Hot take: my kimchi turned out better after I stopped following the recipe exactly

I was talking to this older Korean lady at the farmers market last weekend and she said I was overthinking my fermentation times. She told me I should just trust my nose and the bubbles instead of counting days. Has anyone else found that ditching the exact timeline gave them a better batch?

2 comments

2 Comments

grant90114d agoMost Upvoted

Started sniffing my kimchi every morning around day 3 and letting it tell me when it was ready. Way better than just guessing based on the calendar.

ellis.jennifer14d ago

Oh nah, smelling it is smart but don't forget to look at it too. Bubbles are a solid sign but if the kimchi looks weepy or has a weird film on top that's trouble. Your nose knows best but your eyes help catch the bad stuff early.