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“Kimchi won't ferment!”

  • 14 posts
  • started 3 years ago by joolseyc09
  1. joolseyc09 My profile page
    • Aggie
    • 3 posts
    • joined January 26, 2010

    Greetings to all kimchi aficionados!

    I made kimchi last week, and it has been sitting in on my kitchen floor for three days. The problem is, it will NOT ferment! Any advice on how to kickstart the process?

    Some factors that might have messed up my batch:
    1) I might have been too vigorous about rinsing out the salt from the kimchi. It's a touch bland
    2) I used regular wheat flour and not rice flour
    3) The kimchi brine (?) in the kimchi containers are not red and opaque-red, but kind of translucent-brown.

    Thanks lots in advance!

    • Posted 3 years ago
  2. kumaxx berlin germany My profile page
    • Yorizzang
    • 87 posts
    • joined December 18, 2008

    doenst matter which kind of flour you use. I use wheat flour myself.

    salting and watering the cabbage is not a exact science but something only learned after years of making kimchi.

    you need sugar to ferment something. i think the sugar in the flour is to complex to start fermenting right away.

    you could accelerate it by keeping it a bit warmer, although room temperature should be enough to at least start the fermentation.

    you could jump start it by adding a certain kind of bacteria. I think it's "Leuconostoc mesenteroides", but I could be wrong, I only had basic chem. (If someone has knowledge about kimchi-chem...) but I think it would be easier to start over...

    you put sugar in the kimchi-paste? enough gochugaru? drained the cabbage good enough?

    • Posted 3 years ago
  3. joolseyc09 My profile page
    • Aggie
    • 3 posts
    • joined January 26, 2010

    thanks for the input kumaxx!

    now that you mention it, it might be a temperature issue -- i live in boston and it is smack in the middle of winter here! i'll move it somewhere toastier and see what happens.

    my korean mama is from the south (jeonju), so plenty of gochugaru! and i've heard one too many horror stories about bitter-salty kimchi, so i might even have over-rinse/drained the cabbage!

    • Posted 3 years ago
  4. sirdanilot Terneuzen, The Netherlands My profile page
    • Yorizzang
    • 41 posts
    • joined October 8, 2009

    Uh, your kimchi paste is brown...? Are you sure you put in sugar? Does it still taste good? Is it like really thick? Did you mince onions and garlic very very finely in the blender, or coarser with your knife? (personally I prefer it coarser, it seems like it speeds up fermentation, although there may be other factors in that).

    I once made kimchi (well, kaktugi) and just put it in the fridge, it didn't ferment until like more than a week after. If it's really cold where you live and you do not have the heating on constantly, then perhaps temperature might drop to refrigerator levels in your house...?

    • Posted 3 years ago
  5. samyoowell portland, oregon My profile page
    • Yorizzang
    • 33 posts
    • joined August 6, 2009

    my family never puts sugar in our kimchi and it turns out awesome. i personally don't like sugar in kimchi.

    the salting process is super important. make you sure you do it long enough. also, if your cabbage is over grown then it tends to be THICK, so the salting part should be longer.

    makes sure that you really pack your kimchi tight in the jar that you're doing it in. i remember making it with my grandma and i would literally use all my strenght to push as much kimchi in a container as possible.

    • Posted 3 years ago
  6. ularking Malaysia My profile page
    • Aggie
    • 1 posts
    • joined December 30, 2010

    hi there,

    I have made my kimchi and immediately put in the refrigerator.

    Then only i realize i need to put it out temperature room for 24 hours for fermentation.

    So now do i need to take it out from the fridge and left with room temperature? Is it gonna spoil my kmchi?

    • Posted 2 years ago
  7. Maangchi New York City My profile page
    • Dumok
    • 917 posts
    • joined August 6, 2008

    yes, take it out from the fridge now and wait until it ferments. No problemo! : )

    • Posted 2 years ago
  8. Kellooe My profile page
    • Aggie
    • 1 posts
    • joined January 7, 2011

    Hi Maangchi,

    I made kimchi on 3 Jan 2011, and I immediately placed it in the fridge. The problem is, it will NOT ferment and my husband says it's too bland and cabbage is raw! Any advice on how to salvage the kimchi?

    Thanks lots in advance!

    • Posted 2 years ago
  9. Maangchi New York City My profile page
    • Dumok
    • 917 posts
    • joined August 6, 2008

    no problem. Bland kimchi can be fixed easily by adding more salt!

    Take your kimchi out from your fridge and add more salt and mix it well. Let it sit outside the fridge for a couple of days until it ferments. Then keep it in the fridge.

    • Posted 2 years ago
  10. Mochidaifukutan Malaysia My profile page
    • Aggie
    • 2 posts
    • joined February 23, 2011

    hey. just made kimchi today i tasted it just now. I think I added too much of fish salt, it's so salty right now! can i wash it? what should i do?

    • Posted 2 years ago
  11. subak United States My profile page
    • Aggie
    • 1 posts
    • joined September 18, 2012

    I heard if you use tap water that has chlorine in it, that could prevent fermentation. Make sure you use non-chlorinated or filtered water. The other thing to solve temperature problems is get a dehydrator machine - I was thinking of getting one to make yogurt from raw milk.

    • Posted 8 months ago
  12. Stee California My profile page
    • Aggie
    • 1 posts
    • joined January 3, 2013

    Ummm....i made kimchi a week ago and its not fermenting.......i placed it in the oven which was off but still the warmest in the house...then i moved it to the fridge.....when i tasted it i tasted a bit bitter....idk what happened......help!

    • Posted 4 months ago
  13. Jeeyon Seattle, WA My profile page
    • Yorisa
    • 5 posts
    • joined December 26, 2012

    Your oven that is turned off is the warmest place in the house? Why not just put it on the kitchen counter at room temp? That way you can monitor the progress more easily. You should see bubbles at some point.

    • Posted 4 months ago
  14. stanford USA My profile page
    • Yorizzang
    • 147 posts
    • joined August 26, 2008

    Also Stee - how cold is your house? I think you want to try to ferment it at about 24 degrees if possible.

    • Posted 4 months ago

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