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Mom asked me to stop at the fruit stand and get her some cabbage. I asked how much and she said 100 pounds. I knew what I was going to do that weekend. Her crock holds that much and she water bath canned it. Her crock used to belong to her Mom and I have the crock now. I am going to make kraut this fall but not 100 pounds. I have 3 old crocks, a 3 gallon, a 5 gallon and the big one that holds 15 gallons.
Do you all pickle the cabbage heart? Mom always did and she said it was the best part. Must have been good because she always ate it first and I never seemed to be around when it was ready.
 
Mom asked me to stop at the fruit stand and get her some cabbage. I asked how much and she said 100 pounds. I knew what I was going to do that weekend. Her crock holds that much and she water bath canned it. Her crock used to belong to her Mom and I have the crock now. I am going to make kraut this fall but not 100 pounds. I have 3 old crocks, a 3 gallon, a 5 gallon and the big one that holds 15 gallons.
Do you all pickle the cabbage heart? Mom always did and she said it was the best part. Must have been good because she always ate it first and I never seemed to be around when it was ready.
I know a dog that loves to eat the heart, but not pickled.
 
Sharon Peterson has a pretty good tutorial on making and canning kraut. She also has a review of the different techniques to ferment the cabbage. I'm the only one in my family who eats kraut so I just buy a few cans at the store. Kraut salad is really good. I added chopped green onions and bell pepper, a shredded carrot, drained white shoepeg corn and maybe a little celery if I had it. In a separate bowl, I'd stir a couple of tablespoons of sugar with a little oil and some of the kraut juice or vinegar then mix it into the kraut and vegetables. You can use whatever vegetables you like including hot peppers if you want some zing to it. I think it's best if it sits for a while to blend the flavors. I just googled for kraut salad recipes and everything I saw called for waaay too much sugar and oil. I guess they don't want you to taste the kraut!

I've been thinking about getting some good cabbage at the farmer's market and try making some kraut. I've only tried one time before, about 35 years ago, and had no one to get advice from so I was on my own with some rather skimpy instructions - this was before the internet. I bought about 50 pounds of cabbage at the grocery store and a big plastic garbage can. All I'm going to say is that two or three weeks later, I buried the garbage can and it's contents by the light of the moon in a deep hole 30 miles west of town.

https://www.simplycanning.com/sauerkraut-recipe.html

https://www.simplycanning.com/pickle-pipe.html
 
I've only tried one time before, about 35 years ago, and had no one to get advice from so I was on my own with some rather skimpy instructions - this was before the internet. I bought about 50 pounds of cabbage at the grocery store and a big plastic garbage can. All I'm going to say is that two or three weeks later, I buried the garbage can and it's contents by the light of the moon in a deep hole 30 miles west of town.
I knew a man who lived on a farm in Michigan. He told how they made up the kraut and put it on the back porch. After a period of time, they thought it must have gone bad, so they took it out somewhere and started to dump it. As they were dumping it, they realized that the top was weird, but the kraut underneath was wonderful. They cleaned off the top and took the kraut back home.
 
There is a Mercedes Benz factory near the big town. At the time several of my fellow lodge members worked there and would routinely be sent to Germany for training (about 20yrs ago).

One of them discovered a sauerkraut in a jar at a store in Germany and started bringing some back. Soon they were bringing it back by the case. Everyone at the lodge who liked kraut loved the stuff.

It was the best sauerkraut I’ve ever eaten! Far and above anything store bought here!

I miss that kraut, wish I had a jar or 2 now. ;)
 
Many have a hard time waiting for three weeks with their first few jars of sauerkraut. Plus, it is rather unnerving to leave a jar of food just sitting on your counter. As you feel more comfortable inviting trillions of critters from the microbial world into your kitchen, you will be able to let it ferment for a longer time period.

That being said, the minimum length, that I recommend, to ferment sauerkraut in your jar on top of the counter is one week. This gives it time to establish some beneficial bacteria, create lots of brine (which peaks around day four) and also prevents disturbing the nice anaerobic environment you’ve established.
https://www.makesauerkraut.com/how-long-to-ferment-sauerkraut/

After 2-4 weeks, depending on the temp, you should notice that your kraut is no longer bubbling, or is bubbling much less than it was. I usually notice that the brine starts going down instead of spilling over after 3-4 weeks. The warmer it is, the quicker your sauerkraut will finish fermenting (at 70-80 it will take 2-3 weeks at 60 it will take 4-6 weeks). Mine was finished a week or two ago, and I started mine on October 28, it took about 4 weeks to finish fermenting. You will also notice that your sauerkraut become kind of clear, or loses it’s whiteness.
https://chiotsrun.com/2009/12/18/how-to-tell-if-your-sauerkraut-is-finished/
 
What is an odd thing is I have never had krut before.
Even odder because of my European heritages.
I've had smoked eel, and herring, rollmops, pickled muscles, almost every type of wurst and enjoyed it including liverwurst.
I even love the Dutch salted licorice cats.
So I brought a jar of kraut from the supermarket.
WOW it was a huge salty punch in the mouth.
I got enough sodium in that one mouthful to last me a month.
Now the question is......is that normal?
Is homemade using the average recipe going to be that salty?
I saw on a Bumblebee Junction video on YT that they rinse their kraut before they use it.
Does anyone else do this?
I may have to do this with my supermarket kraut because I brought a 1.5 kg jar of it (because I don’t do anything by halves)
and I can't eat it as it is. It'll give me a nose bleed.
 
Try putting the kraut, without the liquid, in a sauce pan with a little brown sugar and clear water. the water will draw some of the salt and the sugar will help. It depends on who makes the kraut. There are two ingredients in kraut, cabbage and salt. I put 3 Tbsp. salt for ever 5# of shredded cabbage. My buddy puts 3 Tbsp. of salt to start and then 3 Tbsp. of salt for every 5# of cabbage. His kraut is way saltier than mine. I don't like salt but I do like kraut. Play around and find out how you like it.
 
Fermented foods are very good for the gut, but making kruat is not easy.
So today after all the meds cruesing around inside me I figured I needed some healing to get over the cures,.
I cheated, made cole slaw with Brags apple cider vinagar with ' the mother' in it. Lots of vinager makes you pucker.Taste good.
 
Resurrecting this thread after searching for my situation.

I've made what I think may be my first edible kraut--we won't be discussing those first two experiments except to say they are buried in the backyard. ;)

Used a crock that has the water moat. The bubbling has stopped after roughly two and half weeks. I opened the crock and the brine is still over the weights albeit not as high and has what I'm assuming is kahm yeast. Under the weight I had placed two whole cabbage leaves to contain the shred. It's not overly pungent, actually very little smell nothing offensive. Just as I looked in to take the weights out I spotted a small spot of white mold on the side of the crock about three inches above the brine line. It's the size of a quilting pinhead.

Do you think it's ok to consume the kraut?
 
Skim the white gunk off and keep fermenting if it still smells OK and doesn't look slimey. Krout usually takes 4-6 weeks depending on how sour you like it.

We just started munching on our latest batch. I slice mine very thin and add a bit of shredded carrot for color and a T. of carroway seeds. I make it in a gallon jar.

I learned this from a Ukrainian Granny.

Slice thin, 2 T course salt to five lbs cabbage.
Put sliced cabbage on counter top and sprinkle with the salt. Knead and squeeze the cabbage until it starts getting wet.
Put 3-4 inches of salted cabbage in jar and pack it down hard until juice covers cabbage
Keep doing that until jar is filled to the shoulder
Insert a freezer bag into the jar and fill it with 2% brine to hold the cabbage down. If the bag leaks it doesn't matter since the brine is the correct concentration.

Cover with a coffee filter tied on with an elastic band
Every second day, use a long handled wooden spoon and poke 4-5 holes down through the krout.
Re-cover.

Keep above 18° C
 
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That looks like a good recipe. I’ll have to try it. I’ve also got a recipe from my German neighbor. It’s got juniper berries in it and wine. That’s on the list as soon as I feel confident in my fermenting skills.

The white stuff on top was not what concerned me. I know it’s just yeast. The thing that concerned me was the little itty bitty dot of mold that was white that was high up on the side of the crock. Do you think it’s still OK to eat then.
 
Another bump for an old thread... I'll be making kraut in 4/5 days, my first attempt. My grandmother's butter churn is cleaned and ready. Since it's only 12 inches deep a friend is bringing one of her big churns. (she's the lady I recently posted about who bought 100lbs of cabbage and made kraut).

Anyway, here is the process she described on the phone this morning.

Comments? Tips or corrections?

Sauerkraut
1) shred the cabbage

2) put down a layer of cabbage in the churn, about 3 to 4 inches. Add a teaspoon of canning salt. Continue to layer and add salt.

3) wash a few outer leaves and use those to cover the kruat in the churn.

4) It'll be ready in 5/6 days.

Can on high heat 10min/10psi

grdn b 09may22 1 .JPG
 
Another bump for an old thread... I'll be making kraut in 4/5 days, my first attempt. My grandmother's butter churn is cleaned and ready. Since it's only 12 inches deep a friend is bringing one of her big churns. (she's the lady I recently posted about who bought 100lbs of cabbage and made kraut).

Anyway, here is the process she described on the phone this morning.

Comments? Tips or corrections?

Sauerkraut
1) shred the cabbage

2) put down a layer of cabbage in the churn, about 3 to 4 inches. Add a teaspoon of canning salt. Continue to layer and add salt.

3) wash a few outer leaves and use those to cover the kruat in the churn.

4) It'll be ready in 5/6 days.

Can on high heat 10min/10psi

View attachment 86260
Pictures would be nice.
Your garden is the way my father grew two acres of garden, no raised beds.
Spent many hot summer days, in those fields.
 
This fits right in with Weedygarden's thread on Foods Allergies and Foods we don't like. Sorry guys, I am on the other side of this one. Cabbage won't even stay down. How can you eat something that smells that bad? 😝

My wife eats, but I will leave the room when she does.
 
In a freezer it is extremely difficult for any chemical reaction to occur. Plastic leaches at temperatures not lower than about 60F. Acids will leach into some plastics but not the other way around.Aluminum foil has a sealant baked on and reacts very slowly to acids unless the temperature rises to about 80F. If you put red Kool-ade into a plastic container it will turn the plastic pinkish. If you want to get the color out use milk. The fat in milk and the associated fatty acids will pull the color out of the plastic and you have pink milk. There is little taste change but the color is noticeable.
I wonder if that works on tomato-stained plastic. Not that we ever stain anything with tomatoes around here. Oh no. Neverrrrr. ;)
 
My question is how do you know when it's ready to can? Do you have to leave it ferment for a certain span of time or until Mars crosses Jupiter or? Then in the water bath - for how long? We both like it but didn't grow up eating it so no experience on this one.
The canning book I have (The Joy of Pickling) says to can it whenever it’s at the taste you like. Her recommendation is to ferment 2-4 weeks at 70-75°, 5-6 weeks if you‘re keeping it in the 50°s-60°s to ferment.

Edited to add: it really is an excellent book. I can wholeheartedly recommend it, along with her jam and jelly book as well.
 
I do 2 to 4 weeks, and I put a weightstone on top of the mix so it's all submerged. I also add some purified water. I rinse it before I water bath can it, too.
If you don't have a weightstone, you can find a plate that fits in your crock to hold the cabbage down.
 
I Make kraut regularly. I let it ferment for about a month to six weeks. I don’t think 4-5 days is nearly enough. I shred the cabbage along with a bit of carrots, onions and sometimes a few slices of beets. Often I add caraway seeds.
I never make more than a quart mason jar full because I don’t can it. I have glass weights that fit in the wide mouth mason jar. The heat from canning it kills all the good bacteria you just worked up fermenting it. Once it’s done fermenting at room temp, I cap the jar and keep it in the ‘fridge. The kraut might continue to ferment but veeeerrrry slowly in the ‘fridge. For me, the point of making kraut is not just for the deliciousness of it but also for all the gut health in eating it without heating it more than taking the chill off it out of the ‘fridge. YMMV
 
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