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“How long can I keep kimchi?”

28 posts
started 2 years ago by rXcanadensis

latest reply from Mikura

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sirdanilot Terneuzen, The Netherlands My profile page
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Does anyone know how long Perilla Kimchi (kkaenip kimchi) will last? I made a fairly large batch of it yesterday.
- Posted 1 year ago
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sirdanilot Terneuzen, The Netherlands My profile page
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Does anyone know how long Perilla Kimchi (kkaenip kimchi) will last? I made a fairly large batch of it yesterday..
- Posted 1 year ago
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nicolasix san francisco My profile page
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Hi there,

I am getting into canning -- you know, mason jars, pressure cooker, etc. -- and want to know about canning kimchi. Here's what I am wondering: If I make up a huge batch and then let it sit and ferment in the fridge for a couple weeks can I go ahead and can it all? I assume it would come out similar to the jarred, unrefrigerated kimchi you see in mainstream places like Safeway. I'm still not entirely sure the fermentation would be effectively stopped by pressure canning, however.

Anybody have any experience with canning kimchi?

Thanks in advance!

-jeff

ps, Favorite kimchi recipe so far is Momofuku's. Love it. I think it's the salt shrimp and oodles of ginger and garlic that make it so good.
- Posted 1 year ago
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JulieVeg MA My profile page I'm a fan!!
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I have been canning for years, but have never tried canning kimchi. I am not sure if it would work out because when you are canning you will be cooking the kimchi thus altering the taste and texture. I have never used a pressure cooker though, I only use a water bath canner so maybe it works differently. I have never seen kimchi unrefrigerated maybe because I don't have a Safeway. I would test it out on one jar to see what happens. It would be interesting to hear the results. Sorry I can't be of more help:)
- Posted 1 year ago
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annabanana Vancouver, Canada My profile page
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I think by canning you'd be destroying all the good bacteria and fermentation would stop.

I've had experience canning jams/jellies and found the taste/colour is different pre and post canning.
- Posted 1 year ago
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ThiThi Mississippi My profile page
- Aggie
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II recently made some kimchi while i was preggy and in my last trimester i had horrible heartburn so i didnt get to eat ANY of the kimchi ..... Until..... 5 months later!!! When my daughter was 3 months =D and let me tell yu it was soooo good.. It was not overly sour or smelled sour or anything! ( think its because of this great recipe!) also i think it was because noone bothered with the kimchi the whole 5 months ( it wasforgotten in the back of the fridge) =P but it lasted a very longgg time
- Posted 11 months ago
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chirp My profile page
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Canning should be avoided.

During the fermentation process, a lot of gas is produced,
making the kimchi jar, or plastic pack prone to explosions. (not joking,
In the 80's when there was no gas absorbers, I heard a lot of store bought kimchi jars messed up peoples kitchens.)

This gas build up thingy made kimchi extremely hard for the big food processing companies to commercialize, until small packets of gas absorbers(usually CO2) were introduced and put into kimchi packs.(You'll see one dangling on top of the pack)

These kind of kimchi packs do give the product a longer shelf life,
controlling CO2 & preventing kimchi explosions,
but at the end (about a month or so),
even the gas absorbers fail to control the gas build up.

So, conclusions...........

If you're going to store kimchi for a long long time,
Try not to seal it up.

If you want to store kimchi for a long time,
Make sure you ease the gas pressure build up by opening the kimchi jar once in a while.
(Just like deliberately messing up fizzy beverages; just open it and close right back)
- Posted 11 months ago
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Ashimi Pittsburgh My profile page
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Kimchi is a fresh pickle. It has been made this way for thousands of years. There is really no reason to can it. It would become kimchi soup, which is not what you are trying to do.

Kimchi keeps for so long as it is that I really don't know why you would want to can it, unless it is a refrigeration or odor issue, which I can understand.

Remember - when you take kimchi out of the jar - compact the remaining kimchi, and make sure it is covered with liquid. This helps keep the kimchi longer. The only times I have had kimchi go bad was when it wasn't submerged - and that was after a couple years, forgotten in the back of the extra fridge. Sometimes I have noticed that old kaktugi gets a strange texture, but then I use it for soup.

I have perilla kimchi in my fridge that I made a huge batch of a year ago, and it is still good.
- Posted 11 months ago
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stellab13 Seattle My profile page
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I bought some kimchi a few months ago and last night I made kimchi jjigae and kimchi bokumbbap with the remainders. It's funny because I found this site only because my boyfriend did a search on how long can kimchi lasts, and left the site on the computer, because he happened to get sick. So grateful for that. :)

Kimchi is fermented. You can keep it for months. My mom has had kimchi is her fridge for a very long time and to me, the older and more sour it gets, the better it is. However, I have seen kimchi grow mold. It's safe to say that as long as the kimchi isn't moldy, the kimchi is good. As long as it's the traditional kimchi or even kkakdugi. I've never gotten sick from eating kimchi. In fact, last night's dinner didn't make me sick and I had, both, the kimchi bokumbbap and jjigae.
- Posted 5 months ago
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TDenham77 McLeansboro, IL My profile page
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I grew up with the teaching that kimchi never goes bad but I personally draw the line at mold. I've eaten kimchi that was in the fridge for at least 3 months and never had a problem. When it gets too sour for my tastes on its own, I make a big pot of soup out of the rest.
- Posted 5 months ago
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mizufusion United States My profile page
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I've only had my kimchi for a few weeks, but it's very tart and fizzy. It's been kept in the fridge the entire time, and fairly well submerged. It's hardly been touched, could the problem be that the lid has been on too long? There aren't any growths and it's not slimy or mushy.. just really fizzy. I put some in a bowl and it started squeaking at me. :(
- Posted 2 months ago
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farmer82 PA My profile page
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mizufusion,
I have had the same problem. THe first several batches of kimchi I made were perfect with no fizz or tartness. Looking back on it I was a lot less zealous about how I packed it in the jars/pots. Then I started reading about pickled foods and anarobic activity and all that and I became zealous about how I packed the kimchi and keeping everything air tight. The result was tart fizzy kimchi that felt like poprocks on the tongue when I ate it. I thought I ruined my beloved kimchi so I threw a whole batch away....better to be on the safe side right? So I made another batch and swore the same would not happen again...I sterilized all of my basins with boling water and gave my utensils a boiling water bath and I sterilized my containers with the afore mentioned boiling water. I made my kimchi and again zealously packed my kimchi and squeezed it down tight and pressed it and made sure liquid was above the actual kimchi and I screwed down the lid tight. So what happens...the same thing.....a fridge full of kimchi juice, kimchi ready to bubble over, sounded like rice krispies and worst of all a tart fizzy product once again. It was just as you describe. It was still firm, smelled like wonderful proper kimchi, no slime no mold. Then I realized I wasn't helping myself with my anarobic zealotry....I was shooting myself in the foot. Kimchi is alive it is fermenting and it is going to give off gases. My practices were basically pressure carbonating my kimchi like bottle conditioned beer or champagne. I didn't have spoiled kimchi...I had carbonated kimchi....and the carbonation is of course not spoilage....but rather evidence of a batch doing what it should....just not under ideal conditions. I think it is an easy fix. Here is what I did. I took out my kimchi...and repacked it....without the packing...rather loosely and haphazard like. I then just set the lid on the kimchi instead of screwing it down. If all goes to plan the kimchi should hopefully soon be as effervescent as 3 day old rootbeer....which is to say....not at all. Good luck and happy eating
- Posted 1 month ago
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Mikura New Haven, CT My profile page
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To mizufashion and farmer82,

Actually, in my opinion, you guys have made the best kimchi possible... tart, fizzy, and refreshing. If I were you, I would use the same method especially to make water kimchis.... you can use that fizzy broth as a base for some absolutely spectacular naengmyun!
- Posted 1 month ago
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