Vent: My bokashi bucket decided to become a science project

I forgot to drain the leachate for a week and opened it to a smell that could wake the dead. My roommate walked in and just said, 'Is something alive in there?' Anyone else have a fermentation go way too well?

2 comments

2 Comments

burns.ryan9d ago

Oh man, that smell is the worst! Quick question though, are you sure it was the leachate? That stuff is usually the good juice you drain off. The real stink monster is more likely the fermented food itself if it gets too much air. Either way, been there, it's a rite of passage for sure.

ryan_flores9d ago

Wait, you drain OFF the leachate? I've been keeping my sauerkraut completely submerged in that liquid for weeks because I thought it was the whole point. @burns.ryan, are you telling me I'm supposed to pour some of that out? My last batch was so salty it was basically inedible, and now I'm wondering if that's why. The smell was definitely coming from the jar itself, not any drained liquid, so you're probably right about the air getting in. I need to go look at my setup again because I might have been doing this wrong for months.