Rant: People keep using the wrong salt for their kimchi and it's ruining the batch

I've seen three posts this month where folks are using iodized table salt for their napa cabbage kimchi. The iodine can kill the good bacteria you need for a proper ferment, leaving it mushy and weird. I learned this the hard way last year when a whole 2-gallon crock in my kitchen went bad in under a week. What other common mistakes should we all watch out for?

2 comments

2 Comments

elliotw371d ago

Okay but "ruining the batch" feels a bit dramatic. I've used iodized salt in a pinch and my kimchi turned out fine, maybe a little slower to ferment. That whole crock going bad in a week sounds like a storage temp issue, not just the salt. People have been making this stuff for centuries with whatever salt they had.

elliot_allen651d ago

Wait you used iodized salt and it was just slower? Mine straight up turned gray and got this weird slimy film after like five days. Maybe my kitchen is too warm or something but it was a total loss, cabbage just fell apart. Honestly seeing that mess made me never want to risk it again, I just buy the coarse sea salt now.