Keith B

By keibr

Sauerkraut again

Today was a bit of an idle day, perhaps due to a steady drizzle of rain that fell all day. I started packing for our upcoming England, South Downs Way, trip, and then did some kitchen stuff. 
I strained the kefir and set a new batch going with the grains. Then I got going on the sauerkraut.  It's a fair while since I made sauerkraut so I had to look up my notes and then consulted a few web recipes. I've always thought the recipes a bit hit and miss with the ratio of cabbage:salt. They write of teaspoons or tablespoons of salt, but I'm pretty sure fine, course ground and  salt crystals weigh differently. A Swedish teaspoon is 5 ml, a US teaspoon is 4,9 ml, and that's assuming we are using proper measuring teaspoons! And how flat should the salt be on the teaspoon? (Just don't get me started on American cups!! )
I'm used to baking bread and I want grams, not spoonfuls and cups!! 
OK, that's my rant over!
Today I found a (US) recipe that seemed to agree with me. Julia measured salt in grams and finally gave me a definite ratio of cabbage to salt. For every 100 g of chopped cabbage add 2 g salt. So my 1600 g of cabbage got 32 g of salt. That feels good to my laboratory trained brain!
When I look at the jars I filled (extra photo) I realise I over-filled them. There's a danger that when the fermentation starts the liquid will spill over. I should have left more space (3-5 cm) at the top of each jar.  Maybe some adjustment will be needed and we'll have some salty cabbage salad for tea tomorrow!

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