I tried to make me some saur kraut using a whole cabbage. I didn’t have a jar big enough, so I put it in a kind of plastic thing that held candy in little packages that turned out not to be airtight. I followed a recipe online that involved putting one layer of cabbage followed by a layer of salt, and adding boiled, nonchlorinated water if it didn’t produce enough. I was supposed to store it in a warm dark place, so I stored it in a dark place that was probably between about 70 and 80 degrees all the time. I came back a few days later and there was some white stuff growing in it. It wasn’t fuzzy or pink. I looked it up and it sounded like kahm, which is harmless. But I didn’t like it.(Captain Kirk didn’t like it when he found kahm in his kraut:www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajsNJtnUb7c.)So I left it alone for a while, opened it up later, and took out some more kahm. The smell was strong, kind of like kraut, and kind of like a dirty old sock. Is good kraut supposed to smell like an old sock? I threw the stuff out. I may try a jar that closes properly next time. Did I do it wrong________________
Link, my mother and my kinfolks have made kraut. It is not supposed to be in something airtight. I haven’t made it myself, but a couple of bloggers I follow can give you good information.I think all the folks around these parts do it in the fall when temperatures would be much cooler than 70 to 80.Here is one blog postchiotsrun.com/2009/12/18/how-to-tell-if-your-sauerkraut-is-finished/Here is another, and this guy has other recipes for fermented goods such as kimchi on his blogwww.ourhappyacres.com/2015/10/homemade-sauerkraut-three-ways/
Oh, and I just read that kahm is more likely to form at higher temperatures.
I’ve read it grows because of too much oxygen, too, which is why I was thinking of using something airtight. But I’ve heard that Czechs make it in barrels, and I don’t know if those are airtight________________
I do like kraut on occasion. I never thought much as to how it was made. My mama never made kraut, I think daddy would have thought it a waste of good cabbage. Some processes are tough for neophytes. Keep trying Link! ________________Some facts but mostly just my [email protected]/