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another sauerkraut question.

15 years ago

me again.

It's been 3 weeks since I started my sauerkraut, so I took some out today to taste. It's not ready yet - and all I taste is SALT!!! Now, I love salt, but this is too much. Do I need to do anything???

Thanks,

Stacy

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Comments (10)

readinglady
15 years ago
Don't mess with it yet. Let it finish first. The ratio of salt is critical to prevention of spoilage. As the balance of lactic acid to salt changes the flavor will change and the kraut should mellow.

When the sauerkraut is done, then it can be rinsed if it's too salty, but that's for another day.

That being said, it's very important to measure the salt by weight, not volume, especially if it's not canning and pickling salt you used. However, it's more likely in that case that there would be too little salt, not too much.

Carol
stacy3
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you Carol - I'll be patient and keep you informed. I'm sure I used pickling salt.

Stacy
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I'm getting a little worried. It has no odor at all. The juice at the top just tastes like salty water. Its been over a week and No bubbles yet, unless they are escaping around the bag. It hasn't overflowed the jar and hasn't been disturbed except moving the cloth to look, taste and smell. No scum on top either. I think it may be too cool in my house for it to ferment. I keep it from 64 to 68. From "Complete Guide to Home Canning," Store at 70� to 75�F while fermenting. At temperatures between 70� and 75�F, kraut will be fully fermented in about 3 to 4 weeks; at 60� to 65�F, fermentation may take 5 to 6 weeks. At temperatures lower than 60�F, kraut may not ferment. Above 75�F, kraut may become soft. Should I be worried?
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Another agreement, that's far too short for truly fermented sauerkraut, although I have no idea what a picklemeister is. I use the same technique Grandpa used, which coincidentally is the same as is posted by Michigan State University at their "preserving food safely" website. They even give a time frame for fermenting, depending on temperature. SAUERKRAUT 25 lb. cabbage 3/4 cup canning or pickling salt QUALITY: For the best sauerkraut, use firm heads of fresh cabbage. Shred cabbage and start kraut between 24 and 48 hours after harvest. YIELD: About 9 quarts PROCEDURE: Work with about 5 pounds of cabbage at a time. Discard outer leaves. Rinse heads under cold running water and drain. Cut heads in quarters and remove cores. Shred or slice to a thickness of a quarter. Put cabbage in a suitable fermentation container (see explanation following processing times) and add 3 tablespoons of salt. Mix thoroughly, using clean hands. Pack firmly until salt draws juices from cabbage. Repeat shredding, salting, and packing until all cabbage is in the container. Be sure the container is deep enough so that its rim is at least 4 or 5 inches above the cabbage. If juice does not cover cabbage, add boiled and cooled brine (1-1/2 tablespoons of salt per quart of water). Add plate and weights, cover container with a clean bath towel. Store at 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit while fermenting. At temperatures between 70 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, kraut will be fully fermented in about 3 to 4 weeks; at 60 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit, fermentation may take 5 to 6 weeks. At temperatures lower than 60 degrees Fahrenheit kraut may not ferment. Above 75 degrees Fahrenheit, kraut may become soft. If you weigh the cabbage down with a brine-filled bag (6 tablespoons salt to 1 gallon of water), do not disturb the crock until normal fermentation is completed (when bubbling ceases). If you use jars as weight, you will have to check the kraut 2 to 3 times each week and remove scum if it forms. Fully fermented kraut may be kept tightly covered in the refrigerator for several months or it may be canned as follows: Hot pack--Bring kraut and liquid slowly to a boil in a large kettle, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and fill hot jars rather firmly with kraut and juices, leaving 1/2- inch headspace. Process pints 10 minutes, quarts 15 minutes in a boiling water bath. Raw pack--Fill jars firmly with kraut, and cover with juices, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Process pints 20 minutes, quarts 25 minutes in a boiling water bath. SUITABLE CONTAINERS, COVERS AND WEIGHTS FOR FERMENTING FOOD A 1-gallon container is needed for each 5 pounds of fresh vegetables. Therefore, a 5-gallon stone crock is of ideal size for fermenting about 25 pounds of fresh cabbage or cucumbers. Food-grade plastic and glass containers are excellent substitutes for stone crocks. Other 1-to 3- gallon non-food-grade plastic containers may be used if lined inside with a clean food-grade plastic bag. CAUTION: Be certain that foods contact only food-grade plastics. Do not use garbage bags or trash liners. Fermenting auerkraut in quart and half-gallon Mason jars is an acceptable practice, but may result in more spoilage losses. Happy canning! Annie
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Agreed. The brine bag is just an easier - and more effective - way of both weighting down the cabbage to keep it in the brine and sealing out air. As Bejay said the brine in the bag can then also be used for the extra you will need when it comes time to jar and process the kraut. If you are bring in a crock then no you can't see the fermenting process (that's why many of us prefer using large clear glass jars) so you have to remove the bag and check the color and taste of the kraut periodically. It's done fermenting when it taste done to you. And no, you don't have to stir it up. I suppose you can if you wish but I never have and most recipes don't call for stirring. Dave
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I waited to answer until someone else did since I'm speaking from my vast experience of making sauerkraut once. BTW we loved it. I bagged with the brine, froze it in open vacuum seal bags overnight and then sealed them. It was still crisp and perfect over a year later. Some of it I rinsed lightly when I used it but most I did not. I still want to make another batch this year. Lee
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kandm
15 years ago
This is weird because I just started reading an article on Granny Miller's blog about making sauerkraut.

Here is a link that might be useful: Making Sauerkraut with Granny Miller
kframe19
15 years ago
It's finally starting to cool off here. The last week has been pretty high temperatures for this time of year here, but the next week or so it's going to be in the 60s during the day.

TOMORROW I MAKE KRAUT!
readinglady
15 years ago
Thanks for sharing that blog. I've never seen that cheesecloth before. I can think of all kinds of uses for that.

Carol
annie1992
15 years ago
stacy, mine is 3 weeks along too, and still pretty salty, but it's starting to smell fermented. I'm thinking another week, maybe two.

I agree, be patient and let it "work". You can rinse it later if it's too salty. I normally rinse mine before cooking with it, I ALWAYS think it's too salty.

Michael, yours should easily be ready on time for New Year's!

Annie
kframe19
15 years ago
I have ignition on 15 pounds of kraut.

I got into some VERY fresh cabbage. No having to add artificial brine, the liquid was coming up REALLY quickly as I was packing it into the bucket.

It's already starting to smell fermented this morning.

I also have lots of cabbage all over the floor...

And yes, I'm figuring I'll have a freezer full of sauerkraut before Christmas.

Annie, how do you shred your cabbage?

I
User
15 years ago
Like Michael I have about 15 pounds of cabbage now brewing. Although it was very fresh...right out of the field!...the liquid isn't coming as well as I would like. May have to go the brine route...I'll wait another hour or so.

Also like Michael I have a floor full of cabbage!
annie1992
15 years ago
Michael, I used to do it all by hand with Grandpa's old "kraut cutter", which seemed to me much like a mandoline. I "graduated" to using the grating blade on Stepmom's Oster Kitchen Center, and now I do it with the food processor.

Yes, it takes a while. Yes it makes a heckuva mess. Yes, I'm picking cabbage out of stuff for a week, but it's all worth it. Of course, you, Chase and Stacy all know that. (grin)

Annie
User
15 years ago
I have a sauerkraut story and I'm not a happy camper....

This year I bought a cooler to do my sauerkraut in. It's a 5 gallon beverage cooler, perfect size, dimension, food grade etc.....but it has a spout : (

Got my 15 plus pounds into it, prefect fit, lots of room...and then it started leaking the brine from the spout.

Slow drip all over my floor. I can manage to clean that up but I lost most of the natural juice from the cabbage and had to fill it up with brine.

I'm sure it will be fine, actually I'm not sure it will be fine , but, it is what it is....and I need a glass of whine!

What do you think should I go get more cabbage and start over...I only have $5 invested in the cabbage and a few TBSP of salt...but I chopped it all!!!

WHINE!!!!!

PS Clive arrive home from the cottage in time to rescue the 'kraut from the garbage. He fixed the problem , which was a washer that has not been place properly in the spout...

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