food Sauerkraut

[southcarolina]

I hope this is a n00b friendly zone....pics of my very first ferment of any kind.....(edited to fix sideways pics)
 
 
Day 1
 

 
 

 
 
 
Day 3
 
 

 
 
 
Day 8
 
 

 

[dragonsfire]

Update, smells great, looks great, have not taken a nibble yet.
 

 

[Chorizo857_62J]

The half-gallon of red cabbage I did a month ago turned out great.  Jarred it up and have eaten a good bit, given others away.  Made some pseudo-kimchi with some too.  Fish sauce and Siracha, and some ginger......
 
I saved some of the the "hooch" in the fridge thinking it my be helpful in fueling another ferment.?.???
 
 

 

[ShowMeDaSauce]

Started a small test batch 2 days ago since im out of kraut.
 
2 14oz bags of Dole Slaw mix
2 tsp of home grown Aleppo powder
1 tbs minced garlic
2% kosher salt.
Made some 2% brine also to top it off.
 
Its already bubbling good in my E-Jen type fermenter. Juiced over the inner lid pretty good too. After a week i will pack it all in a Mason jar and chuck it in the fridge.

 

[ShowMeDaSauce]

Open the fermenter today...PERFECT. Not the slightest spec of kahm yeast on top. Nice and sour but a few more weeks in the fridge will make it even better. Added a tsp of gochugaru and packed into a 48oz jar to finish in the fridge. It was still nice and crunchy but i wanted more pepper flavor.

 

[luvmesump3pp3rz]

i`m going to do my first batch of kraut and i have one question. i have a store bought can of kraut here and would adding a little bit of the liquid from the can to my cabbage help the ferment to get going faster? 

 

[The_NorthEast_ChileMan]

i`m going to do my first batch of kraut and i have one question. i have a store bought can of kraut here and would adding a little bit of the liquid from the can to my cabbage help the ferment to get going faster?

 
There is one reference to this Kev.:

The red cabbage saurkraut is salt, garlic, and a few spoonfulls of a ferment that I had going.

 

[luvmesump3pp3rz]

 
There is one reference to this Kev.:

The red cabbage saurkraut is salt, garlic, and a few spoonfulls of a ferment that I had going.

thanks NECM, i will add some then. 

 

[luvmesump3pp3rz]

my first ferment. half a head of cabbage, sea salt, caraway seed, serrano powder and 2 cloves of garlic. i also added a couple of tablespoons of liquid from a can of sauerkraut i had. we will see how it turns out. 
 

 

 

[boutros]

I have to try this.  Looks great.  Love caraway in kraut especially.

 

[ShowMeDaSauce]

Kraut is so easy to make.
 
Get some Dole Slaw mix in the 14oz bag
Add 2% sea salt by weight
Make up a 2% salt brine for topping it off in the jar after its packed down.
Add whatever else you like to it
Pack it TIGHT in that jar with minimal headspace. Leave just enough so it dont overflow.
 
Let is ferment in a jar until it smells sour. At least a week to 10days usually. Then toss it in the fridge for a month. Works every single time for me.

 

[boutros]

Kraut is so easy to make.
 
Get some Dole Slaw mix in the 14oz bag
Add 2% sea salt by weight
Make up a 2% salt brine for topping it off in the jar after its packed down.
Add whatever else you like to it
Pack it TIGHT in that jar with minimal headspace. Leave just enough so it dont overflow.
 
Let is ferment in a jar until it smells sour. At least a week to 10days usually. Then toss it in the fridge for a month. Works every single time for me.

 
What happens if you go over 2%?  Asking for a friend.

 

[luvmesump3pp3rz]

 
What happens if you go over 2%?  Asking for a friend.

from what  i have read too much salt hinders the good bacteria from multiplying. 

 

[luvmesump3pp3rz]

i did the cabbage outer leaf over the shredded cabbage and a glass weight on top of that. topped with 2% brine and set on the counter for 8 days. removed the ferment cap and no nasties growing. pulled the weight and cabbage leaf and gave it a taste. crunchy and sour. into the fridge to sit a little more. 
 

 
 

 

[ShowMeDaSauce]

2% just works with cabbage. You dont need to use more. It ferments easily but can still taste a bit raw for a few weeks. Normally its pretty good in about a month. Getting it cooled when it starts turning sour will make some very tasty crunchy kraut. Ive left it out longer but it gets softer imo. I like using the slaw mixes cuz they already got a little carrot in them. Its also really cheap to just buy a head of cabbage and a small bag of carrot "match sticks". I dont really mind slicing the cabbage but carrots are a little tedious. I got a kraut cutter so it only takes me a couple minutes for the cabbage.
https://www.amazon.com/Weston-Cabbage-Shredder-70-1401-W-Stainless/dp/B00196NOZM

 

[Siv]

Sorry to resurrect this thread but I thought it the best place to ask. I set some kraut going last September - after about a month I removed the airlock and just put a regular air-tight lid on. And completely forgot about it. It's now 14 months later. Now I know people ferment stuff for a long time and I have some great tasting pepper ferments that were on the go for a year. I think they also ferment certain kimchi for a very long time too.

But how about sauerkraut? Given that it's nicely pickled, I'm assuming that it's just fine but I have yet to open a bottle and try. And I have 2 gallons of it! If it smells OK, can I assume it's good?

I see lots of of internet articles saying that you shouldn't ferment sauerkraut for more than a month but they're all bloggers so not really a trusted source. And they talk of the kraut molding if fermented too long and we all know that a good ferment should never mold.

 

[dragonsfire]

I have a red cabbage kraut thats four years old in a bucket and another one thats older. As long as it does not dry out it should be good, mine still tastes great, color goes brown but thats it.

 

[sicman]

We do a lot of kraut. I always forget about it though, we have a fermenting cabinet in the bike room as you walk into our house. Every time I open the door my first thought is something is wrong with our sewage. Then I remember the cabinet.