How do you make Sauerkraut? UPDATE..ITS WORKING

[Hattie the Hen]

Hi BBH

Re: "Mouldy sauerkraut"

Suddenly a bell went off in my head -- It's ages since I made any, I had the same problem & I called my German friend Petra who told me to just skim it off! As I am still around all these years later she must have been right................!!

I have just checked out to make sure & this is covered in point 8 at this site:-

http://www.kitchengardeners.org/sauerkraut.html

It's an interesting article with some other variations.

TRY, TRY AGAIN. :rainbow-sun

Good Luck!


:rose Hattie :rose

 

[vfem]

I've had sauerkraut get a little "fuzzy" on top before and to be truthful, I just took that layer off and the rest was OK!

Is it moldy throughout or just on top? I think it can depend on what you have laying on top of it...maybe???

Regards,

Kathy

Yeah, see is that the 'scum' they talked about taking out?! It may be?! They only thing it told me to do was throw it out if it turned brown because it was spoiled, and that's what happens to mine.

Maybe the cabbage wasn't fresh enough!? I was told fresher cabbage had more moisture then mine let out?!

I don't know... I did some research over at Bakespace.com in their forums to get some help. A nice lady from Italy said she made it a lot growing up, maybe should could help on their forums?!?!!?

 

[big brown horse]

Thanks for the suggestions. It had a sauerkraut smell tainted with a mold smell too...so I tossed it into the compost yesterday.

I will try again tho! It didn't get too "wet" during the process, so I am going to slice it thinner (I wish I had a cabbage board) and pound it up a bit more to extract more juice in the beginning.

Yeah, vfem, I wish I had some reason to fire up the grill for brats this weekend. But oh well! Atleast I will have my pokey pot crock back so I can try out a ribs recipe this Friday.

 

[big brown horse]

Hi BBH

Re: "Mouldy sauerkraut"

Suddenly a bell went off in my head -- It's ages since I made any, I had the same problem & I called my German friend Petra who told me to just skim it off! As I am still around all these years later she must have been right................!!

I have just checked out to make sure & this is covered in point 8 at this site:-

http://www.kitchengardeners.org/sauerkraut.html

It's an interesting article with some other variations.

TRY, TRY AGAIN. :rainbow-sun

Good Luck!


:rose Hattie :rose

Hi Hattie,

I read that site. Thank you for your research!! (Light bulb goes off..) I know what the problem was, I didn't get enough brine from my own kraut and salt mix. I didn't realize you could add a little brine mix to the kraut to make sure it is covered. My cabbage head must have been on the older side...not as fresh as I thought!

vfem, the mold is normal and should be fine skimmed off as long as your kraut is covered up with brine.

Back to the store for more cabbage!! I'm not giving up!

 

[vfem]

oooooooooooooh.... so they green/black spotty stuff was mold I saw on mine, and when I spilled some of the water from my weight bag it, I probably could have added more salt then to use it like a brine rather then dumping it!?

Wow... I think I could have saved mine, but I think both our cabbages were not so fresh?!

I am going to the farmer's market down by my mom... they just harvested cabbage last thursday, their's should be super fresh then, and I want to try again!!!!!!!

 

[big brown horse]

I probably could have saved mine as well.

Funny thing, tonite my white horse (grey paint) was eating the purple sauerkraut out of the compost pile!!! He had purple lips! I hope he can benefit from the probiotics and antibiotics!!!

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Clever PURPLE-LIPPED horse!

I thought that article was really interesting, I especially like the idea of adding grated carrot! Carrots are great favourites of mine. I have just sown three different varieties (& I have three more still to go in for a later crop). I thought I had better take advantage of the cooler, wetter weather we are having right now.

GOOD LUCK FOR YOUR SECOND EXPERIMENT with SAUERKRAUT !!


:rose Hattie :rose

 

[Ridgerunner]

We decided to try making sauerkraut with 8-1/2 pounds of shredded cabbage we had from the garden. That's what we had left from 4 heads of "Copenhagen" variety after taking out 5 cups for coleslaw. We are using a free food grade 10 quart plastic bucket from the local grocery store as the "crock".

Our problem was that it is too warm to make sauerkraut. I read if the temperature is above the lower 70's it can spoil instead of ferment. We put the bucket in an open ice chest, added about 2" of water, and add ice cubes as required to keep the temperature down. It is smelling like sauerkraut, bubbles are bubbling up, and a scum is forming on top. Seems to be working.

After reading about vfem's escapade with the water in plastic bags, we put 2 quart jars filled with water on the plate to hold it down. Thanks for posting, vfem. We covered the top of the bucket with tulle to keep the bugs out, held in place by the o-ring that was in the bucket lid.

We added 4 cups of brine to cover the cabbage, probably more than was needed but I don't see the harm in a little too much versus too little. We boiled the brine to dissolve the salt then cooled it to room temperature before adding it. We used a potato masher to pack and bruise the shredded cabbage.

I think that's the highlights of our process. I've been lurking on this thread and thought I'd mention what we are doing.

 

[vfem]

Oh wow! I really hope yours works out.... I may have to steal you method if it does though. I'm too bummed to try again just yet (plus I need my pot and I'm going out of town in less then 2 weeks).

Please share pictures if you could!

P.s.- I decided for sure next time I will be making a brine for my mix. I don't know exact WHERE someone gets a cabbage that moist!?!?

 

[big brown horse]

Hi Ridgerunner!

vfem, right about the brine, you can never have too much. I recommend stirring up the cabbage to get the air bubbles out too. RIGHT about those "watery" cabbages! Who has watery cabbages?? I think we need to bash them up a bit more!

Hattie the Hen, I have carrots lined up to go into my sauerkraut today. I also have red and green cabbage so it will turn bright pink!

I was told that it will last for a long time in the fridge too without having to do the old probiotic-killing water bath canning.

Good luck everyone!!!