Sauerkraut & fermenting veggies

Greatgranny, post a pic?

Yes, please!! And have you posted the recipe? (hint, hint...)

AtlantaMarie wrote:Yes, please!!  And have you posted the recipe?  (hint, hint...)

The link to the recipe was posted by llama mama.  Here is is:

http://www.fermentedfoodlab.com/pineapple-turmeric-sauerkraut-gut-shots/

Will take a photo in a bit.

Scorpio Rising wrote:Greatgranny, post a pic?

Okay, here is a picture.  Sitting it on a plate in case it fizzes over.

Greatgranny - what are those jars called with the funny things sticking up.

Looks like wide mouth mason jars with reusable plastic lids and air locks.  They're easy to make.  The lids can be picked up at Walmart for about $2 for 6 I think, and the air locks are super cheap at brewing stores.  I got them for about $1 a piece, plus 50 cents for a rubber plug.  Then just drill a hole into your lid that's slightly larger than the small end of your rubber plug, and then you can put the plug and air lock onto that.  I think the lid needs a rubber gasket to be air tight.  Tattler brand sells their rubber rings pretty cheaply, I think $5 for a dozen. 

You can also buy the whole thing as a kit, but the ones I've seen are pretty expensive for very cheap components.

yolos wrote:Greatgranny - what are those jars called with the funny things sticking up.

The top thing is a plastic airlock.  The lid is an airlock lid.  It comes with solid wide mouth lids to be used after the fermenting is finished.  Read the description on the site - it is explained very well.

I purchased it from this link. 

http://www.culturedfoodlife.com/store/product/two-airlock-lids-for-wide-mouth-mason-jars-jars-not-included/

greatgranny wrote:

yolos wrote:Greatgranny - what are those jars called with the funny things sticking up.

The top thing is a plastic airlock.  The lid is an airlock lid.  It comes with solid wide mouth lids to be used after the fermenting is finished.  Read the description on the site - it is explained very well.

I purchased it from this link. 

http://www.culturedfoodlife.com/store/product/two-airlock-lids-for-wide-mouth-mason-jars-jars-not-included/

That looks like it's pretty fairly priced, and is probably the best way to go if you don't have a brew store near you to buy the air locks.

Inspired by this post, I bought some water kefir grains and just got them today!  I'm excited to get them started.  I also started a batch of kraut and ginger carrot pickles.

On the 4th day of fermenting.  Yes, some bubbles but has a way to do.  I might put it on the top of the refrigerator to have the temp a bit higher.  Am hoping that at day 7 I can put it in the refrigerator and enjoy at each meal. 

littlesapphire good luck on the water kefir.

Was at my mom's the last couple of days & we got to talking about this. She & I both have a lot of digestive issues.

What do you think about cabbage, apple, carrot, & pineapple as a kraut? I'm planning on going to the farmer's market today to pick the stuff up to make it...

AtlantaMarie wrote:Was at my mom's the last couple of days & we got to talking about this.  She & I both have a lot of digestive issues.  

What do you think about cabbage, apple, carrot, & pineapple as a kraut?  I'm planning on going to the farmer's market today to pick the stuff up to make it...

You might like to check out this page that I visit quite often.  Lots of recipes.

http://www.culturedfoodlife.com/recipes/#martha-stewart-small-grid|recipe-category:cultured-vegetables

AtlantaMarie wrote:Was at my mom's the last couple of days & we got to talking about this.  She & I both have a lot of digestive issues.  

What do you think about cabbage, apple, carrot, & pineapple as a kraut?  I'm planning on going to the farmer's market today to pick the stuff up to make it...

Why not make a small batch with all the ingredients to make sure you like the taste.
I made a too large batch a couple of years ago but I disliked the taste.  I still ate it though as do not like to throw my efforts away.  Also it is good for one. Shades of Buckley's cough  medicine.

Kelejan wrote:

AtlantaMarie wrote:Was at my mom's the last couple of days & we got to talking about this.  She & I both have a lot of digestive issues.  

What do you think about cabbage, apple, carrot, & pineapple as a kraut?  I'm planning on going to the farmer's market today to pick the stuff up to make it...

Why not make a small batch with all the ingredients to make sure you like the taste.
I made a too large batch a couple of years ago but I disliked the taste.  I still ate it though as do not like to throw my efforts away.  Also it is good for one. Shades of Buckley's cough  medicine.

If I dislike a batch or it starts to get too old, I add it to my compost.  The culture wakes up things in the compose.  Of course I would never put it in an open bin.

How many hours before it's full of juice? There's a little at the bottom. One smallish cabbage and 2 TBLE of kosher salt. Chopped, mixed, hand crunched, knuckle packed into the jar.

While waiting for help (hint, hint), I boiled 1/2 C. of water in the microwave and added when cooled.

I think it will be too salty, sanderson.  I am assuming that the jar is not full?

Not full. Just one smallish cabbage. Should I add another cabbage and maybe 1 TBLE of salt, mixing everything well? I have more water cooling.

Add more cabbage but taste it before adding any more salt.  I still think it will be too salty but you can be the judge of that.

Have you tasted what is in the jar now?

The recipe I use which you can see here, uses a medium head of cabbage (about 3 pounds) and 1.5 tbsp salt.  That works relaly well for me.  The recipe says that if the juices don't cover the cabbage, to add salted water to it to cover it.  It says to mix 1 cup water to 1 tsp salt for the extra water.

Edited to say: I thought I would add an update too, while I'm here.  My kraut finally finished and is pretty good.  It has a nice nutty finish, which you don't get with store bought kraut.



And my water kefir is doing great!  I've gotten one finished batch so far, but I have many many many sitting on the counter working on fermenting.  The first batch I tried was pretty good, but it wasn't bubbly.  Apparently, it takes the water kefir grains a few batches before it gets bubbly.  The second batch I bottled did have a little fizziness, and the third one was even better.  So we'll see how it goes. 



The grains have grown so much that I started a second jar of them.  Now I have two quart jars in their first ferment, and three batches in their secondary ferment (that's the brown bottles and the clear plastic bottle).  I've tried a few different flavors; lemon ginger, orange pineapple, and mojito.  Tomorrow I'm going to flavor my next batch as pineapple lemon, and maybe try a rootbeer (I have rootbeer extract).  And tomorrow, my second batch, which is the orange pineapple, should be ready to drink!  It's been fun.  It's a nice stand in for gardening in the winter, lol.

LS, How old is the kraut in your photo? I have bookmarked your recipe link.

Well, I've got everything I need at this point to start some kraut. Except a few free hours... Hopefully tomorrow!!

sanderson wrote:LS,  How old is the kraut in your photo?  I have bookmarked your recipe link.

Let's see... I started it on the 9th, so I guess that makes it 11 days old.  It spent 5 days on the counter before I stuck it in the fridge   I probably should have kept it on the counter longer, but I wanted to make room for my kefir.  It's pretty good.

The sauerkraut seems to be doing fine despite my efforts to kill it!