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Fermenting your vegetables is a marvellous way to preserve your harvest. Not only that but it can also be easily done. You don’t need any fancy equipment or ingredients, just your vegetables (or fruit) and a bit of salt.
But although it’s easy for you to initiate fermentation, the process itself is complex and thus certain problems may arise.
In this article I describe some of those fermentation problems and what you can do about them.

The fermented food is too salty

Well, that happens all to often, I’m afraid. To avoid that beforehand, you should add the salt to your vegetables in portions and taste them before you put them into your fermentation containers. When it tastes good to you, but you still have some salt left: don’t add it. It’ll be fine and taste wonderful.

If the veggies are already fermented and now you realize they are too salty, you could try taking out the portion you want to eat and putting it into a bowl with clear water. Drain it and repeat this process until all the salt has been washed out. Let it drain in a sieve (plastic or acid-proof metal) for 15 minutes and taste it. If it’s still too salty to eat, compost it or – better still – put it onto a part of your garden that’s crowded with weeds. The sauerkraut (or whatever vegetables you’ve fermented) will hold them at bay. 😊

The fermented food is too sour

That’s a question of personal taste. What’s too sour for one person is just right for the next one. Nevertheless, if it’s too sour for your liking, maybe it has fermented for too long. Next time, test the taste a bit earlier.

The fermented food is not sour enough

Take the jar out of the fridge and let it ferment further. Try it after a few days and if it’s still not enough to your taste, add a little bit of sugar (1/2 tsp per kilogram) so the lactic acid bacteria have something to eat and can produce more acid.

The fermented food is too dry

It may seem as if the brine has vanished when you had the glass in the fridge but it only contracts during resting there. Just press the vegetables together. If you still think, there’s too few brine, add some brine from another glass, but never water.

The fermented food tastes strange

“Strange” is a subjective term, but it’s likely that some of the unwanted bacteria have found entry into your food. Listen to your gut and if it tastes bad, throw it away and start over with fresh vegetables.

The fermented food is too soft

There are different reasons for that:

• Fermentation happened too quickly (maybe because it was too warm)
• The salt was not distributed evenly
• You didn’t use enough salt
• The weight you used to keep the vegetables under the brine wasn’t heavy enough

If the vegetables still taste good, you can eat them.

Mould on your fermented food

Believe it or not: green or grey mould on the surface is quite normal. Throw away the upper layer. If it’s black, pink or orange mould, however, or if it smells strange, throw it away.

The fermented goods have a strange colour

Fermented food darkens with storage or too high a temperature. An uneven distribution of salt may also be a reason for darkening. If it smells and tastes good, you can eat it anyway.

Is it pink? Certain spices or vegetables may be responsible for that, for example shiso or radishes. But it may also be yeasts that sneaked their way into your food. If that’s the case you must throw it away.

There’s a white layer on the surface of the brine

That’s most likely kahm yeast and it is harmless. I’ve also had it and tried to remove it but that’s hard because it dissolves into tiny fragments the moment you touch it. It’s best to leave it alone and carefully drain it before you eat your vegetables.

It’s always good to know what problems can happen in fermentation and be prepared. I hope you’re still willing to give it a try and start fermenting your veggies!