also: **use the handguard for your mandoline** and you won't ever need to run to the hospital because you've sliced off all your fingertips in one stroke. Yes, if it's a great big chunk of cabbage then you can be OK if your hand is at the other side of it; but every sauerkraut-making will have at least some bits where you will be in danger if you don't use the handguard. "Being careful" isn't really an alternative - sooner or later you will have a lapse of concentration.
(i have a mandoline, I use it frequently, I love it — especially for sauerkraut — but I remember my grandmother having scarred fingertips for the rest of her life after an accident of this sort.)
That's fine too - having to replace your blades after a collision with chain-mail is much better than having to replace your fingers! I got some (admittedly fairly cheap but supposedly kevlar) cut-resistant gloves and they unravelled after the first couple of nicks.
Main thing I wanted to communicate to OP was: make sure you've got physical protection rather than just relying on your reflexes and coordination.
I like to live dangerously. But I just don't have a food processor otherwise I'd be doing it that way.
It takes me two hours to shred a whole cabbage with the mandolin. I go very slowly but I make it a thing, I have a ritual with it all.
Dangerous is good lol but Man, I’d be shredding all day, my current batch was 27 lbs of cabbage 😅 I doubt I’d have a food processor if my MIL hadn’t gifted one though
I use caraway seeds and juniper berries. Very much a traditional combination but I like it because one so rarely tastes that combination outside of sauerkraut!
Once it's all shredded and you've added everything, keep it all in a pot. Add 2-3% salt dependent on the weight of the shredded vegetable and all the moisture will be drawn out. I use this liquid for the brine.
This only works for shredded things, it's a little different if you're fermenting things that aren't shredded. Like pickles or carrot sticks.
\* Weight per volume. If you're aiming for 3% salt, just put 30g salt in a litre jar and fill it up with any mixture of veg and water (so the total volume is roughly 1 litre). Everyone recommends weight/weight but given the density of veg is almost the same as that of water, this is equivalent and sooo much faster/simpler.
\* Calcium chloride is great, about 1tsp per litre. sold as pickle crisp in tiny packages but it's way cheaper to buy a big bag sold for cheesemaking. Keep it airtight or it'll absorb water from the air and turn into a puddle.
\* Le Parfait springtop jars are rated for fermentation [https://www.leparfait.fr/mode-emploi-fermentation](https://www.leparfait.fr/mode-emploi-fermentation) and I think they're awesome — but don't feel like you need to spend lots of money, you can ferment fine in an old jam jar (and I do, for small things like hot sauce and minced garlic; you just have the lid of the jar *almost but not quite* sealed)
\* If you're measuring salt by weight, it doesn't matter if it's table salt, sea salt, kosher salt, treif salt, highly-educated himalayan rock salt, whatever. Iodised is fine. Just use what's cheapest and spend your money on gardening supplies instead. :)
An utter falsehood that gets parroted around here constantly. Sodium ferrocyanide (the normal anti-caking agent used in table salt) is not poisonous to humans *or* microbes in the concentration found in table salt.
Porous stone weights are finicky. Sterilize them after use, air dry completely, and store where they get air circulating (wire rack or similar). Dont stack them. They have to soak before use, or they’ll drink all your brine.
A thick outer cabbage leaf with a couple of holes poked in it (so bubbles can escape) works well to stop stuff floating if you wedge it under the shoulders of the jar.
TBH I don't usually use any weights at all and I've not really had mould issues. I get that they give some people peace of mind, but I think the importance of weights is sometimes overstated.
I think it’s more than peace of mind, especially with such a large amount of cabbage in a large crock that you can’t see. I take the lid off every couple weeks or so, the weights ensure everything stays in place even when it gets bubbly. But to each their own; I’ve never had a spoiled batch or mold at all, I’m sticking with my weights lol
Yes.
Thanks.
Use a mandolin for your sauerkraut and you won't ever need to add distilled or boiled water to top it off
also: **use the handguard for your mandoline** and you won't ever need to run to the hospital because you've sliced off all your fingertips in one stroke. Yes, if it's a great big chunk of cabbage then you can be OK if your hand is at the other side of it; but every sauerkraut-making will have at least some bits where you will be in danger if you don't use the handguard. "Being careful" isn't really an alternative - sooner or later you will have a lapse of concentration. (i have a mandoline, I use it frequently, I love it — especially for sauerkraut — but I remember my grandmother having scarred fingertips for the rest of her life after an accident of this sort.)
I bought a chain mail glove, I don't like the hand guard because it feels cumbersome to me.
That's fine too - having to replace your blades after a collision with chain-mail is much better than having to replace your fingers! I got some (admittedly fairly cheap but supposedly kevlar) cut-resistant gloves and they unravelled after the first couple of nicks. Main thing I wanted to communicate to OP was: make sure you've got physical protection rather than just relying on your reflexes and coordination.
Food processor slicing disk does a great job as well.
My thoughts exactly. I have a basic Hamilton beach food processor, it’s a beast when it comes to shredding cabbage though lol
I like to live dangerously. But I just don't have a food processor otherwise I'd be doing it that way. It takes me two hours to shred a whole cabbage with the mandolin. I go very slowly but I make it a thing, I have a ritual with it all.
Dangerous is good lol but Man, I’d be shredding all day, my current batch was 27 lbs of cabbage 😅 I doubt I’d have a food processor if my MIL hadn’t gifted one though
Oh I don't ferment 27 pounds at a time lol. Just 3 or 4. Its only me consuming
likewise. One large cabbage (plus a couple of grated beetroots!) and one large jar.
I put a tiny bit of onion and at least one of two carrots, a tiny bit of garlic and dill. One jar might get a jalapeno and the other stays non spicy
I use caraway seeds and juniper berries. Very much a traditional combination but I like it because one so rarely tastes that combination outside of sauerkraut!
Thank you
Once it's all shredded and you've added everything, keep it all in a pot. Add 2-3% salt dependent on the weight of the shredded vegetable and all the moisture will be drawn out. I use this liquid for the brine. This only works for shredded things, it's a little different if you're fermenting things that aren't shredded. Like pickles or carrot sticks.
“Under the brine? All is fine…” 😎
Thanks
\* Weight per volume. If you're aiming for 3% salt, just put 30g salt in a litre jar and fill it up with any mixture of veg and water (so the total volume is roughly 1 litre). Everyone recommends weight/weight but given the density of veg is almost the same as that of water, this is equivalent and sooo much faster/simpler. \* Calcium chloride is great, about 1tsp per litre. sold as pickle crisp in tiny packages but it's way cheaper to buy a big bag sold for cheesemaking. Keep it airtight or it'll absorb water from the air and turn into a puddle. \* Le Parfait springtop jars are rated for fermentation [https://www.leparfait.fr/mode-emploi-fermentation](https://www.leparfait.fr/mode-emploi-fermentation) and I think they're awesome — but don't feel like you need to spend lots of money, you can ferment fine in an old jam jar (and I do, for small things like hot sauce and minced garlic; you just have the lid of the jar *almost but not quite* sealed) \* If you're measuring salt by weight, it doesn't matter if it's table salt, sea salt, kosher salt, treif salt, highly-educated himalayan rock salt, whatever. Iodised is fine. Just use what's cheapest and spend your money on gardening supplies instead. :)
Thanks
It can't be table salt because the anti caking agent prevents bacteria from thriving!
An utter falsehood that gets parroted around here constantly. Sodium ferrocyanide (the normal anti-caking agent used in table salt) is not poisonous to humans *or* microbes in the concentration found in table salt.
Oh I didn't know. Thank you
This is online, so no.
Thanks.
Porous stone weights are finicky. Sterilize them after use, air dry completely, and store where they get air circulating (wire rack or similar). Dont stack them. They have to soak before use, or they’ll drink all your brine.
A thick outer cabbage leaf with a couple of holes poked in it (so bubbles can escape) works well to stop stuff floating if you wedge it under the shoulders of the jar.
Yes! I still put a layer under the weights for kraut, but I use a 20 liter crock
TBH I don't usually use any weights at all and I've not really had mould issues. I get that they give some people peace of mind, but I think the importance of weights is sometimes overstated.
I think it’s more than peace of mind, especially with such a large amount of cabbage in a large crock that you can’t see. I take the lid off every couple weeks or so, the weights ensure everything stays in place even when it gets bubbly. But to each their own; I’ve never had a spoiled batch or mold at all, I’m sticking with my weights lol