Does Kimchi Go Bad? What You Need to Know!

Wondering, “Does Kimchi Go Bad?” Read More About Fermentation and How It Preserves Your Food.

Today, fermented foods from kombucha to kimchi are growing in popularity. But you want to do more than enjoy the fresh, crisp flavors of your favorite ferment. You want to get to know your food. Today, we are taking a look at the question: “does kimchi go bad?” 

Around the world for thousands of years, many cultures have relied on fermentation to produce and preserve a wide variety of foods. From bread-making to vegetable and meat preservation, fermentation has been an important part of food production throughout history. Well before refrigeration, fermentation preserved foods so they would not go bad. 

So how do raw, live foods like kimchi have extended shelf-lives? Vegetable ferments never really stop fermenting. They keep doing the work to stop the ”bad”  bacteria and molds that can make food spoil. Read more about this process and how it keeps your kimchi going!

But first, grab a snack! Check out the latest offerings from Hosta Hill at our online store. The quality of our ingredients and compelling flavors of our recipes have helped us earn two consecutive Good Food Awards. 

The Fermentation Process Explained

According to Anahad O’Connor in a recent interview for the New York Times, “fermentation occurs when microorganisms like bacteria, yeast and mold convert the starches and sugars in food into alcohol, lactic acid, carbon dioxide and other compounds. Known as probiotics, these live microorganisms that are found in fermented foods can produce vitamins, and other healthful nutrients as well.”

The unique and creative flavors in Hosta Hill’s cultured vegetables develop slowly through wild fermentation, a process that preserves and actually enhances the nutrient availability of the vegetables we work with. Specifically, we use a process called lacto-fermentation.

It sounds like it has to do with milk, but lacto-fermentation actually refers to Lactobacillus. You can think of them as the “good” bacteria.

During our fermentation process, these good bacteria help convert starches and sugars in the vegetables to lactic acid and that acid works as a natural preservative. Lacto-fermentation also prevents harmful bacteria from growing and extends the shelf-life of food. 

How long does kimchi last? 

OK, now you know the ins and outs of fermentation and how it extends the life of your food. Back to the question at hand: “does kimchi go bad?”

We feel our kimchi tastes best within six months of being packaged, whether opened or unopened. Each batch is marked accordingly. Technically, raw, fermented vegetables can last much longer, and don’t really “go bad,” but their flavor, crunchiness, acidity, etc. will continue to change over time.

We suggest that you keep the jar in the fridge, which will slow down the fermentation process. Remember, your kimchi will never really stop fermenting until you eat it all up. Keeping our ferments cool in the fridge is less about food safety and more about the best way to prolong the best flavor and crunch. 

It’s exciting to know that fermentation goes beyond preservation to include some real health benefits. Munching delicious fermented foods like kimchi, full of those good live cultures, can reduce inflammation all over your body and contribute to a flourishing gut microbiome.

Try our award-winning kimchi today!