As previously discussed, I started some sauerkraut late this spring. My indoor temps fluctuate seasonally, from too cool for optimal fermenting in the winter (mid-60s to upper 50s) to too hot in the summer (upper 70s-low 80s). Last year's spring batch was done in the month of April and had average temps of about 70 (range, 66-72). I fermented it for 28 days and it was fine.
This year's batch started off in the 70s for the first week, but temps soon soared as high as 83. The average was between 75 and 76 over the 25 days that I ran the ferment. I opened it up and it looked pretty normal.
Once I pulled out the weights and top leaves, I was able to ladle out what ended up being about 1.5 gallons (somewhat more than 5 liters, but it's packed in pretty tightly while fermenting).
It was still pretty crunchy and the flavor's great. It turned out very well despite the warmer temps. Holly of makesauerkraut.com indicates that the first few days are important for the quality of the finished sauerkraut, and during the first week I never had temps above 75, but most of the time things were in the 68-72 range. I don't know what species of bacteria I ended up with, but they mixed together pretty successfully.
I won't push my luck and try another batch before fall.
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