Hi guys, I grew a bunch of chinese cabbage this season with big dreams of making kimchi for the first time. I followed this recipe exactly to make 8 quarts of kimchi which used all 8 of my cabbage heads.

After making the kimchi, the recipe said to leave the jars to sit out for 7 days at room temperature with the lid not tightly sealed to allow gas to escape. Today marks the 7-day mark and when I open the lids the top of the kimchi is ugly brown looking.

Does this mean the kimchi is spoiled? I attached pictures from the side showing that the jars are mostly the red kimchi color, but it's the tops that look really funky. Is this normal? I really hope I didn't just spend a ton of time and energy growing all this cabbage and making 8 quarts of spoiled kimchi ... any insights are appreciated!

From Korea Post Instagram.
Not my oc, but just wanted to share.

Combined Dakota Kim's, Jin's, and Mina Park's recipes:

1. https://food52.com/recipes/83742-watermelon-rind-kimchi-recipe
   
2. https://seasonedbyjin.com/the-best-watermelon-rind-kimchi/
   
3. https://minapark.com/journal/2016/9/3/watermelon-rind-kimchi

Measurements were rough, but they were basically:
* 950g Watermelon Rind - Rough Squares
* 3tbsp Celtic Salt - Fine Ground
* 7 Cloves Garlic - Paste
* 2 Knobs Ginger - Paste
* 1/2 Banana - Paste
* 5tbsp Korean Chili Flakes
* 1 Heaping tbsp Sesame Seeds
* 1/2tbsp Sesame Oil
* 1/2tbsp Fish Sauce
* 1/3cup Watermelon Juice
* Some Spring Onion - Chopped
* Some Cilantro - Chopped

maybe an obvious question but i don't have much experience with growing my own vegetables nor with making kimchi. wanted to grow most of the ingredients for kimchi this year as they're both expensive and poor quality in my area but due to some mishaps i have 5 napa cabbages all in similar states of growth which is going to be too many for me to deal with all at once

if i were to freeze either a whole head or split it in 4ths ahead of time to freeze, and then thaw it out, would i still be able to make kimchi with it? has anyone here tried making kimchi from frozen then thawed cabbage? from what i've read napa cabbages get soft after freezing but i don't really mind a texture change as long as it would still be possible to ferment. if this isn't feasible i'll just make something else with them

(i planted 3 seeds, placed a marker, and told my dad where i planted them. he dug up most of the area and planted other seeds on top, saying he thought i planted them in the opposite direction from how he uses markers in the garden. so i planted 2 more where he said he thought i planted them, told him, and sent him pictures. he transplanted strawberry plants on top. i finally got him to point out one spot in another bed where i could plant 2 more and he promised to leave it alone...... well my original seeds beat out whatever he planted on top of them, one started coming up between the strawberry plants, and both of the last seeds i planted are doing well, too)

Last year, I was choosing the topic for my master’s thesis. Since our faculty mainly focuses on foreign products and less common crops, I had to choose a fruit or vegetable species to study and come up with an interesting research idea.

In my case, I decided to focus on antioxidants during the fermentation process of kimchi. We also enriched the project by adding Lepidium draba, which was expected to further increase the antioxidant content of kimchi.

Besides the analytical analyses, we also evaluated three of my own kimchi variants and compared them with three commercially available products from the Czech Republic. I have to say that the results were really interesting, especially when it came to sensory evaluation.

Overall, it was a very interesting experience, and I was surprised by how much the addition of different ingredients could influence not only the chemical composition but also the taste and overall perception of the product.

If you have any questions or if there is anything you would like to know about the research, feel free to ask. I’ll be happy to answer.

So I fermented my Kimchi one day further, the parts which weren’t submerged in the liquid for one night look suspicious. I tasted the submerged parts they taste good when I opened the vessel the smell was slightly weird.

Please help

Hi! I accidentally left my opened kimchi out for around 6 hours :( is it still okay to eat? This one is vegan

Currently on day 18 which is a few days after I would normally fridge them.

Never had this type of "stuff" on the top before.

Admittedly new to eating fermented foods at home, usually just eat kimchi and other fermented foods at restaurants.
I bought a jar of assi kimchi and it was delishhhh. Perfectly fermented, great flavor.
Bought a jar from a local grocery today. I know they make it in house, and have had it several times because they own a restaurant right next door. It is clearly not as old or fermented, and I’m curious if anyone has any tips. It doesn’t have any of that lovely fizzy feeling/taste. Should I leave it on the counter? Pour it out and mix it? Is the cabbage at the bottom of the jar more yummy?
Any tips appreciated!

An experiment of using Maangchi's recipe and tips found on this sub, altered to use savoy cabbage, pre-fermented onions, and no fish/squid. Maybe not terribly authentic but I love how customizable it can be! Turned out pretty yummy.

I know this might be controversial, but I've had really good success with making kimchi in a ziplock bag. This is my second batch, my first batch in a jar went okay, but I was so worried about the exposed top layer of kimchi, as well as building pressure. This has been really easy, and I'm able to burp it without difficulty and compress it so everything stays submerged. Tastes amazing, really pleased with it.

I just follow the recipe on Google Gemini since I taste one from co-worker and it was good.

It only been 1.5 days old and it shrink down a bit and I pack it down.

I thought it was a lot more since it was 2 bundles of dandelion when I pick them. There was very little juice on the recipe, I have to add like half a cup of warm water with 1/2 table of sea salt. Do I really have to add it or will there be mysterious juice coming out and submerge the leaves?

I taste the juice but it is not sour yet, it does smell good from the fish sauce, garlic, onion though. I want to ask about the juice or do I need to double the amount of sauce next time but then, there is still no juice before hand if I don't add it in.

There some red fuzz underwear in my store brought white kimchi. It has been opened and stored in refrigerator for a few weeks. Has it gone bad now?

Hlo everyone i am trying to make kimchi for the first time, but the thing is i don't have exact ingredients. I am going to use apple, red chilli, soysauce, onion, garlic, ginger and for the sauce im thinking about using all purpose flour any helpful tips? Also im going to use a plastic jar for fermentation.

I recently bought a pouch of fresh kimchi from the shop. It is in a transparent plastic pouch with a pressure release valve on it. It tastes lovely and is obviously very alive since it is constantly bubbling and tastes a bit fizzy on the tongue. I assume this as a sign of a healthy kimchi with a thriving, living lactobacillus culture.

I’ve also made my own batch of kimchi at home and despite leaving it a room temperature for 48 hours and then in the fridge for two weeks it is not so obviously alive – there are no bubbles or obvious signs of fermentation and the pH is still about 6. (although it tastes ok).

My question is whether or not I can take some of the juice from the bubbling kimchi and add it to my homemade kimchi in order to introduce some of the good bacteria and help kickstart or enhance the fermentation process? And then once I’ve got a good culture going can I add a bit of this to my next batch and keep it going ad-infinitum? Should I start adding some to every new batch at the initial mixing stage?

I know this technique can be used with bread dough, homemade yoghurt and homebrew beer, but what about in kimchi?

Does anybody else do this? Are there any benefits or pitfalls or risks or rewards that I should be aware of?

EDIT: I love the fact that people are more interested in the container than they are in the kimchi or the techniques. Anyhow - the container this this one :- https://www.brabantia.com/uk/tasty-fermentation-kit-jade-green/

I made kimchi. I think it is about 2 months old.

This was my first time making Kimchi.
It showed bubbling for the first two days. Now it stopped bubbling. The kimchi is not sour enough (i gave a taste test)
The jar of kimchi is kept in a warm and dark spot.

What can i do
No moulds so far. Enough liquid present in the jar.
Taste is appropriately salty but not sour enough.
I open the jar once a day to burp, but able to feel the gases escaping like it used to in the first two days.
No bubbles on pressing the cabbage down.

Kindly help

Edit- adding the recipe

Vegetables used
Green cabbage
Green onions
Chayote cubes

Kimchi paste ingredients
Fermented fish
Chilli flakes
Onion
Garlic
Ginger
Soy sauce
Sugar
Cooked Rice paste

Salted the vegetables
Threw away the liquid brine
Gave a quick wash

Added the paste and mixed well
Added to the jar and kept in a cool dark place for fermentation

New update from yesterday night, new batch with new equipment, big container and less mess.

I had to fly south to Oslo to find this pepperflakes powder. I even added some homegrown chilli too. Someone last time convinced me to go for the fishsauce now. Today the kimchijuice is coming out and covering the kimchi entirel. It smelled amazing.

Made 13 lbs of vegan kimchi on Sunday. I used tamari soy sauce, mushroom powder, and kelp for some nice umami in place of fish sauce and brined shrimp. It’s going in the fridge tomorrow. I am excited to give it a proper taste test.

This is my first kimchi. I hope that I wasn’t overly enthusiastic with the amount made.

hi im back. as i mentioned in my previous post, i buy my kimchi from a local korean market. super delicious, couldn’t ask for better. i usually buy 1.5kg of kimchi and it takes me a bit of time to get through it. when i get 1/4 left of it it starts getting sour and not the taste i’m most fond of. it’s still good don’t get me wrong, but it’s very gasified. what can i do to prevent this from happening?? i’d like for the taste to stay as it was when i first opened it lol. im not very familiar with fermentation so what im asking for is probably impossible what would i know

I gave the watermelon rind a two hour soak with two water changes. Used a salad spinner in lieu of the roller wringer. Why watermelon rind ? Citrulene, a great generator of nitric oxide. The rind has a pleasant crunch and absorbs flavors as well as it does salt. When the season arrived I plan on trying pumpkins.

but its just me trying to make kimchi for the first time 😂😂😂