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I finally caved and bought a pH meter after my 3rd jar of kraut went bad | Fermentation Station - Guest Forum

I finally caved and bought a pH meter after my 3rd jar of kraut went bad

Kept seeing people on here swear by them but I thought it was overkill since my grandma never used one. Month ago my last batch of dill pickles turned slimy after 2 weeks and that was the final straw. Spent $35 on a basic digital meter on Amazon and tested my brine before fermenting. Turns out my tap water pH was way too high around 8.2 and that's what was killing everything. Has anyone else dealt with water chemistry messing up their ferments?

2 comments

2 Comments

spencer4073mo ago

Totally agree, wait until you test your water you realize how much dumb luck is involved in old school fermenting. I had the exact same issue with my tap water being over 8, felt like I was fighting the pH gods every time I tried to make hot sauce. Started adding a teaspoon of vinegar per quart of brine like you said and suddenly my ferments actually bubbled and smelled right instead of turning into weird science projects. Bought a cheap meter too and now I test everything, even my filtered water because it turns out my fridge filter barely does anything. Honestly wish I'd bought one years ago instead of wasting half a cabbage patch on slimy failures.

laura_white993mo ago

Bought a pH meter after my 3rd failed batch of sauerkraut and honestly I feel like I just discovered I've been fermenting with pool water this whole time. Ngl my tap water was like 7.9 and I was basically trying to ferment things in alkaline mud. Tbh I thought my grandma had some secret kraut magic but turns out she just had soft well water that worked perfectly. I spent weeks blaming my cutting technique and thinking I was a fermenting failure. Now I just add a splash of vinegar or lemon juice to my brine and everything actually works. Honestly feels like cheating but I don't care as long as my pickles stay crisp.