Making kimchi or simple sauerkraut is a fun exercise in robust biotechnology. I was so nervous the first few times I tried doing it; surely I was going to make

Making kimchi or simple sauerkraut is a fun exercise in robust biotechnology. I was so nervous the first few times I tried doing it; surely I was going to make a mistake and it would be disgusting, or moldy, or full of botulin toxins. Turns out lactofermentation is a very old and very simple technology and as long as you salt things right and make it reasonably air-tight, very little can go wrong. Seconding pmoriarty's recommendation for the book The Art of Fermentation. Or just find any online recipe for sauerkraut or kimchi, you can't really go wrong. You can ferment in any jar with a tight fitting lid. It's a little easier with an airlock so the CO2 offgasses but you can also just crack the lid every day or so while it ferments to keep the pressure under control.