9/3/2017 – Made our first spiced kraut and did it German style inspired by this recipe at the www.TheSpruce.com. Had half of a large white cabbage from Honk Kong Market (991 gm) bought two weeks ago. Sliced half like cole slaw (forgot what I was making) and the rest into long thin slices.
Mixed in 14 gm pickling salt or 1.4%. It tasted a bit salty but not too much. Added:
- 14 juniper berries
- 1 rounded teaspoon caraway seeds
- 1 rounded teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
Hammered down with the meat cleaver for maybe 5 minutes. Put the mix into the 2 qt. fermenting jar–the 991 gm plus spices filled it perfectly. Installed air lock and put into the dark guest bathroom. After several hours it still had not produced much brine. Perhaps, there is value in letting it sit salted in the bowl for several hours like the recipe called for.
9/4/2017 – only about 2/3 of the depth of cabbage was in a brine. Mixed 1.4% brine solution and added until the shreds were covered but still about 1″ head space.
9/5/2017 – A goodly number of gas bubbles are in the soon-to-be kraut.
8/15/2017 – First try and it was crunchy with a very mild taste. Almost no flavor
8/17/2017 – Still crunchy but little flavor. Cannot detect the mustard or juniper. Good but not what I expected.
10/1/2017 – Emptied the 2 qt jar to make the second batch and had about a pint of brine and some kraut. The kraut is crunchy but the large irregular pieces are a bit much. Looking forward to the second batch cut on the mandoline in which I added some of the brine from this batch.
