Sauerkraut (Home Made)

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StefanS
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Post by StefanS » Fri Sep 16, 2016 01:26

Butterbean wrote:Don't know if you've ever eaten Bigos but if you haven't you should try making some when your kraut is finished. Lots of different ways to make it but once you make it once you'll know how to tweak it to your liking. It will give kraut a whole new dimension.
- agree in 100% -
MatterOne wrote:I'm curious as to how much of a difference it makes to use late fall cabbage
- if you would like to read that topic from beginning that you will have answers why we are using fall cabbage.
MatterOne wrote:Then I slid the inner lid down until just before the juice started to push past it:
I think that you forgot put some waight on inner lid to keep shredded cabbage below juice level, also during fermentation process inside cabbage will be a lot of trapped gases and they will lift a cabbage above juice level - cabbage not covered with juice will rot.
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Post by Butterbean » Fri Sep 16, 2016 07:06

MatterOne wrote:
Butterbean wrote:What befuddles my mind is how there is so much food available for free yet most people will not take advantage of this and put it up.
I would think that many people, myself included, don't know where to find this free food. Aside from road cabbage, that is....
Can only speak for here. Here, its everywhere yet so few people put food up anymore. I grow a fairly large garden and when I pick what I need I open the garden to anyone who wants to pick the food for free and there are very few takers.

I'm thinking of starting to freeze dry food. Lots easier and much better shelf life.
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Post by MatterOne » Fri Sep 16, 2016 10:51

StefanS wrote:
MatterOne wrote:I'm curious as to how much of a difference it makes to use late fall cabbage
- if you would like to read that topic from beginning that you will have answers why we are using fall cabbage.
Thanks, but I've read the thread and understand why to use fall cabbage. I meant that I'm curious to taste the difference.
StefanS wrote:
MatterOne wrote:Then I slid the inner lid down until just before the juice started to push past it:
I think that you forgot put some waight on inner lid to keep shredded cabbage below juice level, also during fermentation process inside cabbage will be a lot of trapped gases and they will lift a cabbage above juice level - cabbage not covered with juice will rot.
The vessel I used is meant for fermenting cabbage in. The inner lid has a seal around it that holds it in place, wherever you put it, without the need to add weight. And, because of this, the cabbage cannot rise above the level of the juice.
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Post by MatterOne » Fri Sep 16, 2016 11:01

Butterbean wrote:
MatterOne wrote:
Butterbean wrote:What befuddles my mind is how there is so much food available for free yet most people will not take advantage of this and put it up.
I would think that many people, myself included, don't know where to find this free food. Aside from road cabbage, that is....
Can only speak for here. Here, its everywhere yet so few people put food up anymore. I grow a fairly large garden and when I pick what I need I open the garden to anyone who wants to pick the food for free and there are very few takers.

I'm thinking of starting to freeze dry food. Lots easier and much better shelf life.
With the convenience of grocery stores these days, there is a lot less need for people to put food up. And, because of that, I think most people just don't want to put in the time/effort for canning. It's much easier to just pay for the convenience of a store. Plus, it's not something that people are seeing as much while growing up. So the tradition aspect of it is all but gone, and a learning curve is there.
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Post by Bob K » Fri Sep 16, 2016 16:27

MatterOne wrote:The vessel I used is meant for fermenting cabbage in. The inner lid has a seal around it that holds it in place, wherever you put it, without the need to add weight. And, because of this, the cabbage cannot rise above the level of the juice.
Maybe you could explain how the system works. That center vent/seal seems to be closed so how are the gasses released?
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Post by MatterOne » Fri Sep 16, 2016 21:07

Honestly, I wondered that myself. They must just escape past the seal. But then there's another seal around the outside cover and that one seems like it would be air tight.
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Post by Bob K » Fri Sep 16, 2016 21:44

From what I can gather from their website the material breaths.

http://crazykoreancooking.com/products/kimchi-fermenter
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Post by MatterOne » Sun Sep 18, 2016 16:15

Hmm... I wonder if it actually does. I kind of doubt it.

I checked on my kraut and I had the inner lid get pushed out of place by the gasses. So, I read some Amazon reviews, and it seems that this is a common problem and that unplugging the center valve fixes the problem. So, I've had the center unplugged for about a day and a half now, and the inner lid has stayed in place so far.
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Post by Bob K » Tue Oct 04, 2016 14:28

StefanS wrote: My experience, my parents, grandparents - first week of process - temperature should be minimum 24-26*C ( around 78-80F). It is important for starting right process. Why we doing it? During lactating process there are gases trapped inside pile of cabbage, if you not remove them at this part of process you will have greyish sauerkraut and it will be a very bitterness. After 6-10 days we are moving containers to cooler places like garage (if fermenting process goes right). After a 25-30 days we are done -
Questions-
After 6-10 days at the fermenting temp how do you tell if things have gone right ? Example - when bubbles slow down or stop.
For the first 10 days there was a ring of foam (bubbles) around the weight, and that has now stopped.

When you move to a cooler temp for the balance of the 25-30 days approximately what temp is best.
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Post by StefanS » Tue Oct 04, 2016 20:31

Foam is visible in first few days of fermentation but should stop so your words -[
For the first 10 days there was a ring of foam (bubbles) around the weight, and that has now stopped. ] giving idea that process is on right tracks.
Your question -
When you move to a cooler temp for the balance of the 25-30 days approximately what temp is best. - in my opinion 15*C is good.
Usually I'm doing my cabbage on end of October/beginning of November- already started looking for right cabbage.(nice, big heads and cheap - yesterday I have saw $2 per head )
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Post by Bob K » Thu Oct 06, 2016 17:34

Thank You Stefan. I am now looking for some fall cabbage for the next batch.

I made a small batch and have vac sealed and refrigerated to store. Saves space in the fridge.
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Post by Bob K » Fri Oct 07, 2016 14:37

Having tried Caraway as an additive to Sauerkraut (delicious) has anyone here tried apples? They are one of several listed on the Marianski site.
http://www.meatsandsausages.com/ferment ... ngredients
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Post by StefanS » Mon Oct 10, 2016 22:57

Yes. I have tried add apples a couple times before. I have stopped use them here because cannot find right variety. Batches with apples were in my opinion not so good like without them. Sauerkraut was not that crunchy (more on soft side). If you want to do a batch with them so best variety is - Jonathan or Fuji, not bad is also Honey Crisp.
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Post by MatterOne » Sun Oct 23, 2016 16:21

I had lost faith in my kraut. At about 25 days in, it wasn't bad, but it just tasted like sour cabbage.

Now, 40 days in, it's improved a whole lot. The color has changed and the flavor has really improved. It's not as good as other homemade kraut I've had, but those were made with post-frost cabbage. For using warm weather, supermarket cabbage, I'm actually really pleased with the results.

We still haven't had any frost here, but I'm looking forward to making my next batch.
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Post by MatterOne » Sun Oct 23, 2016 19:28

I'm making my first batch of bigos.

Unfortunately, I still haven't had time to make more kielbasa, so instead I'm using some locally-made apple sausage. I figure the apples and spices in the sausage will be somewhat similar to having the cinnamon applesauce that Butterbean used in his. And to compensate for the lack of smoke flavor from the kielbasa, I used extra bacon and some smoked paprika.

It'll probably taste nothing like traditional bigos, but I think it's going to be pretty decent.
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