How do you make Sauerkraut? UPDATE..ITS WORKING

[big brown horse]

Sorry vfem!! All that work! (You gotta quit standing on your kraut!) I better go and check mine out. Good thing for you is that it is pretty easy to make again. Maybe not in time for that bbq though .

I used corse sea salt...I hope this works.. it is "la Baleine" brand sea salt.

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Hi there!

When I made Sauerkraut (albeit several years ago) I remember putting in juniper berries & Caraway seeds. I was delicious. I was taught to do it by a German friend who I used to stay with in Germany.

:rose Hattie :rose

 

[big brown horse]

Hi Hattie,

Juniper berries? Yummy! I wonder where they sell those around here? I used caraway seeds and garlic in mine. Being from TX I wonder if jalepeno would work next time?

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Over here we can just buy them in the supermarket in a little jar, along with all you other dried hebs & spices. You don't use many of them so they last for ages. They are also great as part of a dry rub (ground up fine) for pork chops or a roast. When I cook a pice of gammon or boiling bacon I put some in the water along with fresh ginger, myrtle leaves, rosemary, black pepper & lots of parsely stalks. it's very tasty hot but if you let it cool in the water overnight & then drain & chill it is the food of the gods. Use the stock to boil new potatoes (don't add salt though). Oooh! Now I'm seriously hungry!



:rose Hattie :rose

 

[big brown horse]

Mmmm!

Thanks Hattie,

It is nice to have your perspective from across the pond!

I will look for juniper berries next trip to the spice aisle!

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Hi there AGAIN !!!

This is a producer of Juniper berries -- I'm sure you will recognize the name on the bottle -- also a great site for info:-

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Q-A/JuniperBerries.htm


Hope this helps. Happy Cooking, as well as Gardening! :happy_flower



:rose Hattie :rose

 

[big brown horse]

Hi Hattie,

Thanks for the link..do you add them during the process or when it is all said and done with?

I added the caraway seeds during the process...still processing.

Oh by the way, it still has a crunch, still tastes salty not sour. There is no foam just a little water in the bottom.

I wonder if it is not warm enough in the basement? The article said cooler and slower the better, but I am going to reread it.

 

[big brown horse]

Hey vfem,

My sauerkraut is all moldy. I don't know what I did wrong. It smells like sauerkraut, but has mold on the top. I need probiotics, not antibiotics!!

So don't feel so bad!

Maybe I should have mixed in the caraway seeds AFTER it was finished? I also just put a sheet of saran wrap over the cabbage and set the weight bearing water filled bag on top. This may be the reason why too, the plastic.

 

[HiDelight]

bummer
I was waiting to hear about this...
just hoped you were grilling brats and eating it by now!

try again maybe it was the cabbage ..are you growing your own? I would wait and make it in the fall was the place you kept it too warm I wonder...hmmm all these questions ...

did you have a plate on top of the kraut ? or just plastic?

I put a small china plate with a tiny weight on top of the kraut to push it down then use a plastic lid on a big glass jar that is used to make pickles or kimchi

I make kimchi more than kraut but it is the same thing more or less fermented sour cabbage

I dont think the caraway seeds matter as to when you put them in? I put them in in the beginning as well same with the juniper berries

 

[kathyschix]

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