Sauerkraut question

[Homercidal]

I've made sauerkraut before. It's turned out great sometimes, not very good others. In all cases, I've shredded the cabbage and added layers of salt to it in the crock, and pounded a bit with the bottom of a wine bottle or bomber to drive the salt into the cabbage and pack the cabbage down.

I can't get any decent amount of liquid to come out of the cabbage! Every article I read online says the cabbage will produce enough liquid to cover it. I can't even get CLOSE.

I usually add some water after a day or so, so that the cabbage will be covered and protected from mold. This last time I waited 2 days and I think I actually LOST water! LOL!

 

[2trout]

Possible downfall of simply adding water to your kraut is the dilution of the brine made from the salt and liquid from the cabbage. If the salinity gets to low, your kraut may get funky. Low salinity can lead to unwanted critters growing.

Simple brine is 1 1/2T salt per quart of water. Top off the soon to be kraut with some brine and you should be good to go.

 

[Yooper]

Make sure you use enough salt, and pound it well to release the liquid. If you need to add brine to cover, that's fine. Just make sure it's a 2 1/2 % brine. I use 24 grams of salt (noniodized) to 1 quart water.

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

I think patience. I was having the same problem but after mashing the cabbage down a bit, I waited an hour or so to let the salt draw out the water. Gave it another good pounding and enough water was extracted to cover the cabbage. It could also be the freshness of your cabbage and its water content. St Patty's is the off season for cabbage around here and I've picked up some old/dry cabbage that didn't give off a good quantity of water.

 

[Oldskewl]

I've only made 2 batches so far, but use 1 TBS kosher or sea salt per 2lbs of cabbage. I message/squeeze the cabbage for 10-15 minutes after salting. I seem to have plenty of liquid. It could be the freshness of the cabbage.

 

[imasickboy]

I also massage the salt into the cabbage in a large bowl before adding to the bucket. It gives me peace of mind in knowing that my salt distribution and cabbage smooshing was as evenly distributed as possible. And @Oldskewl is 100% correct about the freshness of the cabbage. Many types of cabbage store well, so they're not always fresh when you buy them.

Tip: use distilled or RO water for your brine.

 

[Homercidal]

Ok, well I forgot to use bottled water. It's working, but I keep forgetting to avoid the chloramines in our tap water when fermenting veggies.

I suspect the cabbage was just not fresh, although I've NEVER gotten anywhere close to enough liquid to cover. I don't mind adding brine, I just wondered why it wasn't making enough juice for itself like the various website claimed it would.

This time I put a ziplock bag full of water on top to keep it submerged. I've done this before with good results sometimes. Usually when the bag doesn't leak. It leaked this time. I need to make a SS plate to place on top of the cabbage, or come up with a different solution. It's a 6" diameter container, so it shouldn't be too hard to make something work.

I'm mostly doing this as a pickle starter. I have enough sauerkraut for a little while.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Fill ZipLock bag with brine of the same percentage, in case it leaks....

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

I usually mix the kraut in a large pot to make sure the salt is evenly distributed, then I do an initial pound/stomp in the big pot. An hour or two later I transfer to my crock, pack it well and I almost always get enough liquid out. Although I will second that freshness of the cabbage plays a role in how much liquid you can get out of it.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I get more water by putting the cabbage and salt in a large tub or bowl and mushing it with my hands before pounding it into the crock. With that said, on thicker cut cabbage I still need to add a little brine. Hope that helps.

 

[Evilgrin]

I weep my cabbage in a large bowl for 2 hours before packing it in a jar or fermenter. Giving it a good toss/mix every 30min.

When i say pack it in a jar i meen with a kraut packer. Add a little kraut and pack it tight...keep doing it until the jar is full with enough head space to leave room for a little of the water released from the weeping. You want it all packed in there tight with no air pockets.

I started this one a bit over a week ago in my kimchi fermenter. I used a little kimchi juice as my starter culture. It was a half head of green cabbage. I dont have enough room in my fridge atm so i packed it all in a quart Ball jar to finish in the fridge for a couple more weeks. Its actually pretty tasty right now but kraut improves quite a bit with more time.

Its kinda amazing how much cabbage you can pack in a jar after its been wept.