Hi I have a question for someone. I’ve followed the instructions for carrots. Is it ok to still cook them or will cooking kill the bacteria? Also I opened them after a few days and found a couple of spots of mould present. I didn’t use a screw top pot, the one I used was a clip down with a rubber seal. Did I do something wrong?

Hi Ritaskeeta – you’re right, if you cook the fermented food you’ll kill the live bacteria. (However I came across some evidence that there is still some benefit demontrated even if the food has been sterilised, killing the bugs)
Re the black spots – have the carrots been fully submerged as the fermenting should be an anaerobic process, keeping the veg out of the air. You could try just removing the carrots with mould on or you may need t discard and start again if it spreads. Sorry! It can be a bit unpredictable.

Hi Ritaskeeta – you’re right, if you cook the fermented food you’ll kill the live bacteria. (However I came across some evidence that there is still some benefit demontrated even if the food has been sterilised, killing the bugs)
Re the black spots – have the carrots been fully submerged as the fermenting should be an anaerobic process, keeping the veg out of the air. You could try just removing the carrots with mould on or you may need t discard and start again if it spreads. Sorry! It can be a bit unpredictable.