Help!! My kraut smells like alcohol and has a white scum on top!

[rebecca100]

I just opened my kraut to check it and it has a white floatie scum on top(kinda like mother) and smells kinda like a cross between kraut and alcohol. I guess it is safe to say it is gone bad? It has been in the cabinet for about a month where I thought it would be cool, but apparently not. Did that cause this or did I do something wrong? Does it have to be refrigerated if not used in a certain amount of time? Is it trying to turn to vinegar or something? (there is no sugar that i know of other than natural to make it turn to vinegar)

 

[rebecca100]

I read about bad kraut on the internet and it sounds like it is not bad after all. Maybe just gone past my liking for it. Last week it was perfect. Now it really stinks but maybe my nose is just more sensitive today there is no mold, just a scum on the top. Please someone with any ideas let me know before I chunk it! BTW the liquid is no longer covering it and hasn't been in a while. I just push it back down in the bottle until it covers it again about once a week and put the lid pack on. Before the scent was pleasantly krauty and now it is "whooo boy what is that" smelling.

 

[Wifezilla]

Did you taste it?

 

[keljonma]

It is really important to keep the cabbage completely covered while it is aging. It needs to be in a cool place as well.

I haven't made sauerkraut in ages. We always left it in the root cellar from harvest until New Year's Day.

I'm sure freemotion or someone else will chime in that have been making sauerkraut recently.

 

[rebecca100]

Yes i tasted it and it didn't kill me as I am here still healthy and typing, it is really strong and tastes like it smells. I can't really describe it.

 

[ams3651]

im no expert but my gram always put a plate on top with a jug of water to push it down and keep it covered in juice, and skims the stuff off the top from time to time. Are you closing the bucket or pushing it down. Should it be in a closed bucket?

 

[rebecca100]

I am doing it in quart jars. I don't have enough room in the kitchen for crocks or anything else just about it for that matter.

 

[big brown horse]

Just use a ziplock filled with enough water to fit into your jar. No need to cover with anything but a kitchen towell or coffee filter and rubberband.

 

[freemotion]

You really need to weight it down so it stays under the liquid, you can do this with a ziploc freezer bag stuffed in the jar and filled with water, works well for the quart jars. You also need to keep it cool, like in the 40's F. That is why I ferment it for a couple days at room temp (72 is ideal, avoid making ferments when the weather is very hot unless you use AC) and then transfer it to the fridge. My cellar gets up to 70 in the summer, so not a good place to store ferments.

Ideally, you make your kraut late in the fall when the cellar is consistantly cold, and use it up by spring, when the cellar is warming up. By then, fresh produce is available again, in a traditional diet.

Make sense? Does that answer your question?

Things can smell "different" but still good to you, it is hard to tell from here if it is a spoiled smell or a really ripe smell. Use with caution, and I would dump it if it has been kept for a month at the higher temps. Who knows what pathogens could be growing in it.

 

[ORChick]

An additional note to those above: my pickling book suggests putting salt water in the baggy you use to weigh down the kraut - just in case it leaks you won't be diluting the brine. And maybe double bag it.