Sauerkraut (Home Made)

Keymaster · Post by **Keymaster** » Thu Apr 26, 2012 01:27

I let the kimchi ferment one day longer than the suggested 3 days. This was a very good experiment. I opened the jar and it smelled just like store bought. I removed the Foodsaver bag filled with water I used as a weight. I pealed back the top layer of cabbage leaves and found the Kimchi I chopped up and scooped some out and put it in a bowl. then the taste test..... SUCCESS, I made some quality kimchi !!! its a little hotter than what i am used to but after the initial burn its free wheelin

The wife gave it a rating of "Delicous" but hot. I will definately do this again

Heres a picture showing how much liquid was pulled from the Kimchi

And the Bowl of kimchi

Cabonaia · Post by **Cabonaia** » Thu Apr 26, 2012 01:39

Nice, Keymaster! Couple questions:

- Where'd you get the airlock and the lid it fits into?
- Why use the airlock at all? I'm not familiar with this method.

Thanks!

Keymaster · Post by **Keymaster** » Thu Apr 26, 2012 02:01

Cabonaia,
I purchased the jar with lid at Wal-marty for $5 and drilled the lid myself. I purchased the "S air lock at a place called "beer essentials" in Lakewood washington for $2.

Normally a person would use a Crock I suppose to make kraut and kimchi but there in the $100 range now a days. When using a jar with a sealed lid I suppose a airlock keeps the sealed jar from Imploding from the CO2 gasses produced from fermentation and lets the gases out and keeps oxygen from entering the fermentation jar which the bad bacteria loves and needs to reproduce its ugly family.
This is just my opinion and bares no scientific value, just what I picked up on reading the terrific book by Stan and Adam Marianski.

Cabonaia · Post by **Cabonaia** » Thu Apr 26, 2012 02:09

Thanks for your speedy reply. Yeah, I've looked at those brown crocks - lovely, but not in my price range. I've got some stoneware crocks that have work fine for me for years, but this airlock thingy appeals to me in a Science Fair sort of way.

So thanks for the info. Gonna give this $2 gizmo a try.

Cheers,
Jeff

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Thu Apr 26, 2012 02:26

There are 2 quart wide mouth mason jars and plastic lids available for about 20 dollars for six jars and a dozen white plastic lids.

NorCal Kid · Post by **NorCal Kid** » Thu Apr 26, 2012 03:15

I may eventually 'go big' and get one of those lovely brown crocks. They do cost plenty, but from what I can gather, they are quite efficient and darn near impossible to screw up a batch. Only need to keep some liquid in the 'sealer' trough around the lid. No light, no air, gasses get out.
My wife likes the Polish models (defending her heritage

), but I find these Harsch crocks very interesting.

In the meantime, I'm content with the large gallon glass jars I got online for about $4.00 a piece.

Kevin

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Thu Apr 26, 2012 03:25

Hey Kevin, If you ever come across some small gallon jars would you let me know?

[/i]

Baconologist · Post by **Baconologist** » Thu Apr 26, 2012 05:29

I have both a Harsch Gairtopf (German) and a Boleslawiec (Polish) fermentation crock.
They are not without issues, price being the most obvious, they're also quite bulky and the stones can be a bit of a nuisance because they must be kept very clean and sanitized or there will be a problem with unwanted yeast, molds and the like.
My favorite fermentation vessels are 1/2 gallon mason jars.

Bob

Post by **redzed** » Thu Apr 26, 2012 16:51

I use a mild potassium sulphate solution to prepare my 15 gallon crock, and then rinse it with warm, bordering on hot water. I also make my own wine, (and hooch, but don't tell anyone), so I have this stuff around. You can buy it at any home wine and beer making supply store.

Chris

Baconologist · Post by **Baconologist** » Thu Apr 26, 2012 22:41

Brew sanitizer does work great on the crock itself, but the stone weights are porous so they need to be heat treated.

Bob

NorCal Kid · Post by **NorCal Kid** » Thu Apr 26, 2012 23:32

Baconologist wrote:Brew sanitizer does work great on the crock itself, but the stone weights are porous so they need to be heat treated.

Bob

Good info to know, Bob.
thanks for sharing your experiences with the crocks.

"How much better to get wisdom than gold! "...

Kevin

Keymaster · Post by **Keymaster** » Fri Apr 27, 2012 01:13

I was wondering why they don't glaze the weights same as the crocks, im sure it because the porcelin might get in the food but is their another reason?

Dumoine · Post by **Dumoine** » Fri Apr 27, 2012 12:27

For a weight in my crock I use strips of oak cross crossed. I set a stone I found on a Lake Superior beach on top of the oak strips to weigh it down. No need to buy the stone weight when the beach is full of them.

Keymaster · Post by **Keymaster** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 03:03

SauerKraut Slicers are on sale at cabelas Click here

NorCal Kid · Post by **NorCal Kid** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 15:43

I saw that great price at Cabelas and almost pulled the plug, but the tepid reviews of this model on Amazon made me pause ("...poor design," "...lack of durability," "...very poor quality,""...flimsy""cheaply made in China""dull blades..."). In Marianski's book, the woman in the photographs shredding cabbage looks to be using either this or a model very similar, so obviously it does the job.

The one made by The Sausage Maker (TSM), made in the USA, got favorable reviews, is made of stainless (with plastic sliding carriage), and the blades are adjustable for varying the thickness. Best price I found here: http://www.wisementrading.com/cooking/s ... ndolin.htm

...but it's still 3x the cost of the one at Cabela's.

Kevin