Serious question, I thought the 'no burp' method for sauerkraut was a joke

I was super skeptical about not burping my jars for the first 5 days, thinking it would just explode. But after reading a detailed guide from a fermenter in Seattle, I tried it with a 2-liter jar of cabbage and it worked perfectly, no mess. The guide said the initial CO2 pushes out oxygen and creates a safe anaerobic zone, which convinced me to give it a shot. Has anyone else switched to this method and had good results?

3 comments

3 Comments

sarah2681mo agoMost Upvoted

Yeah, I switched over last year and it's been way less stressful. I mean, just make sure you leave enough headspace.

patel.leo1mo ago

Totally works if you do it right. That initial gas build-up is like a safety seal. I haven't burped a jar in months.

grayperez20d ago

You say "that initial gas build-up is like a safety seal" but does that really hold true long term? I ask because I had a jar of pickled jalapenos that got that pressurized seal, and after about 3 weeks it still sounded tight when I opened it. But then I opened another batch that did the same thing and it had zero fizz, like all the CO2 had just dissolved back into the brine or something. So are you getting that seal and it's actually preventing spoilage, or is it just giving you a false sense of security while the fermentation slows down way faster? I'd love to know what specific veggies or brine ratios you're using to keep that gas working as a seal.