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Another question about small batch sauerkraut

12 years ago

OK...I packed my salted cabbage into the glass jar and after 4 days my glove is now fully inflated. But, the mass of kraut which initially had been covered with liquid has now expanded to the point where the top is out of the liquid. Should I be concerned? I hesitate to disturb the milieu of the working bacteria to tamp the kraut back down, and risk introducing some unwanted opportunists.

This is an exciting home microbiology project! I emailed photos of the expanded glove on the jar to my friends and family.

I am easily amused.

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Comments (11)

digdirt2
12 years ago
Mine did the same thing. I just waited until the glove deflated and when it was removed everything was fine. Since the system is airtight there was no mold and the very top of the kraut was still a good color. Then when getting ready to can/process it just stir it all in together.

It is fun to watch isn't it? :)

Dave
tracydr
12 years ago
I added more brine whenever mine got above the liquid. I wasn't using the glove, though, I was using the ziplock full of brine method. I did have some discoloration until I started checking frequently and adding a bit of brine on top.
Whenever I found a bit of dis oration, I just scraped that patch off, added more brine and put my cover back on. My kraut came out delicious.
I froze my kraut, BTW. I didn't want to lose any of the crispy goodness or any of the live cultures.
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This is a Harvest forum question - the canning and preserving forum here. But I can tell you that the answer will be not recommended because the brine will be quite diluted when you add the later cabbage. The amount of salt to add is determined by the weight of the cabbage so adding additional layers of fresh later usually leads to incomplete or even unsafe fermentation levels. Heads of cabbage will store well in the fridge for a week or longer while waiting on the others. If that isn't possible them different batches woul be the best way to go. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Harvest forum
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It could simply be that the warm temperatures accelerated the process and your batch of kraut is done. Before you taste anything, how does it look? Is the liquid cloudy? It should be yellowish in color. Red, pink, brown, etc., are strong indications that something has gone bad. How does it smell? If it smells sharp, crisp, a bit yeasty, and sour, chances are that it's fine. If it has an off, putrid, or "non sauerkraut" smell, trust your nose. Scald a fork and fish some out. Rub it between your fingers. How does it feel? Does it feel slimy, gooey, or very soft? That's a strong indication that things have gone south. If, however, it feels clean and crisp, not unlike fresh, but wet, cabbage, and it sort of squeaks when you rub it together, that's a very good sigh. Finally, and ONLY if it passes all those other tests, taste a very small piece. If it tastes like kraut, it's kraut. If, however, it tastes wrong, spit it out and rinse very thoroughly with Listerine.
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gardenmom - Have you made kraut before? I find that the size of a cabbage head can be very misleading when it comes to weighing it. It always looks like it will weigh much more than it really does especially after the heads are trimmed and cored. We make several batches of kraut each summer for canning and 3 large heads, quartered for shredding, cores and coarse ribs removed, often comes out to about 5-6 lbs total - just right amount for most crocks. We once tried adding additional shredded cabbage (before we knew it wasn't recommended) and Carol is right - very uneven fermentation and taste results. The older kraut in the crock absorbs the new salt brine much faster than the new shreds do so you get a mix of some 1/2 done and some far too salty. Just some thing to consider. Dave
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Bejay, both my husband and I so enjoy the crunch of my sauerkraut, that I have no desire to can it, and lose the texture as I am sure I would. I can't imagine that spoilage will be a problem, since my last batch is still very crisp and tasty and I've discovered several friends that like sauerkraut...my last batch I used 10 pounds of cabbage...made much more sauerkraut than I and my husband will eat before Fall, and certainly takes up more room in my fridge than I'm willing to deal with. Cabbage is cheap, now that I know how, I can always make more! :D Now, as someone who has misty memories of my Nana buying corned beef at the local market, which had a barrel in a dark, cool corner...grey and not particularly tasty looking, but my, once it was cooked (YUM!)...learning to corn my own beef is high on my list!
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coffeehaus
Original Author
12 years ago
Just a follow-up: I did not disturb my kraut in spite of the rising tide of cabbage. The glove began to deflate after about a week, and at 10 days I did a taste test, found it to be delicious, stirred it all together and canned most of it. We had a bit of the fresh kraut tonight for dinner with some wursts and German potato salad...really good! Thanks for the advice. Definitely a fun project that I will do again!
digdirt2
12 years ago
Glad to hear it went well. It really is easy to do isn't it? I have 5 more jars waving at me right now.

Jon gets lots of kudos and credit for the gloves.

Dave
tracydr
12 years ago
I have tons of gloves. Will have to try this method next time I want a small batch of something. Thinking this will work well in a cooler during the hotter months sins I can't ferment much in my house with temperatures above 80 degrees indoors. I could, however do a few quarts or pints in a cooler and manage to keep the cooler below 70 with an ice pack changed every other day.
rocketjeremy
12 years ago
So what happens when you use the gloves but you still get mold on the top of the jars. I guess my gloves weren't surgical grade enough because they only inflated a bit but not full on wave. Can I just take tongs and pull all of that stuff off or is my batch ruined because the kraut got above the brine and got mold.

~Jeremy
digdirt2
12 years ago
Jeremy that sounds more like a fermentation problem - too weak brine or too warm temps - rather than a glove problem. How many days on the jars?

Dave
rocketjeremy
12 years ago
Dave,

The kraut has been in the jar for above a week. It was bubbling up the sides of the jars and did expand since I first started it.

~Jeremy
digdirt2
12 years ago
Jeremy so more than 7 days and the glove never inflated? Then yeah I'd say a leak in the glove somewhere that let air in and out. 5 days with good gloves and 70+ temps has always been long enough when I've done it.

So yeah I'd remove the moldy part, make some fresh brine, well heat up the rest in the fresh brine to kill any remaining mold, jar and process.

JMO

Dave
rocketjeremy
12 years ago
We shall see. I took your advice Dave, took the gloves off, took the top inch or two of kraut off the top and chucked it. Drained off most of the brine in the jar, added some fresh brine with it in a pot and heated it. Put in jars and processed. I did taste some of the leftovers stuck in the pot and it tasted good! I'm guessing I might have to rinse off some of the fresh brine when it's time to go but it had good flavor and a nice snap to the kraut. I didn't go blind from the stuff I ate so I hope I'm good!!

{{gwi:898421}}
digdirt2
12 years ago
Good! As long as you didn't go blind and if the jars don't explode (don't ask me how I know about that) you'll have some great kraut. :)

Dave

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