Showerthought: The week my first batch of kimchi exploded

It was about five years ago, right after I moved into my first apartment. I crammed a jar of my first kimchi attempt into a kitchen cabinet and forgot about it for a week. When I opened the door, the lid had popped and there was brine all over the shelf and my clean plates. The smell was so strong my roommate asked if something died. I had to scrub everything and start over, but the second try turned out perfect. What's the messiest ferment fail you've had to clean up?

3 comments

3 Comments

anna_ross1913h agoMost Upvoted

Honestly, @hall.nina's pink ceiling sounds like abstract art compared to my kombucha geyser. That stuff got on everything and left a sticky film I'm still finding years later. Tbh, ferment fails are just science experiments that fight back.

christopher_wells49h ago

The real mess is when you don't get that warning pop. I had a jar of hot sauce ferment quietly for months until it decided to become a glass grenade, which makes @anna_ross19's kombucha geyser look tidy. At least an explosion means you know it's working.

hall.nina14h ago

Oh man, that's the universal sign of a real ferment. It's like the food version of a teenager slamming their bedroom door. My sauerkraut did the same thing, painted my ceiling pink.