The only spoilage you get is that which can get air. If you make an air tight seal using the plastic bag I mentioned above, you don't get much spoilage at all. Then If you cook it you don't have to worry at all, I eat it right out of the crock at times, just like our ancesters did before canning was available. I think cooking it distroys the benefits from the fermentation process maybe? Not sure, anyway, I don't make it for the health benefits, only make it because I enjoy it a lot. If you ferment wine, you get a funky skum on the top of that and it doesn't seem to bother the rest of the wine as I think the alcohol kills the bacteria or something. I'm not an expert on this topic, but I've been eating this stuff since I was a kid, and it hasn't hurt me. My grandmother used to eat it strait out of the crock a lot, and she lived to be in her 90's.
