How to make Sauerkraut in a crock 

I am do glad to hear that news. It is always good to hear that your sauerkraut turned out perfectly. I just recently bought a smaller Harsch Pot to make smaller batches. Thank you so much for the feedback and for watching my video.

I can’t wait to hear how it turned out. Thank you for watching

How did it go?

Thank you so much for watching my video. I really appreciate it so much. Yes, I used to do the same thing with my mother and grandmother help them with the canning and fermentation. It is nice to have those memories to reflect back on. Thank you for sharing your memories. It brought back a lot of memories for me as well.

@@michaelboschcooking Hello Michael. I was just wondering if leeks make a good fermenting vegetable and if you'd use exactly the same method and measurements? Many thanks.

I have never tried leeks. I know that you can ferment onions and I would say that it could ferment the same way.

Me too! Thank you for watching my video.

Rg A. Thank you so much I appreciate you taking to the time to watch it.

Thank you for watching my video. I love Sauerkraut. I mak

Thank you for watching my video.

I really like kraut and the probiotics that you get from natural kraut is so beneficial. Thank you for watching

It turned out really good. I will definitely share.

@@michaelboschcooking So, how about if the kitchen gets the sun lancing in during the summer and it gets too hot for the kraut. What about using a reptile incubator that I found that will cool to the right temperature and warm the temperature to the right one if it gets too cool? - because I've just found one that will do that. Everywhere else in the house - that faces west and burns at the rear in the morning - is just too variable. The only places that don't have these swings is the television room and library and the downstairs toilet beneath the stairs! I really don't want to keep paying for the sauerkraut and the incubator is around £200. Paying from a fermentery is £25 for 2kg.

I have never heard of a reptile incubator. That sounds pricey having to buy it from someone. What about a pantry cabinet? Have you tried to see what the temperature would be in that type of environment. Would be interested to see what you find out.

You can use a plate or saucer if it will fit in the top to keep them from floating up. If any are floating when you take off the lid when you are ready to unload the crock. Just pick them out at that point. I usually have a few floating I just skim them off at the end

Just make sure you have brine water above the weights over an inch so you can skim them off at the end

I have on occasion also filled a ziplock bag (double bag)filled with brine to put over the stones this also helps hold down the kraut it adds a little more weight

I use freezer bag to hold down my càbbage in court jars preferably those that have the smaller necks. Perhaps a gallon freezer bag would work for making it in crock or gallon jars. .

Thank you all for your input! 🤞🤞🤞

Nik Schmitt Fermenting Crock Pots 5 Liter a.co/d/bkHOGI4

@silversmith829. I copied the link from Amazon on the crock that I use for my sauerkraut.

I am pleased to hear your Sauerkraut turned out on this run. As long as the kraut is kept below the brine that you have in the jar in the refrigerator. It can be kept for several months. I have had some in the fridge as long as 4 months before it was eaten up. It will continue to ferment in the fridge over time as long as you leave the brine in the container that you are storing the Sauerkraut. You will be able to smell it if it goes bad in the fridge.

Thank you for watching my videos. I have never tried to ferment in a clear jar. My family has always used the stoneware jars that keeps the cabbage in a dark container. As far as the stronger flavor the longer you keep the cabbage in the jar to ferment it will get stronger flavor.

Once I have the kraut in the jar I store it in the refrigerator it needs to go into the refrigerator after it is removed from the fermenting crock or it will spoil and will not be safe to eat

The Kahm yeast is something that is common in some ferments. With the mold I am not educated enough on which ones are good or bad. If I see mold in my ferment I throw the batch out. Like you said you skimmed it off the top but there could be some of the mold spores that have gotten below the surface that have not made their way to the top with the visible eye. I would throw the batch out and not eat it. Good thing you saw it after a week and not spent the whole time fermenting to realize it was there. I would not take a chance on the batch being good.

Thank you for watching my video I really appreciate it so much. To water bath can the Sauerkrater is to use the Raw-Pack Method. You can use pint or quart jars for this process. You will need to warm up the jars. You don't have to boil them for this process just get them warm. Add the Sauerkraut to the jars and leave 1/2 inch headspace at the top. Make sure you remove any potential air pockets in the jars. Then put the lids on and bands to finger tip tight. Add the jars back to the canner and allow 1 to 2 inches of water to cover the top of all the jars. For pints process them for 20 minutes start the timer after the water comes to a rigorous boil. For quart jars process them for 25 minutes. Make sure the canner is covered and when the time is up remove the lid and turn off the heat. Allow the jars to sit in the canner for 5 minutes before removing them. Allow them to sit for 12 to 24 hours to cool and check to make sure they are sealed if you find one that is not sealed put that one in the refrigerator and eat them right away. There is another way call the Hot-Pack Method that requires you to heat up the sauerkraut with the brine. I can explain this one if you like but it involves more steps that the cold pack method. I hope this answers your question. If not feel free to reach out to me for more information. These times are for altitudes of 1000 feet and below for higher altitudes the timing is different. Check your area and look at some of my other videos where I process food in the description it will show how much time you need to add for higher elevations.

If you have enough of the brine that occurs naturally from the salt and the cabbage and it is at least 1 to 2 inches above the level of the cabbage you will not need to add anymore. If the liquid in the crock is not above the cabbage use the brine solution only do not use regular water you need the salt in the water to make sure it is balanced until you get the liquid level to the 1 to 2 inch mark above the cabbage. Once you have your brine to the correct level put in your weights. If your level is less than 2 inches from the top of the opening of the crock just use two ziplock baggies one filled with the brine solution and the other sealed around that one (double bagged) to fill the void before I put the lid on and sealed the crock. Always use brine solution just in case the baggies leak and it will be fine in the crock for the cabbage to ferment correctly. I hope this makes sense if not let me know and I will try to explain it differently. I bought the crock at Amazon. The one listed here that I posted is one of the ones I have. I have a 5 liter and a 10 liter. The one in this video is the 5 liter. They have smaller ones that are 2 1/2 quarts from another manufacturer that are 39.00. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004QH8MIA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Thank you for watching my video and if you have any other questions feel free to reach out to assist.

I have never used a sanitizer like they use to make wine before I have only used soap and water to clean everything really well. You definitely want everything as clean as you can get it because you want the good bacteria on the food to take over the ferment before any bad bacteria takes hold and causes mold in your crock. I did check the USDA website and they have a list of allowable sanitizers that are suitable to come in contact with food.

Thank you for watching the video. I attached a link where I purchased the Harsh Crock and the wooden pounder. I have a smaller crock that I purchased from another location I will put that link in the description as well. I am working on a video with the smaller crock it will be out soon. Harsh Crock Amazon Link: amzn.to/3P1FVqv Wooden Sauerkraut Pounder Amazon Link: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HZ9LS4Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Smaller Harsh Crock I have a 2.5 Liter crock from this vendor: www.stonecreektrading.com/products/stone-creek-trading-fermenting-crock-2-5l

I weigh the cabbage after the core is cut out to make sure I am at the 5 pound mark. The cabbage I had weighed a little more than 5 pounds to compensate for the weight after the core was cut out

Yes you sure can that is a common thing in a lot of sauerkraut recipes. Thank you so much for watching my video. I really appreciate it very much.

Thank you for watching my video and for the feedback. I really appreciate it for my future videos. With fermentation I do repeat a lot because so much can go wrong with the process. I will try a voice over to see if that works better on future videos.

I appreciate the feedback. I am always looking for ways to make my videos better. Thank you for watching.