Fermenting.

[clkeiper]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Just give it time it will kick off sooner or later.
Might not have been any bacteria around to start it off fast.
The peppers I started yesterday are already fermenting and putting out gas.


Worth

All right. I will wait til I get home in Nov... and see if there is any cabbage left out in the garden and try again if nothing else. Thanks. Baking I can do... but fermenting? I need help.

[Shrinkrap]

^ Let's barter!

I got the next batch of pepper mash going.


Next up...Pikliz!

" basic version of PIKLIZ, a condiment that is inseparable from the real flavor of Haitian cuisine. Pikliz (pronounced “pikleez”), a brightly colored, slightly fermented, vinegar-based slaw, is incredibly delicious. The fresh cabbage, carrots, and other seasonal vegetables, sliced very thinly with some kind of allium (such as red or yellow onion, shallots, or scallions, sometimes garlic), very little salt, some lime juice, black peppercorns, and cloves, all give pikliz its unique range of flavors- but it’s the Scotch Bonnet peppers that make the dish"

https://pearlculture.wordpress.com/s...bonnet-pepper/

New York Times version.

http://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017277-pikliz

[Rajun Gardener]

I had some leftover cabbage from making cabbage rolls today so I'm making kraut. Will slightly warmed cabbage make a difference? I have to set the cabbage in boiling water to loosen them up enough to roll so is this gonna be a problem? They're not fully cooked but just a little softer than fresh and still crispy and the center leaves are still raw.

Next question. I'm using a quart jar with an air lock, how much headroom should I leave? I have 1 jar filled to within an 2" from the top but the brine is about an inch. I'm just worried about it overflowing, if that happens.

[Worth1]

The cabbage is done for it will never make sauerkraut but see what happens and prove me wrong.

Head space is what ever you can get away with and still have some room.

Worth

[Rajun Gardener]

I ended up doing 2 batches, 1 with 10% soft leaves and the other with about 30% soft leaves. I'll see in 3 days. I had to do something with it and this seemed like a good time to play. See what you started when you made this thread. LOL

I think after mashing it up and making brine I'll use that technique when I make slaw with black pepper, a little sugar and shredded carrots. I could eat the jar now.

[Worth1]

I re read the post so there is fresh unheated cabbage in it too.
This will be interesting.

Worth

[Rajun Gardener]

Yes, it was heated but not enough to be able to pull a leaf off without tearing it but a few of the outer leaves were a little softer than fresh.

[Worth1]

I'm really interested as to how this comes out.
I have no idea how much heat it takes to kill lacto bacteria but it isnt much.
As a matter of fact it doesn't take much heat to kill even the hardest of the critters that can harm us.
Mostly it has to do with time.
The hotter the less time it takes.

Now back to the colony of bacteria.
Fermenting is culturing a colony of bacteria.
Bacteria self divides and the more you have in the food the faster it will start to ferment.
Just now this morning the onions I put in the peppers have little bubbles all along the outside of them.
This is the bacteria giving off the Co2 gas as they eat and multiply and as this is happening they are producing an acid environment and making even more bacteria.
In reality what the salt does is prevent bad bacteria from colonizing.
This is the same activity that makes some sausage have a sour taste.

Sauerkraut is an acquired taste some people were never raised on it so they dont like it.
I was raised on it both store bought and homemade and we ate it at least once a week.
The big crock sat under the wall phone in the dinning room 365 days a year.
during the growing season it always had something going on in it.


Worth

[Rajun Gardener]

Both jars are building pressure so all good so far.

I like sauerkraut and have never eaten anything but store bought so this is a first. The only way I've eaten it is on hotdogs and ruebens, I will eat the rest of the can plain after making hotdogs and like it. Now I'll have to figure out other ways to eat it.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Rajun Gardener

Both jars are building pressure so all good so far.

I like sauerkraut and have never eaten anything but store bought so this is a first. The only way I've eaten it is on hotdogs and ruebens, I will eat the rest of the can plain after making hotdogs and like it. Now I'll have to figure out other ways to eat it.

The hot dog and Reuben sandwich are American inventions and not German at all.
Eat the sauerkraut as you would any side vegetable you would have at a meal.

There are traditional ways to use it such as sauerkraut soup.
Another good way to have it and one I do all of the time is to drain and rinse the kraut and heat it up.
It is then served with butter on it along with bratwurst or knackwurst along with boiled potatoes.

[zipcode]

The biggest problem with sauerkraut is how fast it becomes really sour. Because it will (more salt will limit this a bit but then it's too salty). Unless it's for soup we almost always have to let it a bit in cold water to lose some sourness.

Soup recipe (not sure if German, never seen it here in restaurants at least): a somewhat fat pork part (best is the lower part of the leg where the calf is, not sure how it's called, it has a good amount of skin and some fat), potatoes (not too many), the usual vegetables (leaves and roots), sauerkraut (not too much either so it won't be too sour). Usually made with sauerkraut with cumin seeds added. That's it. Jolly good. We eat it with bread usually.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by zipcode

The biggest problem with sauerkraut is how fast it becomes really sour. Because it will (more salt will limit this a bit but then it's too salty). Unless it's for soup we almost always have to let it a bit in cold water to lose some sourness.

Soup recipe (not sure if German, never seen it here in restaurants at least): a somewhat fat pork part (best is the lower part of the leg where the calf is, not sure how it's called, it has a good amount of skin and some fat), potatoes (not too many), the usual vegetables (leaves and roots), sauerkraut (not too much either so it won't be too sour). Usually made with sauerkraut with cumin seeds added. That's it. Jolly good. We eat it with bread usually.

One way to stop it from getting too sour is to process it at the stage of sourness you like in a water bath canner.
But it has to be sour or it want be acidic enough.
Mine and only mine was fine after two to three weeks of fermenting.
Another way is to refrigerator it in jars this slows the active bacteria down big time.
There used to be a brand of sauerkraut I could get in the store from Germany.
About the same time they had the market collapse the sores started selling less and less options and brands and it is still going on.
Here is what I bought.
Gundelsheim
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...aV7yZJJuoXdJVw







Worth

[mcool61]

Originally Posted by zipcode

The biggest problem with sauerkraut is how fast it becomes really sour. Usually made with sauerkraut with cumin seeds added. That's it. Jolly good. We eat it with bread usually.

Put it in the fridge when it is as sour as you like. I think I read somewhere that the good bacteria peak at 3 wks so I always let it go that long. 1 or 2 wks should be fine & a matter of personal preference. It mellows a bit in the fridge also so if it is too sour then wait a few days.
Most kraut has caraway seeds , not cumin, but you may be right. I'm far from knowing everything. I also sometimes put onion & garlic in my cabbage ferments. I never heat my kraut any more that I have too because I want the bacteria intact. Often I make ruebens so it gets some heat but I put the kraut on thick so I like to think some of the bacteria survive. Always put a layer of cheese on the kraut side to shield it also.

[Rajun Gardener]

I tested the kraut yesterday on day 3 and liked it but it was a little salty. I added 1 tablespoon of canning salt to 1.5 # of cabbage when I mixed it. Will it mellow out some. This morning the jar that I didn't open yesterday overflowed and filled up the air lock so I cleaned that up, it smelled good and is bubbling again.


I read something on a fermenting blog that I never considered and thought it was funny. A guy made kraut for the 1st time and after 3 weeks he ate a big bowl and had to stay near the restroom all day so he asked if it was bad. The response was probably not but you have to give your body time to adjust to the good bacteria so you should start eating small amounts daily. Has anyone had a problem like this?

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Rajun Gardener

I tested the kraut yesterday on day 3 and liked it but it was a little salty. I added 1 tablespoon of canning salt to 1.5 # of cabbage when I mixed it. Will it mellow out some. This morning the jar that I didn't open yesterday overflowed and filled up the air lock so I cleaned that up, it smelled good and is bubbling again.


I read something on a fermenting blog that I never considered and thought it was funny. A guy made kraut for the 1st time and after 3 weeks he ate a big bowl and had to stay near the restroom all day so he asked if it was bad. The response was probably not but you have to give your body time to adjust to the good bacteria so you should start eating small amounts daily. Has anyone had a problem like this?

At least two weeks for it to mellow out then it will taste somewhat like a deli pickle.
3 days is nothing.
As for the other thing yes it will take some time for your body to adjust but it isn't any big deal.
In my opinion eating this stuff helps your body digest other food better thus making better use of what you eat.

Due to over sterilization and disinfecting our food we have failed to introduce natural things into our bodies we as human beings evolved with.
This isn't the average home owners fault the blame lies directly on food producers during the turn of the century that were selling all sorts of slop to the unsuspecting public.
A little common sense understanding of germs and cleanliness can go a long way to keep us safe in the home.
We dont need to run around with a can of disinfectant every step of our life.

I looked at a brand of sauerkraut they sell on line at HEB from Germany.
It said they couldn't ship to California.
What the heck is that all about, is it not processed enough is there a wee speck of some heavy metal on the label that no fool would eat anyway?
Sorry to get on the pulpit but we need to eat good bacteria it is a part of us and a part of who we are.

Worth