Sauerkraut: the saga continues
So I went back and reread all the instructions in all the books, and pondered all of the suggestions and methods in the past thread (which I can't get to at the moment. When I go back, I get a 404 error.)
Instructions say to pack firmly, but not to tightly...and one person said they poke their cabbage daily with a skewer. So I'm thinking maybe it's packed to tightly, and maybe I've got more weight than I need on top of the cabbage.
So I checked that out, and when I poked into the cabbage, great bubbles of cabbage belches arose. So, hmmm....there's bubbles happening, but they aren't rising to the top like I expect. So I put a plate back on top, make sure the liquid level is good, and put one jar on top to the hold the plate down. I figured that I'd check again in a day and see if more bubbles had formed, or if the bubbles I just released had been trapped a long time.
So again today I poked and prodded, and again I got a lot of bubbles.
So my new hypothesis is that this must be yet another quirk of living at high altitude. For whatever reason, the bubbles aren't finding their way to the surface the way I expected them to, but they are forming down below. After this last poking, the looser cabbage was a little higher in the containter, so I added more salt water per the Ball book's instructions. I'll poke it again daily, of that's what I have to do, but at least now I know that something's going on down there.
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9 Comments:
Perhaps just a good shake would be enough to redistribute those fermenting gasses. If the poke and stir method works...have at it. I'm going to consult some Menonite relatives of mine for your spicy, pickle conundrurm. Good German blood there--along with plenty of gas.
dhorst at 12:12AM on 11/08/09
@dhorst, It's a big crock, so shaking would be a pretty good workout. Poking is a lot easier. I just poked through the cabbage with the handle of a long spoon and the bubbles came up.
Let me know what the relatives say. But right now, I'm betting it has something to do with air pressure up here (gasp) in the high country.
dbcurrie at 12:47AM on 11/08/09
Is it smelly? A good, clean smell, I mean.
betteirene at 1:19AM on 11/08/09
@betteirene, itf you really sniff it, it's clean and briny smelling. It's not like you walk in the room and you notice it, though.
dbcurrie at 2:43AM on 11/08/09
dbcurrie: I watched the Alton Brown episode the other night, which someone mentioned in the previous thread and which was being replayed. Alton said that the process happens in two segments, with the sauerkraut bubbling for two weeks from one lactobacillus, and then another lactobacillus taking over and producing the sour flavor over the next two weeks (I think he said they were both lactobacillus).
So I thought perhaps you had checked it right at the transition, as I think you said in that thread that it was at two weeks when it had stopped bubbling. So maybe it was proceeding perfectly.
lemonfair at 7:48AM on 11/08/09
Sounds like it's working.
yay!
CJ McD at 10:22AM on 11/08/09
ahh, I forgot you live at high altitude.
I don't know, though, in theory lower oxygen concentration should help anaerobic fermentation.
my wild guess is that oxygen level is already lower so you don't have to pack the cabbage too tightly... doesn't make that much sense, but maybe.
glad to hear it seems to be working!
hmw0029 at 1:34PM on 11/08/09
Well, since I've got most of the Good Eats episodes recorded, I went looking for the right one...and of course, the title isn't obvious. But I found it and I'm going to watch it shortly. I read the recipe online and it sounds like what I've got going should be just fine.
@hmw0029, I never know what effects altitude is going to have. Sometimes it seems completely backward. Since there's less air pressure, you'd think the bubbles would have less trouble rising (like bread or cakes that want to overrise) but now we're also dealing with fighting through the cabbage instead of just liquidy stuff. Or maybe the bubbles are coming to the top when I'm not looking.
dbcurrie at 5:38PM on 11/08/09
i actually woke up today wondering how this is going...what's the update, db?
BananaMonkey at 2:59PM on 11/24/09