickles turn a weird color before I figured it out. A basic carbon filter on your tap will catch most of it, but for real peace of mind, I just use the cheap gallon jugs of spring water from the store for all my ferments now. It's not worth losing a month's work over fifty cents of water.