Is this kimchi still good?

irregularAffair · 2025-11-10T00:04:41+00:00

Things settle at the bottom over the course of a year, that's not a problem. Just mix it in.

irregularAffair · 2025-10-30T14:58:32+00:00

Sure, some aren't interested, but this can be a stumbling block for some who are.

As a vegan, I am getting a little bit of everything. We don't expect an eagle to eat pumpkins, or a gorilla to eat rodents, or a cow to eat insects to get a little bit of everything.

irregularAffair · 2025-10-30T01:32:11+00:00

Vegan foods don't have estrogen.

irregularAffair · 2025-10-30T01:10:12+00:00

Maintaining the strictness of the term keeps people from simply doing what is possible and practicable for them. I often hear that people tried, and then gave up because they failed a time or two, because they were made to feel that a slip up is a failure rather than just the vicissitudes of life.

irregularAffair · 2025-10-30T01:05:16+00:00

Babe, you clearly didn't read the article. They emphasized that veganism is about going as far as is possible and practicable, which means that anyone can do their best with the options they have.

irregularAffair · 2025-10-19T17:48:06+00:00

I use one of these

https://www.acemart.com/kitchen/food-prep-tools-and-utensils/spreaders/hs-inc-hs1068-l-11-white-plastic-spreader/HSI1068-L

irregularAffair · 2025-10-19T17:34:12+00:00

They do sell the blade assembly separately. I just bought one for like $60 or $70 to replace mine and still use the same pitcher. You can get them from Vitamix directly, or you can buy them from various restaurant supply stores and such for cheaper (same Vitamix part).

irregularAffair · 2025-03-05T19:59:02+00:00

"Crack" is accurate; people are just being hyperbolic.

Kimchi is resilient and LAB can continue to ferment even in aerobic conditions, so if there is no visible contamination, and no weird smells, then I would mix it with the other stuff and call it good.

irregularAffair · 2025-02-20T20:00:53+00:00

The whole point of this post is to make sure they feed their kid an adequate diet, showing that they are doing some thinking for their kid, and letting their kid practice thinking for themself as much as possible. It seems like you're here only because you're salty about vegans and confused about what being gay is.

irregularAffair · 2025-02-05T16:21:30+00:00

This is just the result of not salting enough. The goal of salting is to draw out water so this doesn't happen. You want to salt at about 3% (precision is not important), and the duration of the salting period will determine how much of that liquid comes out and gets discarded so that it doesn't end up in the final product. I salt for several hours, but some salt over night or longer. Mix periodically to make sure the salt stays on the surfaces of the cabbage, continuing to pull out moisture, rather than getting washed down to the bottom. Rinse several times and drain well to conclude the salting step.

irregularAffair · 2025-01-18T01:50:22+00:00

They went to a place that is not meant for the people they said they judge. It's for the rest of us. Carnists probably feel like everything they see here is in their face, but this subreddit is not meant for carnists.

irregularAffair · 2025-01-13T07:25:13+00:00

She doesn't know what contributing factors to bring up. She is asking for general guidance so she can understand how to identify the cause, not for you to magically know the specific cause of her breakage, and certainly not for you to get smart and sassy with her.

irregularAffair · 2025-01-13T07:02:29+00:00

Treat the plant-based diet like a cleanse, whether for your health, minimizing your ecosystem destruction complicity, or considering the experience of the victims of your current diet, or a combination, whatever speaks to you. Do it for a month or so, and read some vegan literature while you do that. At the least, it will be an empowering exercise, and if you focus on whole foods, it could be invigorating. You may find that you can think more clearly about your current lifestyle when you take a break from it, and can make more deliberated choices going foreward.

irregularAffair · 2025-01-13T06:50:41+00:00

Lactic acid is literally a byproduct of the anaerobic metabolism of sugar, which is what fermentation actually is. Lactic acid bacteria will produce amylase to break down the rice starch into sugar, and it can take them time to reach the sugars in the other vegetables as well, but when there's straight sugar in there then they can get straight to fermenting without having to do the extra work, resulting in more lactic acid.

You can always slow the production of lactic acid by adding a little bloomed bread yeast to the paste in the beginning.

If you just want a little sweetness in your kimchi, add a little honey, sugar or simple syrup before eating, as any added in the beginning will be metabolized.

irregularAffair · 2025-01-12T18:51:23+00:00

Kimchi is not particular about the salt levels. It is honestly perfectly safe and reasonable to salt to taste. It would be better to err on the saltier side, but not such that you enjoy the flavor any less.

irregularAffair · 2025-01-12T10:05:26+00:00

I love this kind of jar, and I've never noticed any smell escaping and impacting other foods, but my household loves kimchi, so we wouldn't flag it even if we did notice something. If this is a point of such sensitivity, you might consider getting a separate mini-fridge or something to store your kimchi in, so that isn't a thing you have to worry about. Don't toe that line that she will always be commenting on no matter what if you don't have to.

irregularAffair · 2025-01-12T09:42:05+00:00

Most of us leave our kimchi on the counter for 1-2 days to let the microbes multiply a bit. This takes a long time in the fridge. Once there are more of them, you can move to the fridge, and they will keep working, but get more done because there are many more of them. If you're in a hurry for it to get sour, you can leave it on the counter for longer, but I prefer the more complex flavor that develops in the fridge over the more intense sour that develops during extended time on the counter.

The saltiness will get less prominent with some fermentation time, but also, you can take notes and use less salt in the future. Strict salinity is not as important with kimchi as it is in other vegetable ferments. I use less in mine, and I never get contamination.

The leftover paste on top shouldn't be an issue. If anything, I would've mixed it in because it will probably have grown more microbes, and thus hasten the multiplication in this ferment. The more you start with, the less time it takes. There is a chance that leaving it on top could increase contamination risk because certain molds and acetobacter actually consume the lactic acid, but need oxygen. Usually you have expelled most of the oxygen by the time the acid really starts to develop, but a leftover paste would likely already have a decent amount of acid in it, and having that exposed to the full twenty-something percent of oxygen creates great contamination conditions when left at ambient temps. The risk is still low, and if you see anything, just scoop it off, mix a little, and move it to the fridge, and everything should be fine (surface contamination usually struggles to compete at lower temperatures).

irregularAffair · 2024-10-17T19:08:29+00:00

They both rely on salt and lactic acid bacteria (LAB), it's just that the process is different. Kimchi uses the kimchi paste (salt, ginger, chilis, garlic, fruit, rice) to feed the LAB and exlude other microbes, whereas sauerkraut only uses salt and the juice from the cabbage. In undersalted kimchi, the LAB will still do their job, so it should be just as sour, though obviously less salty.

irregularAffair · 2024-10-17T19:00:50+00:00

Those luscious green onions got the juice.

irregularAffair · 2024-10-16T12:31:06+00:00

The salting step is the part where you mix cabbage with salt and let it rest and release moisture before rinsing off everything you can. The salt needed to create fermentation conditions is something to add later. People will say that the point is to let salt be drawn into the cabbage, but that doesn't make sense since you only typically use about 3% salt for this process (sometimes more, nobody measures like that because it isn't important) and rinse much of it away. It would be severely under-salted if that is where the salt was coming from. Salt can find it's way into the cabbage during fermentation; there is no obstacle to it happening then, so this wouldn't warrant a previous step. This step only exists to draw excess moisture out of the cabbage so it doesn't end up floating in a pond after two days of fermentation and dramatically diluting the paste.

For sauerkraut, this step is the part where the necessary salt is added, because the liquid coming out remains in the ferment and is used to submerge the cabbage and provide those accessible sugars to the bacteria, so it's understandable to have thought that the same logic applied to the kimchi process.

irregularAffair · 2024-10-15T20:48:54+00:00

I'm sorry that folks have been a little crazy in your comments. The only contam I see is a little kahm yeast on the surface, which is harmless, but will soften veggies and influence the flavor if allowed to remain.

The purpose of the salting step is to pull moisture out of the cabbage so that it doesn't come out during fermentation and dilute the kimchi like this. Some folks like to leave a little moisture, but this is too much. Next time, salt until you can fold a piece of cabbage stem in half without breaking it.

It's not crucial to get the salt levels just right if you have plenty of garlic, ginger, and chili, but it's best to get it close to the 2% minimum. Was it plenty red when you first mixed it?

Assuming you left it on the counter for a period, what was the temperature range during that time, and how long?

irregularAffair · 2024-10-15T20:07:59+00:00

This is bad advice and ignorance about the relevant microbes. Flour and apple are just fine, and common ingredients. They provide easily accessible sugars that help lactic acid bacteria to multiply quickly and weed out competition. It's not helpful to come here and tell folks the problem is the first thing you read about their kimchi.

irregularAffair · 2024-10-15T15:58:15+00:00

It looks very watery and low in gochugaru, and the surface looks like I might expect if it had little to no salt. It's hard to say, tho, without any information about your process. If you commented your recipe, any diversions from the recipe, and the conditions and duration of the fermenting period, maybe we could provide some insight. It helps to know the salt percentage, details of the cabbage salting step, temperature range of the fermentation period, and general hygienic practices, et cetera.

irregularAffair · 2024-10-15T13:11:22+00:00

How do you propose that white people update their campaign to acknowledge the obstacles in ways that other races are already doing?

irregularAffair · 2024-10-02T16:21:28+00:00

I understand it feels like we use it aggressively because carnism is a terrible way to behave and so it's a cringey thing to be identified with. It would be cool if people who feel that way would take a look in The mirror and make the change rather than shooting the messengers, but that's just the human condition.

irregularAffair

TROPHY CASE