Sauekraut problems

[Rachaell]

Hi all, I just made my first batch of sauerkraut, and I'm not sure if it's okay.  I made it with cabbage, carrots, onions, and salt, and it's been sitting for 5.5 days.  it's a little gloopy, like the liquid is thick and sort of clingy, sticky, if you know what I mean.  Is that okay?  Also, it could be it tastes a little "tingly", my husband doesn't think so, but I do.  Is it okay?

[Rachaell]

PLEASE someone reply, this is my first time doingfermenting like this and I have no idea if it's right, thank you!

[Magelet]

I've never had sourkraut turn gloopy.  The tingly seems possible, when I've done non-kraut ferments (like salsa and pickles), they ended up tasting sort of... carbonated (carbonated pickles are funny! and possibly tingly feeling).

[kl5]

I had slimy brine in my kraut once too and I didn't eat it. I figured I used too little salt and it was a yeast overgrowth. I think there is a thread here somewhere. But I think a lot of people would eat it, especially if the smell is not offensive. Tingly is normal. Here is a Q and A from the Wild Fermentation forum: http://ww.wildfermentation.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=98&p=311 Do some more searching, you'll find there is a wide range of answers. Maybe try a tablespoon and wait a bit and go from there.

[wasabihoneybee]

I had that happen too, and fuzzy mold, so I didn't eat it. Good luck!!

[chaoticzenmom]

My ginger carrots went slimy like that.  I finally found information that said that they had been inhabited by the wrong type of yeast/bacteria.  The way to avoid that in the future is to use more cabbage than carrots or to take some juice from a good batch and use that as a starter.  I never made the ginger carrots again, but my plan was to take the juice from my saurkraut and pour 1/4 cup or so into the carrots next time. 

[lizabird]

I have been experimenting a lot lately with lacto-fermentation, and it's definitely a learning process.  I have had batches that turned out perfectly, and others that went bad.  The bad ones I knew without a doubt they were bad.  They smelled horrible!  There have been a few that went "tingly" - I think this is just a little more sour than "perfect", and it's not bad, just different.  My dh doesn't notice it, but I do.  I haven't yet had anything turn slimy, but I have noticed that the juice gets thicker with my carrots and beets, but it tastes great.  I have had a little bit of mold here and there, once on a very bad batch of picked cukes, and sometimes a bit on the surface of something but I just skim it off the top and the rest is fine.  Keep trying, have fun, and good luck!

[chaoticzenmom]

I just took a class last night and it was suggested that to kickstart some good bacteria in your cultures, you can put organic apple skins in it. 

[krankedyann]

Slimy and gloopy.  How fine did you shred the cabbage?  What's the temp at home right now?

[kitchensqueen]

I've been experimenting with lacto-fermentation over the last few years. As another poster mentioned, tingly is okay. A small amount of while mold is okay/normal on the surface as well (as long as it doesn't smell bad or have a greenish/black tint) - you can just skim it off. Don't stir to mix it in though.

Did you start with just salt or a brine? A lot of recipes call for a brine, which doesn't work. Thinking about what salt does, it draws the moisture out. So for a good sauerkraut, just salt it and the process of the moisture being drawn out of the cabbage will generally create enough liquid within a day or two to keep the cabbage submerged.

For a beginning kraut, I really recommend doing cabbage only, omitting carrots, onions, etc. Different veg fermets at different rates, may require different levels of salting, etc. Once you get the hang of a simple single-vegetable ferment and know what to expect, then you can expand and try different combinations.

[prancie]

it's a pediococcus infection because you didn't use enough salt initially.  you can eat it but you may not want to.