Transformative Kraut

 As I have mentioned before, more than once, I have made sauerkraut and it has worked pretty well.  This was true even last spring, when the temps were warm.  Holly at makesauerkraut.com indicates that the flavor is better when temps are lower (she says below 72, which I have often hit, but I now think it might be below 70).  All of my past batches have turned out about the same, but this fall I made some that was different.

I didn't start it until late November, after temps had crashed in the house and I was using the wood stove.  This time, the temperatures were solidly below 70, not just for the first few days but throughout.  The only caveat is that I initially located the crock in the same room as the stove, where temperatures hit 80 for brief periods when the stove is in use. Holly specifically warns about this.  I thought the increases were too short to matter, but maybe not: I had extreme sauerkraut tides to deal with; the moat would be almost dry then overflowing.  When I moved the crock to another room the situation improved, but on a day when the temp was lower indoors, the moat completely dried up.

When I carried it into the kitchen, some water did flow back in, so it was being sucked up.  On opening, things looked pretty normal.

And I got about the normal amount of kraut (eight pounds went into the crock, pretty much the standard amount).

The flavor was different, however, and much improved.  It has a nuance and subtlety that I haven't noticed before.  Maybe the cooler temperatures did allow different bacteria to work and leave their imprint. My other sauerkraut has been okay, and even good.  But I'm going through this so fast that I'm going to need more soon.  I've downed the two quart jars in less than a week, minus a half pint I've given to someone else.

Maybe this is a one-time thing, but I'm hoping I can replicate it.  Whatever I did this time worked out very well.

Partial Success with Fermented Pickles

 I have tried a few times to ferment pickles.  While the sauerkraut has always worked, I haven't had any success with fermenting cucumbers (or green beans, which I tried once).  My most recent failed attempt used a five percent brine, at the upper limit suggested on the Make Sauerkraut site. The pickles never took off.  They didn't go bad; they just stayed bright green and crisp and were salty when I tried them.  That was discouraging enough that I shelved further efforts for a year.

I decided to try again and to go to the lower end of the brine range.  I got some mini cucs and loaded them into a quart jar, and added dill and mustard seeds in the same proportions as in making a vinegar batch: two teaspoons of mustard seed and one tablespoon of dill seed.

On day one, the cumbers were obviously fresh.

A day later, things were starting to change. The color was dulling a bit, and bubbles were appearing.  This had never happened before.

After two days, it was obvious fermentation was happening.

I pulled the plug after three full days, because the house was getting warm and three to six days was suggested as the fermentation time on Holly's site.  As it turns out, I pulled the plug too soon.  Fermentation was underway, but they probably could've benefited from another day or two.  The pH was about 4.5.

 

My water is about 6.6 normally, slightly acidic, so this did represent a substantial shift.  I would've liked to see a pH of 3.5-4.0, however.  Next time I'll let them go for a longer time.  Still, this represents a modest success and is welcome.

Sauerkraut Results, 2021

 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.

Sauerkraut, 2021

 Last year's kraut turned out okay.  The temps ended up being near-perfect for the whole fermenting time.  There was one three-day period when the temps were 73-75, but otherwise everything stayed 68-72.  After 28 days, I opened the crock and all was well.

This year I'm getting off to a later start.  I didn't have enough storage space in the refrigerator to do a crock last fall, and this year I procrastinated.  So in early May, way too late for Georgia, I'm making kraut.

The basic process is unchanged.  I spent about an hour chopping cabbage, mixing it with salt, and loading it in the crock.

 

This year I decided to try Himalayan pink salt, following Holly's recommendation at makesauerkraut.com.

Often people recommend against table/iodized salt; the anti-caking agents make the brine murky.  As you can see, the pink salt is also pretty cloudy (you can also see that the camera adjusted the white balance quite differently in the two pictures).  We'll see what the final product looks like.  I have always had to add at least some brine; I might generate enough from the cabbage and salt alone but I don't let them sit long enough for that to happen.  Or maybe I just don't stomp and massage it enough.

The loaded crock is now closed up and I'll base the fermentation time on the temps. So far, on day 5, the temperature has held in the 69-72 range, although the first day was a bit warmer. It reached as high as 74.

As I mentioned last year, I can only get 7-8 pounds into my 5-liter crock.  There might be room for a little more, but not if I want to put the weights in (the crock and weights came from Stone Creek Trading--they sell the glass weights separately, as well). 

Sauerkraut Reveal 2020

On day 29, I opened up the kraut crock.  The temps for the April fermentation period were pretty close to ideal.  Early in the month it got into the mid-70s, but was otherwise mostly in the targeted range of about 66-72.

I had profound troubles with the sauerkraut tide again.  At times the water in the moat almost disappeared, then hours later (after more water was added) it would overflow and run down the sides.

The picture shows one of the low times.  There were a few occasions when it dropped below the notch in the lid, making me wonder if the air seal had been broken.  I tried shifting the lid around a bit but nothing ran out.  Nonetheless, the seal apparently stayed intact.

When I finally opened it, the view was pretty similar to last time:

That isn't mold on the top, just petrified foam.  Once again, it became apparent as I was trying to lever the glass weights out of the crock that 7-8 pounds of cabbage is the maximum this crock can hold.  Although I was maybe a pound lighter than last time going in, I got about the same amount when the jars were filled--a little over 1.25 gallons.

The Cool-Whip container at the left holds some, as well, although not much--less than a pint's worth.

The pH is about 4.0, as near as I can tell; the red tinting of the cabbage makes it hard to get a good read.

The flavor is outstanding, though the texture is much different from thin-sliced sauerkraut.  And the core pieces aren't objectionable.  This one was a success... and with the temps expected to be in the upper 80s for the first May weekend in north Georgia, this will definitely be the last batch until fall.

Sauerkraut 2020

I haven't made sauerkraut for a couple of years.  Last year I was too busy with moving, and this fall I never got around to making any.  During the winter, my indoor temperatures are actually a little low for kraut-making (65-72 is cited as the optimum temperature).  So the shoulder seasons, fall and spring, are the best time.  Temps in those months can be tricky, however; I have already had temps as warm as 76 indoors, but then cold spells plunge it back to the low 60s.

As always, I like red cabbage for sauerkraut.  I have noted before that each dressed head is about two pounds; this time my heads were a little small.  I got four, and ended up with seven pounds of chopped cabbage total.  The first step was to quarter the heads and cut out the core sections.

Chopping up each head only took about 10 minutes or so; I spent about an hour on the process overall.  This time, I tried cutting up the core and including some (not all) of it in the crock, as well.  We'll see how that goes.

As previously, I don't use anything other than a now fairly dull serrated knife to cut the cabbage; there are certainly ways to make a much finer consistency than I use, but this has worked okay for me so far.

I then added one tablespoon of salt per two pounds, squeezed the shredded cabbage a bit, then put it in the crock and used the stomper.

Finally, I added some brine to get the fluid level up to the top of the cabbage, even though I knew it would continue to excrete juice for a while and add to the mix.  This time I used coarse kosher salt, which is not recommended on makesauerkraut.com, but I thought it was the only plain salt I had. I later noticed a bag of canning salt on the shelf.  Oh, well. The brine that I added helped dissolve it.

Now I just let it sit for a while.  By the time I open it, it will be nearly May, and getting much warmer (most likely).  The first few days have been in the upper 60s to low 70s, which is almost perfect. Hopefully the ferment will turn out well.

Sauerkraut, More

After 28 days, I opened the crock.  It was about as before:  there was a slick of something on the top of the water, but it wasn't mold (or at least it didn't look like it).  Once I got the weights out, I ended up with a little over 1.5 gallons of kraut by volume.  It's a five liter crock, but once it wasn't packed down tightly, it expanded a bit.

The flavor was fine and in keeping with what I've made before.  I don't put any other seasonings in it in addition to salt, so it's plain stuff--but good nonetheless.  I tested the pH and it was between 3 and 3.5.

It was a resounding success. As noted previously, I have never had a batch of sauerkraut fail.  Another observation: a five liter crock makes a lot of kraut.   I couldn't deal with the amount of sauerkraut a three, five, or ten-gallon crock would produce, and even ten liters would be a challenge.  I lack the cool storage space that a basement might provide, so I need to put it in the refrigerator.

I may or may not make another batch; I opened it up about two weeks ago and have gone through a half gallon so far--but there's a lot more taking up refrigerator space.  By the time I finish it, the temps will be warm again.

The Sauerkraut Tide

I noticed this the last (and first) time I made kraut in the fermenting crock, but didn't comment on it.  This time it has been a little more dramatic.

There's a definite ebb and flow of the water level (in addition to evaporation, which is slow and steady).  One morning I noticed the moat was almost dry, so added back up to the bottom of the notch.  The liquid level had overflowed a few hours later.  I then remembered what Holly mentions on her fermenting crock how-to page.  Pressure changes can pull water up.  I think it might also be related to changes inside the vessel itself.  At any rate, I haven't tried seeing if I can jiggle the lid and liberate the water, but I am now not as disturbed if I see a sudden water level change.

It has been almost three weeks; I'm going to try to let it go another week to 28 days.  The house is still cool (65-70).

More on Sauerkraut

Last year I wrote about my experiences with sauerkraut after the first few batches.  I'm doing more now, and have learned a few things.

Another sauerkraut resource is makesauerkraut.com.  It has an extensive amount of information in the form of step-by-step instructions for crocks and jars, recipes, and reviews of various fermenting tools (including jars, weights, airlocks, crocks, and more).

I start by chopping up cabbage with a knife.  I don't use a mandolin or food processor (neither of which I have).  Impressed by the admonitions to be precise on the makesauerkraut.com, I weighed the cabbage as I cut it.

Two pounds is indeed about equal to a processed head, but I had some variance. Much of the weight is in the solid core, which I did not include, but even with that and some of the outer leaves removed, some heads were around two pounds, and some were substantially more.

I was originally going for 10 pounds, because I have a 5-liter crock and 2 pounds per liter is a general benchmark.  However, as can be seen, my cabbage is pretty coarsely cut, so eight pounds filled the crock leaving barely enough room to get the weights in.  Think of it this way:  Assuming equal density, a pound of sand occupies less space in a container than a pound of gravel.

I mixed it up in two-pound batches, because those are easy to deal with.  I'm using a bit less salt than recommended on the makesauerkraut.com pages, sticking with one tablespoon per two-pound batch.  It has worked well for me in the past.  So far, I haven't had any failures with cabbage.

After salting and squeezing a bit, followed by some gloved-fist crushing and stomping with my wood bat, I sealed it up.  I plan to let it go the full 28 days.  As previously, I added a little salt water to the mix because I didn't have good coverage from just the cabbage's liberated juice alone.  I added less than a cup of water that had salt added at the rate of 1.5 tablespoons per quart (or 1.125 teaspoons per cup).

I'm planning to let it go a bit longer because I've learned that I was indeed stopping my fermentations too soon, as mentioned in the previous post.  The gaseous phase is only one of the steps in the fermentation process, and stopping things when that concludes is too soon.  Another factor is that now that it is winter, my house is around 70 so the temperature should be favorable.  We shall see how it goes.  The quantity I'm doing this time around is the same as last time, except that it's all in the crock rather than split between crock and glass jar.  This is the first time I can't see what's going on.  It is, however, bubbling, so that is a good sign.

Sauerkraut

Note (added 1/22/17):  More on sauerkraut can be seen in another post.  

I've tried fermenting vegetables, and so far the one that has worked best is cabbage, aka sauerkraut.  There are much better sites that describe the process than what I can provide; see for example Nourishing Treasures (the link is to the final report, but there are numerous other posts on the experiment linked from that page; the whole package is very detailed).

Here's what I have experienced:  First, my house is normally somewhat warmer than the typical upper 60s-lower 70s temperature range suggested for kraut fermentation.  In the summer, my house is usually around 80.  Because of this, I have never let a batch go for 28 days.  I don't let it go too much past when the CO2 action fades, although as the Nourishing Treasures posts note, that may be ending things too soon (see also this post by the same author, Lea Harris:  Fermentation Mistakes. Some sites warn that spoilage may occur at higher temps, but I have never had a problem--although last summer, a batch seemed to be through its CO2 cycle within a week.

My most recent batch I  left out for about 20 days.  I have previously used a half-gallon mason jar with a simple airlock; it works very well.  One nice thing about it is that it's possible to see what's going on.  I usually have kept it in my pantry, out of the light, but it's available for examination at any time.

Two pounds of cabbage plus one tablespoon of canning salt is all that's needed.  Two pounds is around one normal-sized head; when chopped and put into the jar initially, it fills it.

To get things ready to ferment, part of the process is mixing the salt in with the chopped cabbage, which begins to liberate water, and massaging/crushing/stomping the mixture to bruise the leaves.  This in turn liberates more water from the leaves.  I have often massaged the cabbage a lot in a bowl, then crushed it with my fist once it's in the jar.

Things will rapidly start to get a little foamy.  The two pounds of cabbage, when crushed/compressed, fills the jar about halfway.  I took a piece of thin plastic and cut it in the shape of the jar, below the shoulder, and use that to hold down the cabbage leaves.  In the picture below, you can see some glass weights holding it down; those are Pickle Pebbles.  I have the wide mouth size.  I stacked three on top of the plastic.  I got the plastic itself from a pack of bacon (washed, of course).

This time I did a larger batch.  Two pounds is okay, but more is desirable.  A number of companies sell airlock fermentation crocks; as noted in various places they are fairly expensive and some are available in very large sizes.  One of the factors to consider is that, while it is not necessary to fill the crock, there has to be enough cabbage to generate enough CO2 to fill the airspace.  Filling a vessel all the way is a bad idea, because it heaves a bit as it ferments, but if it is only 25% full, that might be a problem.

I put about six pounds into the crock and another two pounds into the mason jar (I wanted a visual check of what was happening).  The crock was a 5 liter model from Stone Creek Trading (I like the glass weights). Although cost per volume drops dramatically with larger crocks, I realized that I'm not--for now--likely to want to make more at any one time than what the 5 liter model will hold.

The foaming action died down after about 10 days and I let it go another 10. At that time I noticed a little mold starting to form at the edge of the water in the gutter at the top of the crock.  I opened it up and ended up with a little over a gallon, including what was in the mason jar and what was in the crock.

There was no mold inside the vessel; what you see above is some petrified foam.  There's also a lot of water (both in the mason jar above and the crock); I added some when my stomping efforts didn't get enough fluid to cover the leaves initially (I used a 3 tablespoons of salt per gallon mixture of water, suggested by NW Edible).

I tested the pH of the mixture; it's a little difficult to do with red cabbage, because the red stains the test strip.  But it seemed to be in the 3.5-4.0 range, which is good enough for me.  The Nourishing Treasures trial found 3.0-3.5 after 28 days.

I have noticed that the kraut gets tangier as it sits in the refrigerator; it is no longer submerged (except at the bottom of the vessel), and fermentation slows way down--but to some degree, it may continue.  Storage at room temperature is apparently okay for a relatively short time; that's why this food preservation technique came into use (although as I noted above, my room temperature is not the same as what would have been typical in Europe in the fall and winter, to say the least).