Kraut and Kimche Recipes

[feathersnuggles]

Good stuff! Thanks for the recipes. I've been making up my recipes: by starting with shredded cabbage + sea salt, then adding other shredded veggies that I happen to have around. Collards and kale are nice additions if you have them. The garlic REALLY gets strong smelling after a couple weeks... but LOVE the taste! A couple tablespoons of this kraut added to your basic cole slaw recipe makes it taste oh so awesome (and no extra salt is necessary)! My family, friends, and co-workers clean up every little bit of salad, no matter how much I make.

I don't have a crock; I just use really big glass canning jars.

 

[Funky Feathers]

Ewwwww!! Those are the 2 grossest foods I can think of! And Kimchi- rotten cabbage? So nasty.

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

rotten cabbage . . . YUM!!!

 

[breezy]

Nothing like good spicy kim chi on a cold winters morning to warm your day up..yummy!

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

my crock came today!!!!

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

ok then question;
does it matter where I keep the crock when it is "working"? does the temperature of the room matter? is the kitchen counter good? (assuming the water lock keeps the smell in) or would it be better out in my pump house/food storage room . . .
thanks

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

first batch is in! now to wait 4 weeks . . .

 

[KatyTheChickenLady]

My first batch from the harsch crock you suggested turned out AWESOME!!! thanks for your suggestion and recipes

I have a question though, I would like to keep the excess in jars in the pantry . . . what do I need to do to do this? water bath can? pressure can? just jar? . . . ?????
Mine came out a little dry; don't know if that was from too much salt or not enough, but there is basicly no liquid, do you think I should add some before putting in jars?
thanks so much!

 

[FowlDelights]

We've done the water bath method and it will cook it slightly which loses some of the crunchy ness. We usually keep ours in the refrigerator and start a new batch when it gets low. A 5 pound batch at a time is what we work with and renew.

For us, grocery story cabbage tends to be dry probably because of how they are stored. You don't really know how old it is so we have to add salted water to provide additional liquid. I think it is 1 tablespoon of salt to a quart of water. Add enough of the water to slightly cover the stones. We are going to grow our own cabbage this year and hopfully that will have additional water content because of freshness.

Hope this helps.

 

[ChicksterJo]

I am resurrecting this thread because I just got a Harsch Gairtopf crock (10 L ) today for my SO (for our 4 year anniversary) and we are so excited to use it! I used to not be a big fan until I bought a jar of Hengstenberg Bavarian sauerkraut and I was converted. Anyway, we are going to try to make our own and other pickled goodies in this, so if anyone else has any more experience making their own kraut, I'd like to hear your stories and results!