My Sauerkraut Started

Smokin Don
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My Sauerkraut Started

Post by Smokin Don » Thu Jan 10, 2013 07:47

I was inspired by some members to make my own sauerkraut. I ordered a gallon jar with an air lock. It came this morning so I went to the grocery and bought two heads of cabbage to get a batch started. I used a head and about a third of the second one. I got it sliced and in the jar, salted and stomped with water to cover. I have water in the air lock and it is on its way to becoming sauerkraut in about 30 days.

I looked at the expensive fermenting crocks but I chose the cheaper route and bought a gallon jar that came with a lid with a grommet in it and a plastic airlock. It also came with three glass weights to hold down the sauerkraut under the liquid. I bought it for $26 from culturesforhealth.com and that included the shipping cost.

I decided to move it to my heated workshop to sit until done. That way no one can complain about any smell. I keep my workshop at 40 deg. F in the winter and will just have to heat it to 72 deg. until my sauerkraut is done. That will make it kind of expensive so it better taste good!

Years ago I made some sauerkraut in a five gallon crock. My Dad had given me some homegrown cabbage to use. It was good but I had to listen to my wife complain about the smell in the house.

I also remember making cherry wine. That was over 40 years ago; we lived in an old brick house with a basement. We had a cherry tree so had plenty of fresh cherries. My wife`s cousin made a lot of wine and gave me a quick recipe. He said just cover it with cloth and after two weeks it is done, cap it off and let it age. I had the gallon jug of wine sitting on an old wood chair. A few days after capping it I went to check on it. When I opened the basement I could see the jug was not on the chair. I ask my wife what she did with it; she said I never touched it. When I investigated I found cherry juice and little pieces of glass all over the chair and floor! I did make another batch that turned out good but this time I used a balloon on the jug until it stopped working.

Jug, airlock, and weights
Image

Shredding the cabbage
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Sauerkraut started
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Smokin Don
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Post by crustyo44 » Thu Jan 10, 2013 09:07

Don,
I will be checking your pictorial progress to see how this all works out. I like to have a go at making proper sauerkraut. Winter would be the only time here as 100F would not be helpful in making good kraut.
Good Luck.
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Post by Dave Zac » Thu Jan 10, 2013 12:57

You will not be disappointed Don. We can ours in 1/2 pint jars and find it the perfect size for adding all sorts of recipes and eating with sausages. Even added to meatloaf gives the meatloaf a little zip and lots of moisture. I think you will find that the fermenting kraut doesn't smell at all either. With just a small 'glub' of air escaping every now and again from the airlock you will never know its there. Nice going.

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Post by Smokin Don » Thu Jan 10, 2013 15:37

Thanks Dave for letting me know about the smell, I can save my power. I'll bet though that some day my daughter in law will walk in and say what's that smell. I call her super nose!
Does anyone know is it best to keep it out of the light or not? Don
I am not aging, just marinating!
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Post by redzed » Thu Jan 10, 2013 15:38

Good on ya Don! I knew that if we pulled your chain a bit, you'd get going. Start shopping for a 10 gallon crock so you will be ready for the autumn cabbage crop! We have a 15gallon (and that's imperial gallons, lot bigger than Yankee gallons), and make at least 75 lbs of kraut each year.
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Post by HamnCheese » Thu Jan 10, 2013 22:08

Hey Red!

Started my second batch of 'kraut just after Christmas with a fifteen pound (!) chinese cabbage that we picked up at an Amish market for $1. Had some last night with homemade mushroom and potato-cheese pierogi and it was terrific!

I used the Kitchenaid mixer to "juice" the cabbage before packing it into the crock which resulted in TONS of liquid. The kraut tastes like I added horseradish root to the mix. Very delicious. But I'm stymied by the nuances of horseradish. Is it just because I used a different type of cabbage? Thanks for any ideas you might have on this.

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Post by ssorllih » Thu Jan 10, 2013 22:20

Lynn, Sometimes the cabbage core tends toward the spicy.
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Post by HamnCheese » Fri Jan 11, 2013 00:24

Thanks Ross -

It could very well be the core - I left a little on to make the shredding easier.

About using the Kitchenaid before packing the cabbage......

I shredded the cabbage directly into the crock, adding salt between layers of cabbage. Then I mixed it a bit by hand. THEN I put small batches into the mixer bowl and with the paddle attachment, ran it at low until the cabbage became what I can only describe as juicy. Then I repacked everything into the crock with seven or eight juniper berries and a tablespoon of 'kraut juice from the previous batch.

Using the mixer was an extra step, but I was very happy with the amount of liquid - much more than if I had used my regular method of tamping the cabbage with a huge wooden pestle.
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Post by redzed » Fri Jan 11, 2013 02:21

Lynn, allow me to throw in my two cents. While I am sure that you can sour (ferment) most varieties of cabbage, if you are trying to produce sauerkraut, Chinese cabbage is not the best choice. To begin with, Chinese cabbage is soft textured and very light-weight. The best cabbage is the late fall cabbage, tightly packed, large and heavy heads. You can tell if it is good by tasting it, and if it is sweet and not bitter, it will make the best kraut. You can make kraut year round by buying cabbage from the supermarket, but if you want quality, you make it in the fall. Cabbage heads that are cold stored throughout the year lose flavour and develop a bitter flavour. And Ross is right (again), completely remove the core from the cabbage. When we do our annual cabbage kraut, the cores are sweet and tasty, I save them and eat them like an apple. The cores from cabbage that has been stored for a long time are off-tasting, wilted and bitter. My parents have grown their own cabbage and have been making kraut (for them it's kapusta kiszona) for as long as I remember, and they still do. They have a 25 imperial gallon stone crock, and are slowing down a bit since last year they only filled it to the half mark.

Anyway, I'm happy to see that you are experimenting and making sauerkraut. Not only is it fun and tasty, it's good for you.

Best,
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Post by crustyo44 » Fri Jan 11, 2013 05:39

Red and Lynn,
You seem to be the resident Kraut experts here. I would like to decrease some of my salt intake but sauerkraut seems to have loads in it.
How does this work exactly?
Thank you.
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Post by redzed » Fri Jan 11, 2013 06:00

Hey Crusty, you are correct about having concerns about salt intake. I should as well, but we won't go into that. the standard measure in making soured cabbage is 3 tablespoons of non-iodized salt per 5lbs. One year we cut that down to 2.5 tbs. and did not see much difference in the fermentation but I would not go below that. And for most recipes we rinse the kraut, so a lot of the salt is washed away.

But just think about all those wonderful and healthy probiotics in the cabbage which might outweigh the negative aspects of the salt! Come by and have some of my wife's mushroom and sauerkraut pierogies (garnished with bacon), my back ribs stewed in kraut, or a plate of bigos, and you will never think about salt again!
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Post by ssorllih » Fri Jan 11, 2013 16:18

That level of salt is not very high. 5 pounds is a bit over 2 kilograms and 3 tablespoons of salt is about 45 grams so that gives a salt percentage of about 2.2% and that is where we are with our sausage.
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Post by crustyo44 » Fri Jan 11, 2013 19:27

Red,
You keep on talking like that and I will come around one of these days. Your wife is a wonderful cook. Does she have Continental European parents also?
Every time I read about posts about making sauerkraut, I noticed these famous few words "sprinkle a handful of salt on the cabbage" That's what got me worried.
And when I come to dine at your place, I will go back home via CW's mountain hide out and plonk a few targets before before this freedom is completely wiped out, like here in Australia.
Thank you for the dinner invite and your advise.
I can't wait till Autumn.
Jan.
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Post by HamnCheese » Fri Jan 11, 2013 19:37

Hey Red,

Thanks for your input. I was a little worried about using the Chinese cabbage precisely because it is so light textured. However, since my total investment was a whopping $1 and because I had read that it is possible to 'sour' just about anything I gave it a try.

The first batch this year was autumn cabbage and it was just as you described - sweet, crunchy and heavy as lead. It was so good, in fact, that it all got eaten. Which was the reason for going with the Chinese cabbage - it was what we had in the cold room.

Surprisingly, the Chinese cabbage has held up very well - still very tender crisp and as I said before, with a nuance of horseradish. It's still young, though, and I'll let you know in another month or so if it has still held up. Assuming that it lasts that long!

Thanks for sharing your wisdom and experience.

And Crusty, I'm far FAR from being an expert....this was my fourth batch. But from a pure beginner's perspective I can say "just go for it." What's the worst that can happen? You throw away a batch (wiping tear from eye) as I had to do last year.
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Post by redzed » Sun Jan 13, 2013 04:34

Lynn, your experiment in souring the chou chinois was a revelation, and we all have learned something from it. You were brave to venture a bit outside of the box, even though some of us hard-nosed traditionalists would shudder. :lol: Keep it up!

Crusty ole' boy, my wife is a good cook, but most of the time it's a joint effort. She has her specialties and I do mine. I don't bake, prepare deserts or salads. She has no interest (other than eating the stuff) in my sausage passion, and I don't care about her Bikram Yoga addiction. And she is Canadian, 3rd generation from one side and 4th generation from the other side. Her background is Eastern European. (We Poles are Central Europeans). :grin: :cool:
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