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Using Cardamom in ferments (Sauerkraut, Kombucha 2nd Ferment)

 
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Do you use cardamom seed (as opposed to ground) in any of your ferments with success?

I recently made some cabbage/beet kraut with some cardamom seed with semi-poor results. I see now that cardamom has antibacterial properties and am wondering if that affected the fermentation. Has anyone else had a similar result?

The jury is still out on the kraut I just made. I jarred it and am letting it sit in the fridge for a while to see if it improves.The kraut had an acetone or ammonia kind of smell to it which I think was caused by the cardamom.  I let it “air” a bit in some low pans and then picked out most of the cardamom seed before putting it in jars. We’ll see.

That experience now has me wondering if it also alters fermentation in a 2nd ferment of kombucha. I had recently used some in a batch that just did not fizz much after second ferment. Now I am wondering.

TIA
Vivo
 
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I am feeding the kombucha today and will try some in a second ferment. As a rule I avoid any herb tea in the booch just in case, although I have tasted kombucha made with various herbs that seemed to come out just fine.
Second ferment, I have used things like lavender and ginger that are supposed to be antibacterial (or something) and they came out just fine. This time I'll put some cardamom pods in with some fruit and see what happens and report back in a few days.

As for veg ferments, you figure ferments with garlic and ginger (like kimchi) do okay with a pretty significant amount of them, might make things bitter or a bit slimey but won't be enough to stop fermentation. I have had some odd results when mixing beets with other things, and at this point really don't mix anymore.
Maybe some of the other picklers might have ideas specifically to do with the smell.
 
Karen Smith
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Thanks Tereza. Your thinking makes sense to me. I too have had no issues with ginger or garlic in various ferments. I bet I just put in way too much cardamom.

It will be interesting to see how it mellows with much of the cardamom removed and a period of time in the fridge.
 
Tereza Okava
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Okay, so 2nd ferment was done, I did somewhere between 750ml and 1L with 4 whole green cardamom pods (I opened one, left the others hole) and a pear I chopped up. It fizzed up normally, tastes good.
So I've got to know--- how much cardamom did you use?? I'm pretty parsimonious with the stuff because I can only buy it when I travel (I can only get ground cardamom here, and the price is painful) and I use a good amount of it in cooking (mostly making biryani....).
 
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