As long as your jar can keep out the oxygen, you shouldn’t be worried. Leaving it on your counter gives it more time for the LAB activity to increase - which, in turn, lowers pH - and prevents spoilage. Remember, fermentation is a method of preserving food. So, you want to leave your sauerkraut out a minimum of four weeks to give time for your sauerkraut to go through all three bacteria stages. The LABs (lactic-acid producing bacteria) dislike cold, and they cannot truly thrive in it (read: prolifically reproduce). In the case of fermenting, you are also slowing down the bacterial action. Refrigeration slows down food spoilage I think we all know this. At this temp, the first stage bacteria kick in around day 3 and lasts until day 7. This is the average temperature in your home, which works out well. In a temperature of 65 – 72 degrees the first stage bacteria, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, are happiest.
This is particularly important if you are trying to heal your gut.
If you want maximum probiotics in your sauerkraut (and I think we all do!), you’ll want to let your ferment go through the three stages of fermentation. This is the biggest mistake I see people making - not leaving their ferment on their counter longer before transferring to cold storage. Mistake #1: You refrigerate your ferment 3-10 days after you pack your jar What you’re about to read comes from my thorough research in writing The Science Behind Sauerkraut Fermentation and my personal experience during my extensive sauerkraut experiment.Īfter the many comments on my blog posts during the Sauerkraut Survivor series, and the e-mails I received directly, I’ve come up with a list of the three biggest fermenting mistakes people make – and ones you’re probably making right now.
Like all the other fermenting “experts” in the blogging world, I am not a scientist. I invited Lea to write a guest post for you here to summarize her most important findings, and this is what she shared. It was also written over the course of more than a month.
In stand o food 3 do you only put one sauce on series#
Her series was in-depth and fun to read if, like me, you geek out on this sort of stuff. She tested for the prevalence of lactic-acid producing bacteria, the absence of mold or other undesirable microorganisms, ease of success, and more. Recently, Lea from Nourishing Treasures did a series of posts in which she tested 18 different sauerkraut fermentation set ups to see which ones were the best - everything from a recycled salsa jar to an expensive Harsch Crock. If you naturally ferment probiotic rich food at home like sauerkraut, you may or may not be aware of the recent controversy surrounding mason jar ferments.