I finally kicked off my first fermentation project by making sauerkraut. It wasn't really on my mind but stumbled upon a funny video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snxb_PSe3Ps

It was fun, but it dragged on a bit. For those without
the patience to go through 8 1/2 minutes of Brad Leone,

Sauerkraut
categories: pickles, Bon App
yield: 1 batch

6 lb green cabbage
60 g salt
4 garlic cloves, crushed, chopped
2 ts mustard seed
2 ts caraway seed

Clean, core, and julienne cabbage. Combine with 15 g
salt in a large bowl. Mix, squeezing as you go, adding
salt in 15 g increments. When all the salt is
incorporated, let stand 15 to 30 min. Squeeze cabbage
again for a few minutes, then add spices. Let stand
30 more min, then transfer cabbage and its brine to a
gallon jar with an airlock (or just use cheesecloth).
Squash the cabbage down so it remains submerged. Put
jar in a vessel to catch liquid as it foams up and
let sit at room temp for a week before checking - it
may take up to 3 weeks to reach your preferred amount
of cure, though the demonstrator recommends 2 weeks.
If some mold has formed at the surface, remove that
and push the kraut down so it remains submerged. To
preventthis remote possibility, salt the top of the
cabbage some more before covering.

after Brad Leone, It's Alive!, bonappetit.com

and was really surprised how simple it is. So I obtained a two pack of one gallon fermentation jars on amaron. Went to the market today and got three

good

cabbage heads. Took a bit more than two heads to accomplish six pounds of chopped slaw in my three largest bowls. After kneading and punching it down with salt it reduced to just less than one full bowl. After I got it in the

jar

it was surprising how it didn't even fill it to the top.

I'd have said, from watching the video, go with 5 lb cabbage
but full salt, adding a pint of water to make up for the
missing pound. I'd also tamp down the cabbage every few days
to make sure it remains completely covered with brine.

I now have two weeks to find mason jars in my local thrift stores. I intend

to

give some away to friends. And got a buddy who makes brats so, I know where some of that kraut will end up.

Sounds like fun!

My next project will be to mix it up a bit with some red cabbage and some

super

thin sliced bell peppers and maybe some crushed peppercorn.

Also sounds like fun, but what's "a bit" of red cabbage going
to do? I'e experiment with the proportion but would guess that
a bit is going to be a bit too little.

Do you think rosemary would throw off the flavor?

I think so. I'd say to go with traditional spices,
adding bay or juniper, or if you want something a
little sweeter, allspice and cloves.

http://www.omgwtflol.net/20191111_003046.jpg
Happy Veteran's Day

Same to you. I slept most of the day.
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