I am failing miserably at fermenting cabbage and I don’t know why. I believe I followed the instructions that came with my Fermented Vegetable Master from Cultures for Health. It’s been 11 days, yet there’s no bubbling action; No activity whatsoever. I was really looking forward to this.
My garlic scapes didn’t work out like these either.
Is there a trick to using the jar with the airlock?
The real issue I see is that the cabbage is floating in the brine and the jar isn’t full. When the solid materials of a ferment have access to air, it’s likely to go bad – that’s where contamination occurs. Try making the whole fermenter full of cabbage/brine, right to the top or weighing the cabbage down so it’s fully submerged.
Jenny: You rock! Thank you so much.
I haven’t fermented cabbage, but I find when I make my fermented dill pickles that ambient temperature is really critical; too cool and you won’t get any bacterial action at all (which makes it nearly impossible for me to maintain a cider vinegar batch through the winter) and too warm you’ll get nasty bacteria (ie mold) instead of good bacteria.
If you’re not getting mold, but not seeing any bubbling, it could be that the spot you’ve chosen is a bit too cool. Try moving the jar to somewhere a littler warmer: I find that about 72 degrees is perfect (for cucumbers, anyway).
Good luck!
Also, Tigress just put up this kimchi primer which might give you some tips: http://tigressinapickle.blogspot.com/2011/07/kimchi-primer.html
Thanks Kaela. The current temp in that location is about 80 but I don’t have any mold-just no action. I got some more cabbage from my CSA today so I’m going to give it another try.
I’ll check out Tigress’ link as well.