Saukerkraut Attempt #2

So we are doing it again.


After losing out on the argument over which recipe we would use (I always prefer anything from the Joy of Cooking) we have started a new batch of kraut. Chris does not have my same preference for the joy. (Much to my frustration most of the time.) So we've been using a lot of guidance from Michael Ruhlman. He recommends using 50g salt/1 liter of water. So, for the second batch of kraut we shredded our cabbage, and made a 4 liter brine with 200g of salt. (The determining factor in the winning of the argument is that the joy recommends 3-6 weeks for a timeline, while Ruhlman says we can have it as soon as 2 weeks. The Joy also calls for much much less salt, and less brine. It relies more heavily on liquid coming out of the cabbage.)

In so doing, we also used our Wort Chiller to cool down the brine in a reasonable amount of time. We've officially used it more for pickling than we have for brewing. (Chris used it at Thanksgiving for the turkey, and when we tried to use it prior to that while we were brewing we ran into a mishap because of a missing adapter.) We also got our hands on some kraut with live and active cultures, so I seeded our batch with a tablespoon or two of the juice and mixed it in well. It's my understanding that this will get us a better kraut taste. But what do I know, I said this time if its screwed up that I'll be to blame.

If we are lucky, the brine will take about two weeks to mature, which puts it at 12/28 - the day before we come back from a long road trip. I think the plan will be to add extra brine just before we go, cross our fingers, and hope for the best. Otherwise, we get to come home and clean the crock again.

An update, we made some cold pack pickles, and they are quite tasty. They will also be going out the door as last minute gifts for Hanukkah. Someday we will have the time and inclination to make more stuff for keeps. Also going out the door are some lemon pepper canned green beans, and the rest of the apple butter.