And a googled image of what I hope to achieve with this.
I'll update in a week on progress.
UPDATE
What a disaster!
After a week of the sauerkraut mix sitting in the kitchen I came home last night and could smell something weird. I lifted the top off the container and was hit with a HORRIBLE smell of rotten cabbage. There were flies moving around and I saw some maggots crawling up the inside of the container. FAILURE!
Why did it fail?
I think it was due to the plate with the weight on not being flush with the container. Fermentation will failed because of too much exposure to air and oxygen which prevented proper fermentation of the sauerkraut from taking place. With such a wide gap around the plate and a cloth loosely draped over the top it was essential wide open to the elements.The thing was full of water so the salt did it's job though.
I'm going to buy a more professional kit and try again. Something like this.
Or I could try the crock method again. Here's a good link for that.
Q: Should the plate on top of the cabbage form an airtight seal?
A:
1 comment:
I just had the same thing happen to me. Even though my first 2 attempts came out great, this time it was a fail. I had little maggots/worms at the top and so I put the whole thing outside in the compost. So gross.
I think my issue this time was that since it is summer, a fruit fly or something may have layed eggs. Or I may have left too much air this time and mixed with the heat, it caused this. But you don't need a plate on top. This time I used a crockpot. But, a jar is best.
My other 2 successful attempts, I just put 2 large cabbage leaves on top to form a barrier as well as a new ziplock storage bag filled with water, which forms a seal. It works great.
But this time, halfway through I removed the water filled plastic bag on top and I think that led to the problem.
Anyway, I followed this video and it works if you follow the steps. Hopefully you will have (or have had) success.
http://youtu.be/00S2UoCNCDw
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