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Sauerkraut — 14 Comments

  1. Hi! Just wondering… Is it really necessary to leave the weight on after you’ve established that the liquid is completely covering the veggies, or can you just put a towel over it and let ‘er go?

    • Hey Joe. I have two thoughts on this. The first is that the weight also serves the purpose of keeping the veggies from floating to the surface. When they are in contact with the surface, they are more likely to attract and develop mold. The 2nd thought is that perhaps you may be diluting the saltiness of the brine too much if the vegetables are able to remain under the brine without benefit of the displacement and compression provided by the weight. If you want to try without the weight and see what happens, I’d appreciate your writing back here and letting us know what you’ve found out.

      • In response to Joe: If you don’t leave the weight on….some of the veggies will float to the top and spoil your batch. anything floating on the surface will spoil. Once your fermenting process starts, there will be lots of (and constant) gas bubbles forming that carry up any loose bits up to the top of your ferment. Even using plates as weight with food safe bags filled with brine on top to keep everything submerged…..some little bits will escape to the surface. You have to keep a watch on these every few days and scoop any bits out that have floated to the top.

  2. Hi Ted
    I have been looking at your site as I started kombucha couple of months ago after coworker gave me a scout scoby….and your info has been thorough and invaluable as I learn the process. I am attempting red cabbage ferment and have question. The few floaters that come to the top and mold scare me. At first there were three and after a week away from home there is almost a full rim above my glass weight. Will they ruin my batch? Is it enough to just remove them and go on with the batch? They are the few pieces that float above my weight and are above the fluid line. I am using Simply Sauer ferment lid and glass weight for the top of the jar. I can post pictures to you if it will help.

    • You can simply remove those floaters if you like. However, in an anaerobic environment (such as gets created in an airlock after a few days fermentation (the oxygen gets replaced by carbon dioxide), the risk of mold growth goes down considerably.

    • Hi Edward, I’ve never tried that. My own perspective is that by, what I assume you mean as boiling the container, you are effectively killing the probiotic value of the sauerkraut. It will likely preserve just fine, but I don’t see the reason. Sauerkraut should preserve just fine, at least in the fridge for a long time.

    • Hi Edward, I ferment first and then I water bath can the jars. You do loose the probiotic effect though. For the canning, warm the sauerkraut up and put them into pint or quart jars with 1/2 inch headspace. Water bath for 15 min upto 1000 feet height, 20 min 1001- 6000feet 25 min above 6000 ft

      • I’m not that familiar with th4e “water bath” technique, but if the intent is to raise the temperature high and long enough to create a shelf-stable container of sauerkraut, that you would definitely lose the probiotic effect.

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