saurkraut

[zoebisch01]

Plan on making some of my own soon. Gonna have to score a free bucket from somewhere though. A farm down the road a bit grows the cabbage they use for KFC's slaw so I'm gonna have to get some from there when they are in season.
One question though.

THREAD STEALING! THREAD STEALING! THREAD STEALING!

So Im going to put a plate weighed down over the top of the cabbage in the bucket. My concern is that I have a house with enough animal to be concerned about air born nasties. I know I can use a towel but I dont really want to have to clean that everyday. What if a put a lid on the bucket with an airlock? Any problems with his idea?

I am not sure I understand what you are asking? Usually it doesn't come frothing up, unless you pack it to the rim. Especially at cooler temps. It will harbor Lactobacillus (and some other Lactic acid producing bacteria), but they are all around anyways (although the process may cause your home to have a higher percentage I imagine). You can try it, but if after a few days you don't see any signs of fermentation you might want to expose it to the air. What (I think) you are asking isn't traditionally done, but that doesn't necessarily mean it won't work.

The lid and equipment, it would be a good idea to restrict their use to saurkraut (or other fermented type foods) from here on out as that odor will certainly penetrate deep into the plastic.

Oh I think I get what you are saying now. Actually you want to initially expose it to make sure it gets well inoculated. After it takes off, it is fine. And tbh, I wouldn't worry about the 'other' stuff floating around in the air (but see below). The truth of it is that the salt and lactic acid will make a very inhospitable climate for other stuff. If some gets exposed though, like not covered with the resulting brine (which is really why you weigh it down) it has a higher potential to mold. If this should happen....scrape out the bad stuff and if the kraut is done, refrigerate it as once the mold gets in on a spot you can guarantee it will show up again. Usually in a ferment like this, the top layer (with air exposure) can pick up some molds that to the best of my knowledge aren't terribly dangerous, although you don't want to eat them . There is some evidence that shows some molds produce toxins, but unless you are eating massive quantities of them (or are highly sensitive to them) it really is not a big issue. Think about how scary the Krausen can look sometimes, but the stuff underneath is great.

One thing that is important though....In the beginning, when you get your Cabbage, be sure to peel off the outer leaves and send them to the compost, etc., and rinse the outside of the Cabbage. Not only can they have pesticides, etc., but more importantly they can have Salmonella or the like on them (if they were handled poorly). Discarding the outer leaves greatly reduces your risk.

 

[Jesse17]

I thought it was this thread, but maybe it was another...I thought I saw a post that said to shred the cabbage, and cover with a plate, but then it said the top few inches would be spoiled when it's done, and you should throw that away.

It looks to me (from reading here) that the cabbage will produce enough water to cover itself (with the plate holding it down) and you only need to skim the scum off the top of the water. Is that right? Or is there a layer of cabbage/saurkraut that needs to be tossed.

Hijack....Hijack....

Next Question: Does anyone know how to MAKE (not cook) Corned Beef? I plan on raising a few head of cattle, and I like to process everything I can myself, but have been unable to find out how to MAKE corned beef. I LOVE the stuff, and would like to try may hand at curring it myself.

 

[SuperiorBrew]

Hijack....Hijack....

Next Question: Does anyone know how to MAKE (not cook) Corned Beef? I plan on raising a few head of cattle, and I like to process everything I can myself, but have been unable to find out how to MAKE corned beef. I LOVE the stuff, and would like to try may hand at curring it myself.

I have never made it but the guys on the smoking forums frequently link to this when people ask.

I smoked a packer cut brisket Friday for our office Christmas party...yum

 

[paulthenurse]

On a whim I decided to make some sauerkraut this fall. I used MUCH less salt than you guys are talking about at first but it wouldn't extrude the water from the cabbage so I added a bunch more. Eventually I added a bunch of water to teh bucket. I had a plate on top of the cabbage but it didn't seem to be pressing down enough so I put a few lead scuba diving weights on the plate. Eventually the cabbage did give up the juice and the plate flooded and the lead weights got wet. Do you guys think this is a problem? I haven't tried it, in fact I put the bucket out on teh porch and sort of forgot about it.

 

[SuperiorBrew]

Were the weights coated? IF not lead plus acidic kraut can only equal no good

 

[zoebisch01]

I thought it was this thread, but maybe it was another...I thought I saw a post that said to shred the cabbage, and cover with a plate, but then it said the top few inches would be spoiled when it's done, and you should throw that away.

It looks to me (from reading here) that the cabbage will produce enough water to cover itself (with the plate holding it down) and you only need to skim the scum off the top of the water. Is that right? Or is there a layer of cabbage/saurkraut that needs to be tossed.

Hijack....Hijack....

Next Question: Does anyone know how to MAKE (not cook) Corned Beef? I plan on raising a few head of cattle, and I like to process everything I can myself, but have been unable to find out how to MAKE corned beef. I LOVE the stuff, and would like to try may hand at curring it myself.

It depends. It isn't always spoiled on the top. You have to gauge that, pretty much if there is no mold/etc growing on the top layer it's probably fine. It may discolor though. You are correct, just skim off the scum as it comes to the top.

There is a recipe here for Corned Beef. I personally have never made it, but it's a fairly straight forward process. The curing salt isn't necessary, because it is a brined product kept cold, but it won't get the pink color if you don't add it. You can find curing salt at www.butcher-packer.com. Always make sure to use the correct curing salt. Cure #1/Prague Powder #1 is salt and Nitrite and is used in foods that are to be cooked/smoked. Prague Powder #2/Cure #2 is a combination of Salt, Nitrates and Nitrites is used for dry cured products. They are not interchangeable and you must use the correct amount (gram measurement) as it can be fatal in large enough doses, which isn't really that much.

As for the salt with Saurkraut, remember don't use table salt. Use Kosher or Sea Salt that doesn't have Iodide as it imparts an off flavor, imho.

 

[zoebisch01]

I started some Sauerkraut last night and thought I'd update with some pertinent information:

A 5 gallon bucket will be filled approximately 1/2 way by around 7 to 8 kilos (15 to 17 lb) cabbage, which was roughly 6 medium-small heads. The weight was taken with the whole head, outer leaves removed but prior to coring.

I used roughly 100 grams salt per 4 kilograms uncut cabbage.

Now is the time to look for cabbage. Often the grocers have overruns from St. Patrick's day, etc. I got mine for $0.19/lb.

 

[Short Drive]

I just found this thread....all this talk about Kraut just reminded me of our Kraut festival which was canceled in 2003...

For those that don't know what I am talking about. I am talking about a festival that took place here in Franksville (Frank's Kraut) which some consider the cabbage capital of the world. It was the only Kraut festival in the country and they say had the only Kraut eating contest in the world. Man I miss it...

Remember the guy that died the night he won the kraut eating contest?

 

[wihophead]

Remember the guy that died the night he won the kraut eating contest?

No, I never even heard about it...when did that happen?

 

[Short Drive]

In the 70's some time. He use to hang out where my wife worked. That's as much as I remember.

 

[wihophead]

In the 70's some time. He use to hang out where my wife worked. That's as much as I remember.

That's why I don't remember....I was born in '71

 

[Homercidal]

I'm so making sauerkraut! Nobody I know, except the father-in-law, oh, and my friend Tom, likes the stuff. Ok, so I do know people who like it.

I used to work with a guy who was raised in Germany (came over here when he was 17), says his favorite was sauerkraut and brown gravy. I like a bit with sausage, and on my dogs. I don't care for it too strong though. Enough to get good flavor, but not strong enough to pucker my mouth.

 

[zoebisch01]

Ok so, I pulled the Sauerkraut out of the ferment cycle last night. Nice and sour, which is the way I love it. So 3/18 to 5/5 is what 48 days at around low to mid 60's. It was getting some funk on top, which I skimmed and removed a little kraut from the top. Into bags and into the fridge to help arrest the process. I freeze the stuff that goes a long time, I don't like to heat it because I like the live Lactobacillus.

 

[Yooper]

That sounds great.

About a month or two ago, an elderly client gave me a bag of his kraut. (He died a couple of days later). Anyway, he told me you have to layer the cabbage and then "pound" the salt into it. Then another layer, salt, pound, etc. I think he said that's what makes it give up the liquid.

You don't pound? You just layer, salt, layer? I think I'm going to make a very small batch of this and try it. I'm the only one in my family who likes sauerkraut.

 

[zoebisch01]

I haven't heard of pounding (sounds like a traditional idea), but the salt simply being in contact with pretty much any vegetable or meat draws out the liquid via Osmosis. I wouldn't try to make less than a few lbs...it'll keep a long time on it's own and you can always give away, freeze or can (I don't like heating it) the rest.

 

[Evan!]

Hey, so, once you get that kraut all ready to eat, you need to make yourself some Checroute Royale. WOOOOOOT!

 

[zoebisch01]

Is that a big Hock in the middle? Looks like a nice ode to the Swine .

 

[Evan!]

Is that a big Hock in the middle? Looks like a nice ode to the Swine .

Sh*t, I dunno what that was...it seemed like a hock, though. I called this dish "Pile o' Pork" or "Pork 10 Ways". We had been talking about getting some kraut and pork all day long...and when we saw "checroute royale", we had to get it. Of course, we couldn't finish it, even though it said "for 2" and we were both very hungry. I finished most of the pork products, but the kraut...good god, that was a 9X12 dish with enough kraut under all that pork to drown a grown man. :cross:

 

[Donasay]

Mod: Threads merged.

So i saw this thing on youtube and was wondering if anyone here has experience making sauerkraut. I have done quite a bit of reading and looked it up extensively on the internet, I was hoping that since making this is a form of fermentation someone here would have actual experience and tips for getting the sauerkraut going.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAByu1Lb8GM[/youtube]

 

[BigKahuna]

I tried the Alton Brown Method.

It sure seems like it should be easy enough.



Not like a brewer isn't pretty good at using sanitizer....but I ended up with 5# of moldy cabbage.

I may try again some day.

 

[zoebisch01]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=21139&highlight=saurkraut

Here's a load of good info, I also have my recipe in there.

 

[jds]

Hijacking an old thread here:

I recently made a batch of kraut with purple cabbage. Since it's experiemental food, I only made one head of cabbage worth. I washed the cabbage, shredded it in the food processor, then salted it with about 1-1/2 tsp of kosher (non-iodized) salt. The purple cabbage wasn't as "wet" as the green, so I added some brine (1tsp salt per C of water) to cover the cabbage after pressing it down.

I left it on the counter for only a week before sampling, and I like where it's going. It's tart and tasty, but there's still enough body in the cabbage for a satisfying crunch. The flavor is bright and acidic, but still cabbage-esque. It was delicious on last night's brats.

Next stop, mixed red and green cabbage with shredded carrots to make a slaw-like sauerkraut.

My Bavarian (well, Swabian) Oma made killer sauerkraut, so I'm ruined for the canned stuff. I won't eat it.