I washed it when I took it home, and I thought I got most of the vanilla smell out, but shortly after loading up the cabbage, much sooner than any fermentation could occur (think 30 minutes), I could smell the vanilla, almost like the salt or cabbage somehow leached out the volatiles from the container.

Now the kraut smells like a mixture of very strong lactic acid and vanilla. The smell is overpowering and borderline offensive, but I'm keeping it underneath a plastic bag, so it might just be concentrated. Otherwise, it seems okay. The liquid is yellowish, thin layers of scum are forming, and so on.

Does anyone with experience with kraut and used buckets know if this has any chance of turning out well, or should I toss the thing out? Is the smell coming from the bucket, or is it safe to assume the vanilla has also tainted the flavor of the kraut?

The strong smell has scared me from doing a taste test, but I've heard that sometimes a batch will smell bad and then die down in a few days. Is that true?

There is a procedure for cleaning food-grade buckets to sterilize and remove any odors. I have used it with success, but unfortunately this is not the time of year for optimal results (i.e. you need sunlight).

Carol

Many times I have my 5 gallon crock appropriated to pickles, corned beef, kraut(I wish) etc., and I was always worried about having a good, clean food grade vessel. Great tips, as always!

Joan

Most Asian restaurants buy their soy sauce in 5 gallon buckets. The lids get "broken" open but you don't need the lid anyway. These restaurants usually have a stack of them somewhere. If you've a Chinese or Japanese restaurant that you frequent, the owner will likely be happy to save you one or more. The soy scent is pretty easy to clean out, I soak them for a few days in a couple of changes of water & baking soda.

I had no idea that caustic lime would thicken ice cream, but that was the process used. Anywho, the buckets had the same problem, they reeked of assorted artificial flavorings, and we never could get it out. I think at some point, it was psychological - you just *knew* that the batch of fermented chili peppers was going to taste of Peach Surprise.

Thanks to El Nino, however, we're having the third-warmest January in 70 years, a considerable contrast to most of the US and UK.

Soda and bleach will still go far with those buckets, but it's hard to beat the power of the sun for deep cleaning.

Carol

One shudders to think.

ROFL!

I've used yogurt buckets without any apparent ill effect, but I think it was plain yogurt, not fruit flavored. :-)

Annie