That pretty much sums it up, help please if you do?
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apple
Denver
  • This is a decent and pretty straight forward recipe from Vegweb.
    Make sure to sterilize all of your spoons and bowls (boiling or with iodine) before you start so that you get the right bacteria colonizing your kraut.

    Sauerkraut or Kimchi

    Most people know what sauerkraut is, and many even know what Kimchi is, but few people know how easy it is to make yourself.

    Ingredients (use vegan versions):

    1 head green or red cabbage
    2-4 tablespoons salt
    1 bunch radishes (optional)
    1 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
    2 square inch cubes fresh ginger (optional)
    4 cloves garlic (optional)

    Directions:

    Don't wash your cabbage or radishes unless they have visible soil on them.

    Chop your cabbage into shreds of desired size.

    Slice radishes if desired.

    Finely slice ginger and garlic if desired.

    Add all to a large bowl and salt thoroughly. Add cayenne now if desired.

    Cover and let sit until the cabbage looks wilted and some liquid has pooled at the bottom of the bowl. Press firmly into a large, clean glass jar or several smaller ones. Push the shreds down until enough liquid seeps out to cover everything well. If you feel you cannot get anymore liquid out but need more, add some clean, salted water. Don't fill the jars too tightly because gasses will form, the mass will expand and the liquid might be pressured out of the jar and end up on your counter!

    Check for mold every once in a while and skim it off if any forms. Also taste-test every once in a while to see how sour you like it. I start to like mine once it hits the 1 week mark, but I keep it at around 71 degrees Fahrenheit. The hotter, the faster it will ferment.

    The cayenne, ginger, garlic version more resembles Kimchi. The plain cabbage resembles sauerkraut. If you are going for traditional, you can add juniper berries, caraway seeds, and apple shreds to the cabbage.

    I like to make mine with cayenne, ginger, and garlic because it inhibits mold forming at the surface. The mold shouldn't be harmful, but watch out for large amounts or brightly colored mold, those could be bad signs. In those cases, toss the affected jar.

    If you have a good batch, you can use leftover juices to "inoculate" a new batch. This also causes the new batch to ferment faster.

    Once you have this technique down, I challenge you to try this with different veggies. Cabbage and radishes are exceptionally easy to ferment, but almost any veggie will work. Try it!

    Serves: 1 medium-large jar

    Preparation time: 1 week (45 minutes prep)
    • im trying the recipe ... my first batch ever. everything is going fine and i've done all the steps .. one question though do you put a tight lid on the jar or a loose lid or does it need more air flow ... what do you use?
      thanks for the recipe and the help
      • I`m a beginer to....Making my first batch.....
        I `m really going easy to start....Don`t know if it will work, but I`ll keep trying till I get it right.

        Here`s my simpleton sauerkraut formula...
        5 bags of preshredded coleslaw cabbage...
        Stuff into large glass rar...one bag at a time.
        Sprinkle seasalt and mash and muddle the cabbage with potato masher to release cabbage juice and mix the salt.
        repeat with each bag till jar is about 3\4 full, mash the cabbage down until liquid rises..
        Put a plastic lid inside the jar with a weight on it. cover jar loosely...
        now the wait.....I hope it works!
        • It worked! A little over a month and I have a large jar of delicius sauerkraut...
          Here`s my original post

          "I`m a beginer to....Making my first batch.....
          I `m really going easy to start....Don`t know if it will work, but I`ll keep trying till I get it right.

          Here`s my simpleton sauerkraut formula...
          5 bags of preshredded coleslaw cabbage...
          Stuff into large glass rar...one bag at a time.
          Sprinkle seasalt and mash and muddle the cabbage with potato masher to release cabbage juice and mix the salt.
          repeat with each bag till jar is about 3\4 full, mash the cabbage down until liquid rises..
          Put a plastic lid inside the jar with a weight on it. cover jar loosely...
          now the wait.....I hope it works! "

          Once every few days I rinsed the scum of the top and replaced with more salt water...
          I really came out good....Tastes similar to a bag of boar`s head I bought.....
      • OK, something tells me I am going to try this recipe tonight. I love kraut and think the addition of ginger and garlic sound awesome. I have a bunch of mason jars and am thinking they would be good to use for this. Is that true? Anyone have other suggestions, or would recommend against using mason jars for some reason?
        • the batches that i made the night that i posted last came out awesome- EXCEPT the ones that we used garlic in. It's overpowering, and not in a good way, ginger sounds awesome, but be cautious with how much you put in. i love garlic, and the way that it fermented just made it pretty close to inedible.
          • Yeah, the one time I used garlic, I used a tiny bit and it was pretty strong. It was tasty, but I didn't want to eat it before hanging out with anyone.

            I use lots of ginger, daikon radish, cayenne pepper, carrot, green cabbage.

            yummy!! I have been sortof trying to duplicate that awesome Kim Chi kraut made in the East Bay area that costs a fortune per jar, the smaller squat jars. These are their ingredients
          • I'm a little bummed to hear about the garlic not tasting so great but I will find out for myself tomorrow when I taste the kraut. It'll be exactly a week so I figured I could try it out now, right? I appreciate the warning though about the garlic. It's good to know if something may not taste all that great ahead of time! I'm hoping it's not so bad because I have 2 smallish jars both from the same batch with garlic. I'll report in after I've done a taste test.
            • Update on my first kraut experience. One jar seemed to work out great, and the garlic wasn't too much for me. I thought it tasted pretty good, though not something I would say tasted great, or like sauerkraut. I took a few fork fulls and then put it in the fridge. I haven't actually eaten any more and will probably toss it. It still looks fine, just wondering if it isn't safe to eat after a few weeks. The 2nd jar didn't far as well. It did get some mold on top as someone else had said might happen. I just didn't want to take the chance of eating it, plus it smelled a little funky, and different than the other jar.

              Next time I plan to use green instead of red cabbage and will need to shred it thinner.

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