Making Sauerkraut Made Easy

[kaiserben]

Roughly what size container would be big enough to fit a whole cabbage in it, submerged for sauerkraut?

And following on from D-Stu's post, I'm going to finally get around to making sambal and also get back into growing chillies.

 

[peteru]

A 2kg yoghurt bucket is big enough for about 2/3 of a head of cabbage, so something bigger than that. You need a bit head space for the fermentation, or at least something to catch the spills.

 

[kaiserben]

Cheers. I think they often sell sauerkraut in 4L jars, so I might buy one and then re-use the jar.

 

[scooterism]

Would a stainless vessel be ok for kraut?

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Yep

Even better if you could get some stainless mesh to cover the kraut so it leaves a layer of liquid above it

 

[Midnight Brew]

Would a stainless vessel be ok for kraut?

In the book The Art of Fermentation, Sandor Katz advices to avoid metal vessels for acidic food fermentations as the environment and salt will corrode the metals and corrosion finds its way into the food. Most household SS is very thin and if there are scratches exposed to the ferment, they will become corroded. Katz does mention that it can work with industrial grade SS later on in the book.

Depending on the size of your ferment, I find two buckets works best as the top bucket has a series of holes drilled in it and keeps the cabbage submerged. Just weight it down with a sanitised soft drink/juice/beer bottle that is full.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Depending on the size of your ferment, I find two buckets works best as the top bucket has a series of holes drilled in it and keeps the cabbage submerged. Just weight it down with a sanitised soft drink/juice/beer bottle that is full.

Probably the easiest and best

 

[pyroboy]

Hey All,

I've had my first batch of kraut going for two weeks now. It's still quite crunchy, not at all like what you get in a jar. Should I be leaving it longer or is it just a matter of personal taste as to the texture?

It all looks fine, no sign of infection, and is tasting great.

Cheers

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

let it go.

But...If it tastes nice, eat it

No hard and fast rules

The longer you leave it, the more flavours will develop

 

[pyroboy]

That's what I suspected. Thanks.