So, it's been two weeks since I first salted and brined my cabbage. Now is the prescribed time to move my humongous crock to a cooler environment to slow down the fermentation process. The internet said that now was also the perfect time to taste the ferment to see how things were going.
Today, with trepidation, I opened my makeshift lid and was greeted with a grody smell. Great, I thought, it's ruined. Upon further inspection, I found it to be mold-less. That in itself is an excellent sign. Almost all of the articles I've read about lacto-fermentation says that mold will appear, and don't worry about it, just skim it off. (or, the more fear-mongering type posts, have said TOSS the whole batch... I've done lots and lots of reading, and am in the 'skim and keep' camp) I pulled out the weights, lifted the top, protecting leaves of cabbage, and low and behold, was sauerkraut! Or at least fermented cabbage WELL on its way to becoming sauerkraut!
I ate some. OH my goodness. It is amazing! I really like sauerkraut in the first place. I have, however, only ever had store-bought before. There is a HUGE difference. First off, conventional stuff is not really sauerkraut, it's more like pickled cabbage - that's because it's degraded in vinegar, not brine. Second off, the cultures and enzymes that make sauerkraut SO good for you are killed in the canning process.
This sauerkraut tastes similar to the store-bought stuff, but more mellow, richer, and has the best texture ever. I was sincerely surprised. I made S try some. He was also pleasantly surprised.
I am thrilled.
XO,
J
soli deo gloria
Update on our computer: It got rebooted somehow - I think through one of those automatic updates. Everything magically reappeared. I have no idea what happened. S is going to be doing a full backup and then we are going to wipe this thing clean and replace things on the hard drive. :)
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