Maybe you guys can help with my sauerkraut dilemma!
It's my first time making sauerkraut. I am using a Harsch crock, but I didn't have the instructions for it. I was making sauerkraut according to "Wild Fermentation" by Sandor Katz. His instructions say to check on it every day or two and put it in the fridge after 7 - 10 days (I think that's the time frame, I don't have the book in front of me to check, but at any rate, it's a relatively short length of time).
So: I was proceeding in this manner, and on day three there were bubbles and no film/yeast/mold/scum. However, then I read online that with a Harsch crock, the sauerkraut should be left alone for four weeks: no peeking. That when one peeks into a Harsch crock, the special anaerobic environment that the Harsch crock provides is disrupted, eliminating the benefits of the Harsch crock and making it similar to sauerkraut made in a less airtight vessel (the method described in "Wild Fermentation.")
Well. Hmmm. So. Am I to now treat this sauerkraut batch like "Wild Fermantation" indicates, and keep checking and if necessary, skimming, or do I proceed as in the special Harsch crock way of leaving the batch alone except for topping off water in moat? It's day five, and I haven't peeked since day three. What do you guys think? Will the fermentation gases build up again and recreate the original airless environment? If I introduced and caused yeast/mold/scum the last time I checked, and don't skim it off but instead leave the sauerkraut unattended for several weeks, will this ruin the sauerkraut?
This situation probably seems funny (and it is) but it's just that I'm a newb to sauerkraut making and would love for my first batch to be a rousing success (you should have heard my questions when I learned to make sourdough starter/bread, ha!) So any thoughts/advice is welcome!
Joanna
digdirt2
mellyofthesouth
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tradewind_64Original Author
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mellyofthesouth
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