Was fortunate enough to find two huge heads of red cabbage at my fav local store that sells organic & locally grown produce. The turnips were pretty nice, but not as large as the ones I used for sauerruben. Wouldn't it be nice to find turnips like this one... (pic stolen from one of my fav seed catalogs)

Should know in a couple of days whether or not the latex glove will explode. I don't think it will. Hard to tell from the pics just how large that 2 gal jar really is.

Fingers crossed!

The red cabbage/turnip mix looks wonderful. How long before you can taste it?

We grew turnips like that... and wonderful large red cabbages, too. Did you make the Kefer curds n whey or is this a product you buy, too? Also what did you use to weigh down the vegies to keep them submerged?

I Amazon'd a 1 gal Ball Ideal Jar and a 2 gal Ball Ideal Jar in Oct 2006 after giving away my Harsch Fermenting Crock. (No more mold for me!)

Ball Ideal Jar

And I think Ball made a 4 gal jar too.

Today the glove has deflated quite a bit and the liquid level has risen a couple more inches. Rocking the jar from side to side will let trapped CO² bubbles rise to the surface and the liquid level will drop. Plans are to leave it alone for a total of 10 days before testing the pH.

My first pkt of dried Kefir came from this site: http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefirpage.html#Where_to_get_kefir_grains It might take you months to get sizable grains. The dried Kefir works well as a fermentation starter, but is nowhere near as fast as an older well-maintained culture. I've kept several pint jars and a quart jar going in my fridges for quite a few years now. I try to feed them whole, organic milk at least once a month & eat a spoonful nearly every day.

I didn't use weights for this fermentation.

There are two and four gallon jars on ebay!

Wow, that is a great price on the 2 gal jar! The quality of the Ball Ideal jars is incredible. Very heavy glass & I think pleasing to the eye when used as storage containers.

Olga,

I love comparing different methods and fermenting something with and w/o weights is something will definitely try. And am intrigued that you ferment tomatoes. I've never had good results using tomatoes in any of my sauce ferments. (like in a hot sauce)

Googling fermented tomatoes led me to this site that sells these fermenting containers

Does anyone use these Pickl-It containers?

Olga,

Can't wait to try this! This morning I purchased some very pricey grape tomatoes grown in Canada and some much larger cherry tomatoes grown in USA. They all look remarkably free of blemishes. And if you or someone can provide the proper salt to water ratio for the brine will start them under weight in quart jars.

Really, really been trying to eat healthy the last couple of years & I think tomatoes are very good for me. Next year am going to concentrate on small grape and cherry tomatoes such as Indigo Rose

Thanks much!

john

Thanks for the reply!

Am glad I got the salt ratio correct in my brines. Started two quarts small grape tomatoes on the 25th and a gal jar of nicely ripe golf ball-sized determinate tomatoes early yesterday. Didn't poke holes in them and am worried about the slow start (no bubbles yet). Used Kefir as a starter for all of them. Just might add some raisins or slightly crushed blueberries to the ferments tomorrow if don't see any activity. Have plenty of pics and more info, but thinking maybe should be in a new thread.

Sauerrubenkraut is looking and smelling wonderful. Really liking the 60 degree average temps. Might be as much as two weeks before test it.

john

OK... will try and not be so anxious. Too late not to add the kefir, but won't add anything else.

Talked to my 92 year old mom (She's Norwegian) on Christmas & she said her grandmother used to ferment tomatoes.

john

Short Google search and picked this one pretty much at random.

Now to come up with a burrito recipe that contains sauerkraut, red beans, carrots & chopped onions.

I mixed two heads of green cabbage with one head of red cabbage. Added a few thin apple slices for flavor. Added a couple ounces of whey liquid I 'drained' from plain live culture yogurt to act as as a 'starter'. I haven't tried the red + green cabbage mix before, but there are many internet references that it will come out with the red cabbage color but improved 'firmness'.

Also, in regard to the comments about Harsch crock 'mold', I ran into this early on as well. After some investigation, the cause was tracked down to be the porosity of the cover stones ... which do NOT have the same glazing as the crock itself. However, there is a super simple 'cure' that essentially guarantees mold-free ferments. The trick is that after scrubbing the crock and the cover stones thoroughly once a batch has finished, place the cover stones in the bottom of the empty crock. Then pour in enough EverClear ( or any other very high proof vodka ) to cover the stones and let soak overnight. In the morning, flip over the stones just to make sure that any portion of the stones that was touching the bottom of the crock get full exposure to the alcohol. Then just prior to using the crock for a new batch, remove the stones and 'swirl' the EverClear to disinfect the sides of the crock.

Personally speaking, I would love to find a source of 2 gallon glass canning jars, or any other type of 2 gallon glass jar that is actually sealable. But the largest size that appears to be readily available is only 1/2 gallon. The 2 gallon / 7.5 liter size is just perfect for one batch of anything that I wish to 'can' later ( including 'cold packing' my batch of sauerkraut ).

Although the latex glove idea appears to be extremely clever, it's too 'fragile' for me to consider using with pets around the house.

We have used both red and green cabbage and have even mixed it. The red turns out firmer and sweeter. The 50-50 mix seems best of all, particularly when cooked with pork roast
or with polish sausage. We have used both freezing and water bath canning as preservation techniques and have found the latter to do the best job.

So far as sealing a fermentation crock or glass container during fermentation we learned a very simple trick from an older lady over in Ohioville. We fill the fermentation
container to within about 8" from the top. We have used both a clay type antique crock and a six gallon empty
plastic wine bucket with identical results--no taste difference. (I think the wine buckets are made of a special plastic material to keep taste contamination down)
After you get the container packed you place on top of the
crushed kraut a plastic kitchen waste basket sized plastic
bag, fill the bag with water up to the container top, then tie off the bag top with a couple twisties. By the way, the whole fermentation dealie sits in one of those big plastic garden pot saucers which can be bought at K-Mart.
Fermentation juice will indeed bubble up around the bag to
container surface but will just releave itself around the bucket wall and down into the saucer.

With 6 to 8 weeks of patience one has a product and so far for us it has always been nice!

It is my understanding that such bags are not made from food-grade, food-safe plastics. Most brands say right on the box "not to be used for food storage" or a similar comment. Have you found a brand that is labeled food-safe?

Also it is usually recommended to fill the bag with brine rather than water. That way you eliminate the risk of diluting the brine in the bucket if the bag leaks and runing the whole batch.

Dave

Been doing it for 10 years or more and I'm feeling fine.
But nobody should take my suggestions seriously as I often make lots of misteaks and when it comes to food one should be particularly cautious as you might get sick unto death.

And have never had a bag break yet.

December 23rd

Jan 10th

The liquid level is down a couple inches now & is below the top edge of the 2 gal jar. Not in a hurry to sample so will let it sit for another week or so before testing for pH & taking a taste.

How much kefir whey 'starter' culture did you add to your 2 gallon kraut pack ?

I also have to admit that your glass jar's ability to let you see what's happening with the ferment is a major plus !!!

PS your red kraut looks awesome ! I'm sure it's eventually going to taste awesome as well.

Wine juice buckets are typically 6 gallon in capacity. So
they can hold a goodly quantity of material. I know some
folks who make wine by simply removing the lid from the bucket, adding a cultured wine yeast, and then resealing the lid back into place. I have always gone to a glass
5 gallon carboy with a gas bubbler in the top cork but
I don't know why the bucket and original lid system would
not work. Sometimes we just get into a method that works and don't consider alternatives objectively. Actually, one
has to "rack" fermenting wine juice 3 to 4 times during fermentation to separate the dead yeast residue away from the wine. That would involve removing and resealing the
top each time and that would also expose the juice to oxygen/air so maybe the glass carboy system is better.

At any rate, I can easily imagine a charge of cabbage or vegetables and brine into a wine juice bucket up to a level
perhaps 6 inches below the top rim. That should leave adequate space for some kind of sterile weight to force a plate down onto the contents. I think the bubbler that comes with the lid might be a bit challenged for gas relief
capacity but it should not be a big problem to drill it out and use a corked plastic wine bubbler in its place.

I think I might just give this a try next fall. Suggestions
for improvements would be appreciated!

I added 4 tbs. Ingredients List This particular fermentation took off like gangbusters and I could have used much less I think & still controlled the process.

"I also have to admit that your glass jar's ability to let you see what's happening with the ferment is a major plus !!!"

For sure is! There is something in me that just wants to see everything. Back when I used airlocks they worked just fine by themselves, but when I attached a balloon to the top of them I could really observe how much carbon dioxide was being produced and how quickly.

I would much prefer that the liquid did not come into contact with the latex glove so long and if ever repeat this project will not fill the jar as full.

And I just can't help trying new "improvements" that don't always pan out. Made a 45 mile drive to a brewer's supply store a few years back and had the time of my life just looking around getting ideas. I successfully made what was then called "balloon wine" in my college dormitory closet in 1961. True story. You should have seen the raisins dance! (and I added golden raisins to successfully perk up a whole tomato fermentation more than a week ago)

For me, a 1 gal pickle jar is as large a container as I ever really need. Small enough that I can put in one of my refrigerators and large enough to make canning the contents in pint or quart jars just worth the effort. 5 or 6 bucks at local wholesale club and I give the pickles to my dau and grandkids. They return the jar to me when they finish eating the pickles.

Am going to use a barrier instead of weights the next time ferment in one of the gallon pickle jars. And maybe glass beads in a nylon bag in another jar for comparison.

And not going to fill the jars as full so the liquid won't rise up into the glove.

Again my only worry here is the relative volume of gas that can produced or ABSORBED at various points in the lactic acid fermentation process. My Harsch crock has a comparatively large volume of water in the sealing 'gutter', and vacuum still pulls enough water backwards to reduce the level significantly. With a wine bubbler, even a two chamber wine bubbler, the vacuum could easily suck every bit of the seal water back into the fermentation jar.

Larry

I don't understand the gas "absorbed" and vacuum parts of the process. Please explain.[/i]

I'm not sure that I really CAN explain exactly what's going on. My guess is that, when gases are being released as the result of fermentation, some small amount of internal pressure builds up in the crock. Then when this pressure gets high enough to cause the crock's water seal to 'burp', the internal pressure drops back to zero. If the phase of fermentation moves beyond the gas generation phase, and the crock has already 'burped' away internal pressure, it seems that the process now reverses thus 'sucking' seal water inside the crock cover. This lowers the seal water level outside the crock cover.

The same thing seems to be happening with the latex glove approach. But imagine what would have happened if, at the point of maximum 'inflation', the seal was broken and the pressure was released from the glove to deflate it. From that point forward, instead of an 'inflated' glove 'deflating', you'd have a non-inflated glove being 'sucked' into the jar !

Thanks for sharing the red + green cabbage 'mix' suggestion !!! It's definitely a 'winner'.

Not bad at all. Amazing how the brine level drops and the carbon dioxide gas disappears when the fermenting is finished. I don't remember (if I ever did know) what is happening. Never have had a glove sucked into the kraut & doubt it would happen even if left unopened longer.

Canned 9 pints and refrigerated approximately 3 quarts. Made a couple of sauerrubenkraut/herring burritos out of some of it & they were fantastic! Don't laugh... the combo is really good.

The herring fillets I used:

Might add some sharp cheddar cheese slices to the next burritos. For sure a row of walnuts. Will be adding the refrigerated kraut to my almost daily garden salads too.

Now I need to find one of those 2 gallon glass canning jars. I've got to see what's actually happening throughout the ferment with outgassing and brine level changes !

For me, the 2 gal jars are too large & the 1 gal (or even quarts) are just perfect. When my ferments are finished I prefer to can or refrigerate them. Mostly refrigerate or even freeze so don't harm the beneficial bacteria.

Saw 2 gal clear glass cookie jar-type containers at Walmart this morning, but the mouths were much too large to stretch a glove over.

I have a similar jar that I bought at a thrift store in the Netherlands. I need to dig it out and see how much it holds. It is smaller than 5 liters. I saw powder free vinyl gloves at target the other day. I do think we would miss the burps if I fermented in something else. It tickles my ten year old who has to announce it every time.

Johh, Have you found that you don't need to weigh things down? Luckily, I didn't have any mold or yeast when I opened the Harsch crock last time. (I wiped it all down with vinegar before using.) This time I put a whole cabbage leaf on top of the shreds before putting the weights on top. It kept the little pieces from floating up.

Yes & no. Sometimes the contents get pushed up by trapped carbon dioxide enough that I have to rock the jar to settle things down. If I had enough sense to not fill the jars so full it might never be a problem. Think I have another solution & will post pics later.

I tried several differnt brands of gloves before finding a truly superior one that will stretch and stretch and stretch w/o breaking.

I'd be more than happy to drop a couple gloves into an envelope & send to you for comparison.

I've never tried making kefir water, so really can't say. Something I may try some day though. So far am totally happy with the dairy kefir.

Please let us know how it turns out.

Off topic... it sure feels good to come back to this forum and not get bombarded with virus attacks. Many of the GardenWeb forums were infected the last couple of days. Oddly (?) the computer help forum wasn't one of them.