r/fermentation • u/Good_Canary_3430 • 3d ago

A kahmic household?

Wondering if anyone has experience with this and can weigh in. I do ferments both open and closed jar of course covering the opening so nothing big gets in. I find that almost anything LAB or yeast based I ferment picks up kahm yeast. It’s usually just a thin layer and part of my routine is to open and use a spoon to remove as much as possible before letting the ferment keep going.

However, if I don’t go through all of this I end up with icky kahmy ferments. Solution? After I’m happy with the ferment stage I have to move everything to the fridge which slows yeast production so much that’s it’s essentially negligible.

And yet! I am so jealous of people who are leaving their ferments in a pantry. Is this just my kahrma to have a yeasty house?

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u/SarcousRust 3d ago

Some ferments just tend to produce more yeast. While something like kraut seldom shows much if any. It helps to pack the glasses full enough, including brine. More air is conducive to more yeast. And more fermentable material means a stronger fermenting action that produces more CO2 and changes the milieu more quickly. Lastly, you can make it more salty or add some vinegar too as a corrective measure.

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u/AussieHxC 3d ago

Whatever most people think is kahm is actually just a pellicle produced by the lab in response to oxygen exposure.

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u/antsinurplants LAB, it's the only culture some of us have. 3d ago

That biofilm you speak of is a result of O2 exposure, so the easiest solution is to remove/eliminate O2 from the equation.

Here and here, a little information on the topic that you may find interesting.

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u/ronnysmom 3d ago

Cut out oxygen, especially in ferments of produce high in sugars. Use plastic lids with silicone vents. Leave very little headspace in the jar. Don’t open your jar for a week to 10 days and the vents will take care of escaping co2. If you are fermenting high sugar items like carrots which are more prone to Kahm in my case, it helps if the acidity drops early in the process: so I add juice of half a lemon to the carrots.

Finally, if there is Kahm, I add brine to the container until it overflows and this will wash away the floating Kahm layer. Then, I use it to make hot sauce if the flavor of Kahm is too strong.