"Now Even Kimchi is Made with Technology" – The Popularization of Kimchi Driven by Innovation

 

Today, Korean kimchi is a representative "K-food" widely sought after even overseas. It has become an everyday side dish easily found in supermarkets, making it more popular than ever before. Today, let's explore the patented technology that smartly facilitates the mass production of kimchi.

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The Foundation of Kimchi Making: Cabbage Salting

What is the most important step in making kimchi? It would be salting the cabbage. In kimchi making, salted cabbage is usually used. In the past, our mothers would painstakingly salt the cabbage by hand. But now, thanks to technology, large quantities of cabbage can be easily salted using machines.

Let's take a look at the technology and equipment.

This device is a cabbage salting machine that consists of a unit for washing the cabbage and a unit for supplying water, allowing for the efficient washing of large quantities of cabbage. When salting cabbage, the key is to salt it evenly with brine of a specific salinity. This technology maintains the brine concentration evenly and optimizes the tank's temperature to ensure efficient salting without any loss of effectiveness.

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KR10-2021-0090410, Discharge pickling device

The company, Daesang, known for its "Jongga Kimchi," has developed a device that quickly salts cabbage using vacuum technology. The distinctive feature of this technology is vacuum pressure. By injecting vacuum inside a sealed salting device, it expels air trapped between the cabbage leaves and allows brine to enter evenly between them, thus salting the cabbage quickly and evenly.

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KR10-2023-0191262,
Apparatus for rapid salting korean cabbage using vacuum and its method

The Korea Food Research Institute (KFRI) has developed a technology for spraying salt onto the cabbage during the salting process. The most crucial aspect of salting cabbage is ensuring the salt is evenly distributed. Manually salting the cabbage often leads to uneven salt distribution. This technology and device minimize salt usage and time, while maintaining consistent quality, maximizing the efficiency of kimchi production.

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KR10-2022-0140054,
Salt spray type kimchi pickling apparatus and salt spray type kimchi pickling method performed thereby

Time to Fill the Kimchi with Its Filling

Once the cabbage is salted, it's time to fill it with the kimchi paste made from various seasonings. The filling usually contains ingredients like chili powder, minced garlic, green onions, fermented shrimp, and other local specialties depending on the region. However, when making kimchi in large quantities, it's challenging to evenly distribute the various seasonings and fillings.

Kimchi filling
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To address this, a device for evenly filling the kimchi with its paste has been developed. The technology previously introduced by KFRI evenly injects brine between cabbage leaves, while this new device automatically and evenly distributes the kimchi filling between the cabbage leaves. This device includes a seasoning supply port, a cabbage supply port, and a mixing unit to ensure that fermented fish, seasonings, and spices are accurately and evenly distributed between the cabbage leaves.

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KR10-2020-0061364, Kimchi sauce stuffing device

Daesang has developed not only a cabbage salting device but also a system for automatically supplying seasonings to the kimchi. This system is designed to release seasoned liquids, including chopped vegetables and solid ingredients, evenly on the cabbage. It uses a rail system with seasoning containers placed at regular intervals, ensuring that the right amount of seasoning is applied to each cabbage.

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KR10-2022-0015070, Automatic seasoning supply system comprising solids

CJ CheilJedang, famous for "Bibigo Kimchi," has also developed a kimchi filling device. Unlike Daesang, CJ CheilJedang uses a "dumping lifter," a basket-like unit, to conveniently supply seasonings to the cabbage. By using this unit, they significantly reduce labor costs and processing time.

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KR10-2020-0126108, A device for filling kimchi seasoning into Korean cabbages

The Popularization of Kimchi through Technological Advancement

Today, we explored the technology behind smart kimchi making. We can see that advancements in technology and equipment are contributing to the popularization and mass production of kimchi. As a representative fermented food, kimchi also embodies the principles of science, making it an ongoing subject of research. We hope that with continued technological advancements, kimchi will become a food that everybody can enjoy all over the world.

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