Had to choose between a regular crock and a fancy fermentation crock for my first sauerkraut batch

I was at the kitchen supply store last weekend and stood there for 15 minutes trying to decide. The expensive German crock was $65 with weights and an airlock, but the basic stoneware one was only $20. I went cheap cause I'm still learning. Two days in and I've got this weird white film on top and I'm not sure if it's kahm yeast or mold. Should I have just dropped the cash on the real deal from the start? Anyone else cheap out and regret it?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_lee5d ago

Wait, is the white film fuzzy or just kinda dusty looking? Kahm yeast is way more common than actual mold so you're probably fine.

grant9015d ago

Ha, you know what, I honestly used to think any white film on my brine was basically a death sentence for the batch. I'd toss it out without a second thought (wasteful, I know). But reading your comment about how common kahm yeast is actually changed my mind, especially after I let a jar sit with that dusty looking film for an extra week and it never got fuzzy. Now I just scrape off the top layer and taste test, and so far it's been totally fine every time. Real mold is definitely more of a fuzzy green or black situation, not that weird powdery white stuff.