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Why does nobody talk about scraping the bottom of your crock?
Honestly, I keep seeing people post their kraut jars on day 10 and they never mention the nasty sediment layer that builds up at the bottom. I let a batch of red cabbage go for 6 weeks last winter and that bottom sludge almost ruined the whole thing because it went funky way before the top. If you don't stir or scrape it out every couple weeks, you're basically letting dead bacteria rot in your brine. Has anyone else dealt with that grayish gunk messing with their final taste?
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oliver8113mo ago
...saw a video from that Sandor Katz guy talking about this exact thing actually. He said the sediment is mostly dead lactic acid bacteria that have done their job and settled out. If you leave it too long without disturbing it, that layer can get anaerobic and start rotting instead of fermenting. I've been doing a gentle stir every two weeks on my longer batches and it's made a huge difference. The grayish gunk definitely has a weird musty taste if you let it sit too long.
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