sauerkraut

champys · 30 August 2009 at 9:49PM

gt568 wrote: »

When it's finished fermenting and I want to jar it, what do I do...

Skim the mold off, and then put it in sterilised jars with the same fermenting brine? Is that right? If so what is to stop bits of the mold I can't skim getting mixed in with the krau IYSWIM...

Do you need to do the jar thing? It's mostly used straight out of the vat - I remember my grandmother having the vat standing in the cellar all winter and just scooped out what she needed each time - then the board and stone went back on to keep the rest submerged in the brine. Here in the supermarket in France they scoop it out off big plastic catering buckets, it is never sold in jars.

gt568 · 31 August 2009 at 8:42AM

Yes. I want to give jars to people.

champys · 31 August 2009 at 1:57PM

OK, in that case..... I was thinking about it some more last night, and remembered there was the cloth. On top of the sauerkraut was first a cloth (not a cheesecloth, more like a tea towel or a piece of an old bedsheet), then the board (2 half circles - or sometimes it was just a saucer or plate), and then the stone to weigh it all down. The mold would be on top of the brine, and when you lifted the cloth off, it would take the mold with it. The cloth was always rinsed before it was put back again. If you did it that way, your sauerkraut for bottling would be mostly mold-free, I think.