It really isn’t an issue. Kimchi was made for hundreds of years without airtight containers. Historically they were fermented in giant earthenware pots with pretty loose fitting lids. Not only that you open it up every time you take some out to eat. When I make kimchi that jar is getting open for consumption basically every day.
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Kimchi can get bitter but I’m not really sure why. Most Koreans blame it on bad quality salt but I’m calling BS on that. I’ve also heard that too much ginger can make it bitter, but it’s a mystery to me.
But that’s after fermentation is either complete or well under way. You’re still risking contamination if you expose anaerobic bacteria to air. Give the bugs optimal conditions and they will produce the best flavor, texture, and have more longevity.
Some people are comfortable scraping mold (which actually grows roots deep into the ferment if it gets big enough) or kahm yeast (harmless but detracts from flavor) off their ferments, or don’t mind that their ferments spoil more quickly than they would if they had been fermented without exposure to air. But as a best practice, no, I wouldn’t recommend it.
It’s not after fermentation is complete or under way, I’m speaking only from personal experience (I won’t claim to be a fermentation expert) but I like fresh kimchi so I open mine up every day from the day I make it to take out kimchi for daily consumption. If you’ve salted your kimchi properly you won’t get mold that easily. Not saying it’s best practice or not, but properly salted kimchi is pretty resistant.
After many years of wanting to make kimchi, I’ve finally jumped on board the kimchi wagon. I made my first batch last weekend (subbing a few anchovies for the fermented shrimp - saw that tip from David Chang). It came out great! Every recipe seemed to be making 2-3lbs minimum, so scaling this down more appropriately for 1 meant winging it on some proportions (I probably put way too much garlic and onion), but they really came out tasty.
I did buy a dedicated kimchi container. I liked it having a plastic seal that also has a little opening that you can use to burp the fermenting product. It just seems to keep things a little neater. Once I eat this down, I’m going to try radish. For whatever reason, proper Korean radish has disappeared the last few weeks, and I only see the traditional Chinese/Japanese long, white daikon radish. Has anyone who’ve subbed daikon experience any issues with texture? I love the crisp of the radish kimchi, so I want to make sure this comes out crispy and crunchy.
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I’ve used many types of radish and they all stayed crisp: Green Top Korean, Beauty Heart, Green Luobo, and Japanese Daikon. It’s important that they are plump and not wilted when you buy them; they should be hard. Over time, as the kimchi gets full-sour and ages, the radish will lose some crunch, but that’ll take some time.
