Two friends recently expressed to me their fear of home fermentation.  In conversation with them, I realized how common, comfortable, and delightful a practice fermentation has become for me. Along with lemon-ginger tea, sauerkraut is one of the all-purpose home remedies I offer quite often to the walking wounded.

How funky is too funky?
Ultimately, the line between fermented food and rotten food is a matter of taste.  Sandor Katz says as much himself.  Some people like stinky feta, and some people don’t.  Some people will eat fermented fish that’s the texture of ice cream, and some won’t.  I find that a safe measure is to ask myself: based on the smell, color, texture, and a tiny bite, do I want to eat more of that?  If the answer is no, I just throw it out.   I’ve also noticed that my taste has changed over time and gotten a good bit funkier.  These days, most of my krauts don’t taste nearly weird enough for me.  I want all of it to go farther.

That may be more an indication of personality than culinary discernment.

One bloom too many
One friend had started a simple cabbage ferment, which soon developed a small mold bloom on top.   She wondered whether the whole batch was spoiled, or how much should be removed to get all the mold.   She brought forth the kraut in question from her fridge, with a fuzzy blemish the size of a dime.  Along with another fermentation-oriented friend, we removed the bloom and the top layer of dry kraut above the brine-line.  The cabbage revealed underneath was delicious, if a little more salty than desired.  The main recommendation was that she soak it in water to remove some of the salt and then enjoy.

If you try ferments at home, you may find some interesting microfauna try to crash the party.  It’s ok to skim off the bloom and eat the rest.  Unless you don’t want to–in which case, see the previous section.

Probiotic or Food Poisoning?
We think in this culture that rotten food can kill you, and in very specific cases it can– or make you so sick you might wish for a swifter end.  Although it may feel like there are life-or-death stakes to fermentation, it’s really pretty safe.  I approach home-canning with far more sober caution than I do when fermenting.  That fermentation doesn’t deal with a completely anaerobic environment makes it more experimental than some other preservation methods.  In the same way that eating local honey means getting to taste an essence of the flora within a mile radius, eating local ferments means getting to taste the unique culture of your immediate environs.

I would, however, recommend against eating a great big bowl of your first batch right away, no matter how tasty it is bound to be.  Cultural change takes time, and deserves due respect.

Some General Recommendations
In response to friends who’ve asked for a quick-n-dirty list for fermentation safety:

• Wash bowls, jars, lids with soap and then rinse again with boiling water.
• Only used H2O that’s been boiled and then allowed to come to room temperature.
• Keep the ferment submerged in brine, adding more if it evaporates.
• Over-salt, it’s is safer.
• Avoid anti-microbial ingredients like garlic and ginger until after the ferment takes hold.
• When in doubt, work with someone else through a full cycle.  It is a living process.

Ready to ferment?  Try this sauerkraut recipe from Sandor Katz, or this wild ferment guide from Nance Klehm.