My sauerkraut went fizzy and pink last week

I had a big cabbage from the farmer's market and packed it into a clean jar with salt. After five days at room temp, it started bubbling like soda and turned a weird pink color near the top. I looked it up and it's a sign of yeast and bacteria I didn't want. I had to toss the whole batch. Has anyone else had this happen with a short ferment time?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_wren2mo ago

Oh man, that pink color is such a bummer. I read somewhere that it can happen if the cabbage isn't fully under the brine, like any bits poking up get exposed to air. Maybe it was a temperature thing too, like the room was too warm? Idk, but tossing it was probably the right call, it sounds off.

robert2752mo ago

Ugh, that's rough @the_wren. Yeah, pink kraut is a total sign something went wrong in the ferment.

the_jesse29d ago

Huh, I’m not totally convinced it’s always that big of a deal. I’ve had pinkish kraut before and it was fine, just looked weird. Could be from certain spices or even the specific cabbage variety reacting with the brine. Not every color change means it’s bad. I’d give it a sniff test before dumping it. But hey, better safe than sorry if you’re really worried.