Funkytown, Part 2

I know everyone’s been at the edge of their seats regarding my sauerkraut experiment, but I’ve been very busy ignoring it lately.  And when you’re busy ignoring something, the last thing you want to do is pay it any attention.

But we’ve finally reached a landmark moment, so here are the highlights.  Keep in mind that I was storing the crock at room temperature.  Basement storage, where it’s cooler, would take longer.  Because I know everyone’s going to rush out and try this.

Day 9: The funky smell stopped.  New smell.  Sour smell.  One you can’t detect from the other rooms in the house but one you can DEFINITELY detect when you remove the sheet from the crock.  Wow.  But once you pick yourself up off the floor, it’s not bad.  It’s actually starting to smell a bit like sauerkraut.

Day 14: Sour, but a weird flavor profile.  Runs amok from sauerkrauty to garbagey (to borrow a term from CookieCrumb).  In the bacterial tug-of-war going on in there, I hope garbagey eventually loses.

Day 20: Getting more and more sour, and that’s a good thing.  Brine level is still above the cabbage, so I’m not worried about rot.  I’ve been letting days go by without checking it because the day-to-day changes are so minimal.  Tastes, dare I say it, almost good.  Especially in the beginning.  The two garlic cloves I stuck in there are starting to come through.  The garbagey flavor at the end is lessening.  Still there at the tail end, though.  More time.

Day 24: Hey, this is getting good.  That weird aftertaste is all but gone.  I’m pissed because we had hot dogs tonight and I totally should have piled some on.  I think I’ll let it go a few more days, and then I’ll take some out and put it in a jar in the fridge while I let the rest keep going.

Day 39: Whoops, kind of forgot about it there for a while.  And, boy, am I glad I did.  It’s really delicious.  I’m not kidding.  Literally, I was just standing over the crock shoveling it in.  This is really the first time I’ve been able to say that.  Forget Day 24, that was crap compared to this.  And way better than the stuff I put in the fridge last week (it got kind of limp and musty).  Note to self: keep it in the brine.

Wow, and I thought killing all of the bacteria in our midst was a good thing. 

If you’re interested in trying this at home, the go-to book is Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz.  This site has his basic sauerkraut technique.  For my experiment, I used four smallish green cabbages (basically, one large bowl’s worth of shredded cabbage), about 3 Tbsp. of sea salt, 3 peeled cloves of garlic, 2 tsp. caraway seeds, 1 tsp. fennel seeds, 1 tsp. celery seeds, 1 bay leaf, and 1 Tbsp. juniper berries.  All you really need is the cabbage and the salt, though.  The important thing to remember, again, is to keep the cabbage submerged under the salt water at all times.  You may have to add some if there’s not enough (I did).

So, what am I going to do with all of this sauerkraut?  Reubens, for one.  I’ve got the corned beef purchased and the rye bread is rising as I type (flour from Wood Prairie Farm in Maine).  Then, I was thinking a bacon and sauerkraut strudel (I’ll be using phyllo dough, though, because I’ve had the displeasure of making strudel dough once before, and I shan’t be making it again).  And, of course, on hot dogs.  If you have any other ideas, feel free to send them my way.

Comments

[Heather]

You are such an effing rockstar, making your own sauerkraut! I tried to make my own sunemono once but it made my house smell like a sweaty asscrack. Not the best project for the middle of July, when you don't have air-conditioning. :P

I added you to my sidebar. You crack me up!

[cookiecrumb]

Congratulations, and man, that's a long time a-brining.
I wonder if I just pulled mine too soon? But, see, the texture of my cabbage was getting unpleasantly soft, so I think garbagey was winning. Or else I'm a total amateur, and you're the pro.

[Leah]

This is where scratch-n-sniff websites would come in really handy. How else can we share the full sauerkraut experience?

:) Leah

[Belle]

I like to bake my saurkraut with sour cream and caraway seed. I also make yummy sauerkraut balls with egg and bread crumbs.

[pyewacket]

Here's my favorite thing to do with sauerkraut: Brown pork chops (if you want to go all out, cook bacon and brown chops in bacon fat). Saute sliced onions in fat. Add dried apple slices, sauerkraut, crumbled bacon if you went for broke, seasonings of choice (black pepper, caraway, celery seed), put the chops on top of the sauerkraut mix, add a little cider or stock if it's dry and bake. Yum.

[Vicki]

I like to brown sausages, then saute onion and apple, add the kraut, broth and sausages cut lengthise, let simmer for a while. Good on a plate or in bread of some type.

[Adele]

If you're feeling ambitious, there's the classic Alsatian choucroute garnie. If not... I second the motion for sauerkraut and sausages.

[Annemarie]

Believe it or not, I've always wanted to make my own saurkraut (but I'm also the sort grandmothers would describe as 'a bit funny'). I made my own pickles once at college and so the smell didn't even get detected, but I do love some saurkraut and the risk of taking on 40-day-old food.

[Jeff]

Cooked sauerkraut is a great complement to gamey poultry like duck or goose. Helps cut the fattiness with the piquant taste. The cooking mellows the sauerkraut just enough to make the flavors blend rather than fight.

[Tammy]

Jeff: Hi, there. You know, I don't think I've ever had goose before. But, I can think of a couple of geese that definitely have it coming. Thanks for the tip.

Annemarie: 'A bit funny' is the highest compliment. I hope you'll take the sauerkraut challenge someday!

Adele: I just Googled that because I'm dumb, and you know what? That looks exactly like what I got in Heidelberg that made me want to make sauerkraut in the first place. It's clear that I'll have to buy 10 more pounds of meat to make it happen, though.

Vicki: That sounds just right! You have Husband's vote, and his other vote goes to...

Pyewacket: Yup, Husband seems to be in favor of the pork. I'm thinking of scrapping the strudel altogether and doing this instead.

Belle: Sour cream? You're really speaking my language.

Leah: Scratch and sniff would be great right now, true, but not so much during Week 1 of the experiment.

CC: I think I benefited from a serious case of beginner's luck. Another possibility is that I have lower standards than you do.

Heather: That sounds pretty awesome. Summer temperatures would add a whole new dimension to the fermentation process, I think. A dimension I'm not sure I want to explore.

[kathy]

You are so brave! I really appreciate the time you took to explain all that went into making your sauerkraut. I have long wanted to try and make some myself, but I haven't ever been able to get past the thought of the room temperature thing. (I normally throw things out at 12:01 a.m. on the expiration date.) For some reason, the adjectives you've used in describing your experience allows me to be a little more trusting of the entire process. Maybe I can give it a go myself now.

[Mary]

Well, if you have too much sauerkraut you could send some to me! :) I would love it if you made the bacon and sauerkraut strudel and posted the recipe because I'm already drooling over it.

One of my favorite ways to eat sauerkraut (besides sauerkraut balls) is to put it in a baking dish with some caraway seeds and cut up apples and then place spare ribs (seasoned with salt and pepper) on top and bake at 350 until the spare ribs are done. Super yummy. It's good that way with sausage if you can't find the spare ribs.

[melch]

I had been waiting for sauerkraut results! I'm happy to hear it turned out so well and am very tempted to try it. I turned pescatarian a while back so I'm not sure what I'd eat it with now, though.

[veredgy]

Hi,

I have just read your sauerkraut post and liked it very much. As my mother was Hungarian-Rumenian, she cooked a lot of dishes with sauerkraut. You can fill soft yeast dough, the size of pancakes, with this cabbage, after frying it in a little oil with black pepper and sugar to your taste untill it gets golden, and then bake them.
You can, and this is the best stuffed cabbage leaves there is, add the sauerkraut to the pot where you cook the stuffed leaves. First you stuff the leaves with beef, fried onion, rice, fresh shredded dill, 1 shredded tomato, paprica and s&p, then you fry onions in a big pot until they start to get golden, than you add 1 cup-2 cups of saurkraut and fry together for a while, than you add a can of crashed tomatos, and cook untlii they are a little fried, than you put all your staffed leaves, on top of the leaves you put shredded dill,shredded leftover cabbage, 1 cup -2 cups of the sauerkraut, hot water mixed with a Tspoon of paprica, 100 gr. of consentrated tomatos and s&p and cook everything untli it's soft and golden. It's a great dish.
Enjoy

[Jason]

I just threw away my first sauerkraut experiment. Based on my internet research this morning, there was no way it was going to succeed. I'm going to try again using better technique. Anyway, I noticed that you were going to make reubens, and that you BOUGHT CORNED BEEF!!! A few weeks ago, I corned my own beef. OMG. It was an order of magnitude better than anything I've every gotten from a store. So, to make the perfect reuben, you must corn your own beef, too :o) It's way easier and quicker than the sauerkraut, and well worth it.