/ck/ - Food & Cooking

2g of salt for every 100g of cabbage

>>17018901
Great thread. Keep up the good work

>>17018931
You sure won't get any mold with that much salt, faggot

>>17018901
get some airlocks, problem solved

>>17018986
Great post

>>17018901
just don't eat the mold. the kraut is fine

>>17019817
if I see mold I throw the whole thing through the wc

>>17018901
Idk how you fucked it up but try again. Cabbage and salt are dirt cheap

>>17019881
I'll try again, I'm thinking on making my own airlock jar. the ones I see online seem shitty and expensive.

>>17018901
Get the right tool. I got mold when I used janky shit like >>17019302, but the crock came out fucking perfect.

>>17020161
Yeah, that shit looks pretty expensive tho.
people made sauerkraut in the past without that stuff, there must be a way that doesn't involve expensive 'tacticool stuff'

How do commercial sauerkraut fermenters safely make their product with such low sodium content?

For example, this is my favorite sauerkraut brand. A 30g serving only contains 170mg of salt, this .56% salt, instead of the 2% that you usually see recommended.

I love fermented foods but I can't be eating 2g of salt just on a 100g serving of sauerkraut, how can I make low sodium ferments safely at home?

>>17020161
Is there such a thing as non food-grade glazed ceramics?
I'm not being snarky, I'm really asking.

>>17020192
>people made sauerkraut in the past without that stuff
m8 fermentation cocks ARE what people used in the past.

>>17020204
Yeah some ceramic glazes and colorings have shit like lead in them, it's why you should generally just avoid any kind of colored or patterned dishes and plates because the likelihood that they were made in China and have lead in them is pretty high.

>>17020203
They might use a starter culture.

>>17020203
They more than likely pasteurize it once it reaches a certain level of fermentation. Or use other chemicals as preservatives.

>>17020203
>How do commercial sauerkraut fermenters safely make their product with such low sodium content?
They pasteurize it and sterilize it, that's how. It's very difficult to find "real" sauerkraut in the grocery store for this reason, all the beneficial bacteria has been killed. If you do it's almost certainly in the refrigerated section of the store, never refrigerated.

>>17020220
>If you do it's almost certainly in the refrigerated section of the store, never refrigerated.
Never UN-refrigerated, fucking spell check.

>>17020214
I don't think that's the case. The recipe book that I got from Germany uses the same salt ratio whether you go with pure cabbage or add a whey starter, the only difference is that the starter can decrease the total amount of time you need to ferment.

>>17019893
I've only ever used regular mason jars. Leave the cap barely unscrewed and you'll be fine

>>17020161
I really doubt some babushka lost on Siberia was using any special tool to ferment a fucking cabbage anon.

>>17020234
Maybe people are just being overly cautious with a 2% brine and you can achieve it will less its just more risky and has a higher likelihood to spoil.

>>17020247
that's what I'm doing, but juice is gettin foggy

>>17020203
>I love fermented foods but I can't be eating 2g of salt just on a 100g serving of sauerkraut,
Stop worrying about salt. Salt has been needlessly demonized and scapegoated by the sugar Jew. You can easily consume 10x as much salt as the daily recommended amount and not only be perfectly fine, you'll probably be MORE healthy due to the fact that the daily recommended amount of salt is too low. Nearly every single health problem attributed to salt is actually caused by sugar. Salt is a critically needed resource for your body to function, but sugar is an addictive drug.

>>17020251
>ceramic pottery is too advanced for Babushka's kitchen
I suppose cast iron pans and stainless steel knives were also unobtainable? I guarantee Babushka has multiple 10-20gal crocks in the basement for fermenting all sorts of shit, not just cabbage, because if she didn't she wouldn't survive the winter. Vegetables, fish, fruit, probably some jars of hooch too.

>>17020256
Cloudiness is normal.

>>17020256
Mold is fuzzy colonies on the top of the brine. Real lactofermented anything will get a "cloudy" brine, and if your salt ratio is 2-2.5% like all the recipes say then it's very difficult for anything to grow in there that's not the lacto bacteria. As long as there's no fuzzy shit growing it's fine. Keep it away from sunlight though if you can.

>>17020262
well, I don't want to be stuborn, I won't argue further, is just that the pic you posted looks like some expensive gadget to make a handful of fermented stuff.
>>17020278
>>17020279
Thanks, I keep smelling it every now and then an looking if something grows on the surface.
also the salt concentration is over 2% because I made a mistake. I'll get more and improve.

>>17020300
anywhere between 2-5% is fine, sweet spot for most vegetables is between 2-3.

>>17020203
2g/100g salt is still not even close enough to prevent bacteria or mold from growing. It's for taste. Yoz add around the same ratio of salt to everything. Especially sausages.

Pretty easy.
Shred cabbage, salt it, mash it so water comes out, submerge, let it sit for like 4-6 weeks

>>17018901
When I made it, I kept checking occasionally to make sure the brine still covered everything and added more salt water if needed. And I don't think it's easy to make at all. Slicing a bunch of cabbage takes a while and letting it ferment takes forever. I'd let mine sit for months and months. It was worth it but it takes work.

>>17020701
>2g/100g salt is still not even close enough to prevent bacteria or mold from growing

you are wrong.

Bumping, see you tomorrow guys

>>17021479
So why are people still fucking it up? It's just not enough to add some salt but also other factors. If you fucked up the latter you will need way more salt. Salt alone is not idiot proof.

>>17020204
Very much so. You need to be careful with them.

Where does my brine go?
I've made two batches so far in a 2 quart jar with an airlock, and both times the brine level went down by half in the second week.
How to prevent this?
Or do you just need to keep adding brine?

>>17022409
Does it still cover the kraut?

>>17022621
No

>>17022409
I wonder what that little kitty would tasted like? If you fried it? Would it be crispity crunch? I bet it would be sweet!

Too much air left use more salt and a starter culture.

>>17020192
>ceramic crock
>tacticool

Have you ever even been outside the metro?

>>17018901
I tried it and it had way too much salt. Would rather fake it with vinegar and cabbage.

>>17018901

other anons going on about salt but the most likely culprit is plain ol' cleanliness. it pays to be a little obsessive for any kind of home preservation. dishwasher everything before starting (or wash with hot water + rinse with a sink of hot water with a cap of bleach in it. use rubber gloves), sterilise jars & utensils with boiling water (put everything in a pot of simmering water and let it sit for a couple minutes), have clean hands, quick hand wash if you're snacking etc. Check that there residue of any kind on the threads of the jar / lid, that tends to be the problem.

next up, make sure you're tamping it tight enough to get all the air bubbles out, and getting all the kraut submerged in liquid. If you run out of cabbage water, you can add some 2% salt brine. shouldn't need more than 50ml water + 1g of salt, and ideally you won't need any. pack a bit at a time to avoid bubbles at the bottom.

an airlock isn't totally necessary, but is more easy/foolproof than alternatives. I like the silicone mason jar top style, easy to clean, hard to break, relatively cheap.

if you don't want to drop money on an airlock, you can put some plastic wrap on the surface of the kraut (pat it down so there's no air) and place the lid on top without fully closing it so air can escape. in my experience that can leak a bit, but it's effective without needing to buy equipment. just put something under the jar and check daily for spillage (wipe any spillage off the sides with a damp paper towel)

starter culture is a bit down the rabbit hole for "easy beginner sauerkraut". 2% salt is fine. see if you can get some without iodine (kosher salt is most versatile) you got this OP. it's one of those "easy once you know how to do it" things. if it's mold on the rim you can probably wipe it off (don't let it get in the kraut /re-sterilise lid by boiling it in water), white mold generally isn't a huge deal, but if it's green / black mold on the food it's got to go.

>>17020161
i just made a nice batch of kimchi with just a mason jar, weight, and an airlock. no mold and it say on the counter for 3 weeks. if you want to go full peasant you just do it in a crock and skim the top layer frequently

>>17020203
you don't eat sauerkraut as the main dish for starters and it's generally rinsed and cooked as a part of dishes

do you guys throw something at it to ferment? garlic? some seeds? I want to try stuff

>>17020300
You'll know if it's really off pretty quick. No need to be so paranoid

>>17018907
This. If you fuck up, try again and add more salt.

How many time should you ferment it? I have watch some videos telling me 2 weeks, but I don't know if that's ok or it's just the bare minimum

>>17025230
You can occasionally taste it. I usually do 4 weeks or so

>>17022975