Thank you for taking the time to learn about our fermented foods!

While they may appear as a simple, straightforward health food, our ferments are vastly different than most foods you’ll find in a jar.

Here’s why:

Our ferments are unpasteurized, live-culture probiotic foods that contain billions of gut friendly bacterial cultures.  This means the food is alive and may continue to ferment even after packaging.  This fermentation process, which creates the healthy probiotics, also creates gas which builds up pressure in the jar.  This pressure can force the liquid brine of the ferment to leak out even when the lid is screwed on tightly.  The pressure can also cause the lid to bulge, and upon opening, spray the liquid brine out and force the kraut to puff out of the jar.  For first time consumers, these occurrences may raise concern over the safety of the food.  Thankfully, because our foods are raw and fermented, these circumstances pose no adverse risk to your health; unlike canned foods which would warrant them to be tossed out.

Please note, this does not occur with every jar.

Most of the time they open with little or no pressure.  It’s just some random batches tend to get wild and very active, especially during the warmer months, so we like to educate our customers just in case.

How to open the jar to release the pressure:

We recommend holding your ferment over a bowl and slowly twisting the lid open to release the pressure.  The liquid brine may spray out and the kraut may puff out of the jar.  Once the pressure is released, you can use a sanitized spoon to gently press the kraut back into the jar and then pour the liquid brine over it.  Then we recommend storing the ferment in your fridge to preserve flavor and texture.  Our ferments are shelf stable so this is not required however they may continue to ferment at room temperature and get more sour and soft.

If your ferments were shipped to you:

Please know that liquid brine that has leaked during transit may cause the packaging to get soiled.  Do not try to salvage this liquid.  Simply throw away the packaging material and rinse the jars off with water.  They may still have pressure so make sure to open slowly as stated above.

Your order will arrive at room temperature. 

All the products we ship are shelf stable and do not require refrigeration during transit. Minimizing our environmental impact is one of our top priorities so we do not ship products with any excess packaging (insulation foam, dry ice, ice packs etc.).  Once you receive your order we recommend refrigerating your fermented foods.  The cold environment causes the fermentation process to go dormant and will prevent future pressure build-up under the lid.

If you received damaged product please notify us immediately and we will be sure to take care of you!

We produce our nutrient dense and nourishing foods with the highest quality care and ingredients.  If there is anything we can do to make your experience even better, please feel free to reach out!  We’d love to hear from you.

Cheers to your health!
Your friends at Wise Goat Organics