A guy at the farmers market in Boise told me my kraut was 'too clean'

I was selling my first batch of sauerkraut last weekend, and a man in his 60s stopped to look. He picked up a jar, held it to the light, and said, 'This is too clean, kid. You're not getting the good bugs.' He explained that he only ferments in his cool basement, never scrubs his crock with soap, and just wipes it with a saltwater rag. He said my shiny kitchen and new jars were making my ferment weak. It got me thinking about how sterile we try to make things. Has anyone else had an old-timer challenge their whole process like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_river2d ago

Listen to that man, he knows what he's talking about. That clean freak stuff is how you end up with bland, dead food. The whole point is to let the wild microbes do their work, not try to control every little thing. Your shiny jars probably mean you're killing off the good stuff before it even starts. A little dirt never hurt anyone, it's what makes real fermented food taste alive.

river_jones2d ago

Clean doesn't mean dead. You can still get wild fermentation without risking a bad batch from actual dirt. A stable start just makes the good stuff more reliable.