#fermentation station

 Fermented Cabbage. So funky. So Yummy! Doing it yourself makes it all the more worth it! 

All You Need:                                                      Yield: 1-1 1/2 qt.

1 medium head cabbage ( About 3 lbs)

1 1/2 Tbsp kosher salt

1 Tbsp caraway seed

2 cloves of garlic

1 2 quart mason jar wide mouth

and one small mason jar that can fit inside the 2 quart mason jar.

the process:

Cut the cabbage into 1″ julianne. in a bowl combine caraway seed, cabbage and salt into bowl and toss well. Let rest for about 10 minutes for salt to draw out liquid from the cabbage and to help soften it into almost a slaw consistency. 

With a clean 2 quart mason jar and place the garlic cloves in the bottom. Next take your julianned cabbage mixture and put inside the jar along with any liquid that may have accumulated in the bowl. Take a fork or spatula to compact the cabbage into the jar. Then ceramic weight or small jar that will fit inside the 2 quart to help weigh the cabbage down (you can also use a plastic bag filled with a little water as a weight). Use a piece of cheese cloth and a rubber band to cover the top of the jar. Store in a cool dry place not in direct sunlight compacting the cabbage every couple of hours.

After the first 24 hours there should be enough water in the jar to completely submerge the cabbage. If more liquid is needed just take 1 teaspoon of salt, dissolve into 1 cup of water and pour over cabbage until it is completely submerged.

Let the cabbage ferment for at least 2-5 days. Fermentation is a experiment so be sure to taste your kraut every day after day 3 to achieve desired funk and flavor!

Once the fermentation process is done transfer the sauerkraut into a clean jar adding any left over brine liquid and refrigerate for 6 months up to a year.

First Fumbling Foray into Fermentation!

(I’m so sorry.)

(i love pickled stuff so i might learn something new here)

KICKS DOWN THE FUCKING DOOR

ok so. you have white distalled vinegar, fruit cider vinegar (typically apple), malt vinegar, and the wine vinegars (rice, red, white, champagne). those are the ones i know anyway. there's also balsamic but that's so expensive and intense i can't imagine pickling with it. the vinegars all pickle items the same, roughly speaking; my rice wine is only 4.2% acidity (my others are 5% acidity, which is about what you want) so it's less acidic than my other ones but there's not a meaningful difference in pickling.

but what the vinegars do is affect the flavor. and they're a big influence on the taste of the pickles, arguably more than any seasoning. here i documented a basic flavor profile for the vinegars i have at home, to give you an idea of how the flavor of each vinegar would affect the pickled item. most pickled things use white distalled vinegar; it has a good tang but not a strong flavor, which showcases the flavor of the pickled item and any seasonings. it's also very cheap and easy to get in bulk. but if you're dealing with strong vinegars like white wine, their flavor is so intense it can overwhelm the pickled item itself, especially if not diluted.

which brings me to dilution. when i make pickles, i do a 1:1 water:vinegar ratio. some people go all vinegar, and some people go only water. for me, the 1:1 ratio gives a strong vinegar flavor while having the water dilute it enough that the vinegar flavor doesn't swallow everything. 1 cup rice wine might not be bad on its own but a full cup of white wine? that would be terrible. as an aside i don't like white wine that much because it's really if you don't have the exact right amount it's impossible to taste anything but that. ruined some otherwise delicious apples but that's just me. so anyway if you do want to use stronger vinegars, it's better to do it with other milder vinegars. those vinegars will cut the intensity of the stronger vinegar while bringing their own unique flavor, like if you used red wine vinegar with its fruity tang then cut it with rice wine's dry sweetness. with this being said, malt vinegar is often used on its own in things like english pickled onions. i've never had nor used malt vinegar before so i can't account for taste or usage.