Problems with sauerkraut

[jupe]

I've been trying to make some home made sauerkraut for the past couple weeks, and have only ended up with duds so far. I'm using a 5% salt brine with conventional cabbage I've shredded myself, however even waiting 3+ weeks I've yet to get any real acidification to happen. Here's how I've been trying it:

* Shredded a whole head of cabbage and placed it in an overly large enameled pot

* Separately made a 5% salt brine with mortons kosher salt, and a teaspoon of pickling spice

* I added about twice as much brine by volume compared to the cabbage, so there was plenty of liquid

* Weighted down the cabbage with a loosely fitted plate, so only a few cabbage stragglers could float to the top

* affixed a loose fitted lid made out of an old aluminum pie tin

* placed on top of fridge

It's been a tad over three weeks, and the smell is good (it has an appealing funkyness), but it just isn't sour. also, the cabbage is still surprisingly crunchy. is this just a problem with not getting a good microbial culture going? is there something i can do to help the little critters get going? am i too impatient? am i too clean?

thanks!

[helenjp]

You didn't use any weights except for the plates? I would expect that you would need a weight around twice the weight of cabbage.

You also need to tamp the cabbage down really firmly.

Apart from that, I've never made sauerkraut in spring, only in late fall, so I'm not sure about temperatures at present - and fall cabbage has good sugar levels, which help fermentation, for sure.

I've heard that you can cheat a little with small batches of sauerkraut by adding a tablespoonful or so of whey drained off yogurt, but I haven't tried it.

P.S. I haven't made kraut with brine, just by rubbing salt well into the chopped cabbage before packing it into the pickling container. I don't know about spring cabbage, but fall cabbage is usually juicy enough that 3 T coarse kosher/pickling salt per 5 lb cabbage should be enough to get the brine rising past the level of the cabbage within 24 hours. I think you will only need extra brine (boiled and cooled) to "top up" the level.

The Ohio State University fact sheet is a great resource on sauerkraut and fermented pickles.

[jupe]

I'll give the yogurt whey trick a try the next time around. I'm more than happy to experiment, since so far the worst that's happened is I just have some tasty salted cabbage afterwards

[takadi]

Can sauerkraut be made in a completely anaerobic environment like an airtight container of some sort, or is there some reason why weighting down with a plate works best?

[jupe]

if the souring agents are the yeast/bacteria i think they are (brettanomyces or lactobaccilus, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brettanomyces), then i doubt you could do it in a completely anaerobic environment. i sure would like a better container and weight system though, as i'm sure it doesn't weigh enough.

[mtigges]

My guess is that your cabbage had been sprayed and the naturally occuring bacteria are kaput.

Here's what I do. First, buy cabbage from a good local grower. That's key!

Second, I made myself a big crock that can hold about 20 litres. (I'm a potter.)

Third, I fill it up with layers of cabbage and salt (around 5% in solution I would guess).

Fourth, I get a food grade plastic bag, fill it with water, and put it in the crock on top of the cabbage and let the bag hang over the edge of the crock.

Fully anaerobic (after the o2 gets used up) and I get sauerkraut. Good sauerkraut too. If you are too aerobic you'll get a lot of mold on the surface which you'll have to skin. I don't get any with my bag sealing method.

[jupe]

there's a farm about 4 miles away from me the grows the biggest cabbages i've ever seen--i wish i had one now and a crock that could hold 20 liters

thanks for all the feedback!

[budrichard]

We have our Harsch 20l crock full of pickles and after 3 months the pickles are oustanding. Next will be kraut. The design and water seal preclude the constant cleaning of scum. http://www.simply-natural.biz/Harsch-Crock-Pot.php -Dick

[beccaboo]

Fourth, I get a food grade plastic bag, fill it with water, and put it in the crock on top of the cabbage and let the bag hang over the edge of the crock. 

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I make mine similarly, except that I fill my plastic bag with brine in case it somehow springs a leak. I do it in gallon jars, too, so that I can see its bubbling.

The big advantage of doing it this way, I think is not having to check the sauerkraut and skim its scum.