Kraut

[Chuckie]

Approx. 3 gallons of sauerkraut, heating up to be canned! Set in crock June 27th, s-o-o-o-o-o hot here, it was done WAY before six weeks!!! That's the reason it's being canned on the porch stove--too friggin' HOT to cook inside on the Chambers!!



CHEERS!
Chuckie & Monkey

[cinnabar]

Chuckie,

I believe you do not have to heat the kraut before you put them in the jars for processing. Called cold or raw pack. Google it and there are lots of sites that will give you the time tables for it. I knew a lady who just packed it into the jars and sealed them up.  It was all good. 
Cool lake breeze here, but heat later on next week. Got blueberry wine a going and will have some apricot/ plum going in a day or so. I cleaned out my parents freezer before this years fruit comes in. Yum.

cinnabar

[Chuckie]

Jul 15, 2016 16:01:05 GMT -5 cinnabar said:

Chuckie,

I believe you do not have to heat the kraut before you put them in the jars for processing. Called cold or raw pack. Google it and there are lots of sites that will give you the time tables for it. I knew a lady who just packed it into the jars and sealed them up.  It was all good. 
Cool lake breeze here, but heat later on next week. Got blueberry wine a going and will have some apricot/ plum going in a day or so. I cleaned out my parents freezer before this years fruit comes in. Yum.

cinnabar

I've heard there's little to NO worry when it comes to canning kraut.  The recipe we use is from our "Ball Blue Canning Book" (circa late '70's mid '80's?..) which reads "To Can: Bring sauerkraut to a simmer (180 to 210 F). Do not boil. Pack cabbage into hot jars," etc., et al--you know, the usual "cover w/hot brine to w/in 1/2 inch of top, wipe tops, fasten lids not too tight, etc."  As an aside, the time was 15 minutes for pints. 

I'd rather error on the side of SAFETY rather than anything else. I always think of that family's tombstone in Mt. Calvary here, where ALL died the SAME DAY--BOTULISM. But I do think you'd be "hard pressed" to 'die' from 'botulism' via SAUERKRAUT!!! LOL

I washed the jars after they cooled, checking the seals before I did, removed the bands, and all sealed tightly.  I'm sure all will be well.  I am too tired tonight to read into the cold packing, but--trust me--IF or WHEN Monkey finds out an "easier way"(like via your POST), it WILL prevail!!

Thanks for telling me this--trust me, we WILL look into it!!  Again, we're ALL about E-A-S-Y!!

CHEEERS!
Chuckie

p.s.--we wound up w/18 full pints, and one partial. I promptly went to the grocers to buy hotdogs/buns, nuked one, and had it w/some of the partial jar of fresh kraut. Ummm--MMMMMMMMM!!!

[nana]

My dad remembers just a big barrel in the cellar. No canning, no jars, just send a kid down there with a bowl to scoop it out as needed. By the end of the barrel it would be pretty strong, though. But then you'd make next year's batch. I'm modern enough to prefer jars myself, but come the apocalypse it's good to know you can do it without, too!

[karitx]

Jul 16, 2016 12:55:33 GMT -5 nana said:

My dad remembers just a big barrel in the cellar. No canning, no jars, just send a kid down there with a bowl to scoop it out as needed. By the end of the barrel it would be pretty strong, though. But then you'd make next year's batch. I'm modern enough to prefer jars myself, but come the apocalypse it's good to know you can do it without, too!

My dad used to talk about "barrel pickles" that he ate as a kid, but I didn't realize until recently that it was the old-school way of preserving vegetables before vinegar brining and canning came about. The benefit of using lactic acid fermentation is that it is full of probiotics, just like yogurt, as long as you don't heat it. I've been making lacto fermented kraut (and various other naturally pickled vegetables) for the last few months. We refrigerate the kraut after a few days, then just eat it as a cold side dish after it has aged for a few weeks. It is really good!

[nana]

And good FOR you, too! When I was a little kid with a stomach ache my dad would always try to get me to drink a little cup of sauerkraut juice because that was the home remedy he grew up with. With the probiotics in his kraut it made sense. By the time I came along though, we just had it out of the can, so it never did any good. Who knew from probiotics back then?

[pooka]

For many things, the old ways were better than the new & improved modern methods. Our forefathers got a lot more right than they got wrong. But we have to be selective, because some of the old methods weren't so safe & beneficial. The trick is to preserve the best of the old as we move forward in time.

[Chuckie]

Jul 17, 2016 5:42:17 GMT -5 nana said:

And good FOR you, too! When I was a little kid with a stomach ache my dad would always try to get me to drink a little cup of sauerkraut juice because that was the home remedy he grew up with. With the probiotics in his kraut it made sense. By the time I came along though, we just had it out of the can, so it never did any good. Who knew from probiotics back then?

Dad said that was his Mom's remedy too for constipation. And he said that "pretty much ALL winter, we had to have like a SHOT GLASS of kraut juice a DAY. But you know, I don't ever remember any of us having any serious colds or the flu or anything"...

So maybe there WAS something to it!!

CHEERS!
Chuckie

[karitx]

Now that you mention it, I didn't get my usual "killer" cold this past winter and we started out eating the live kraut sometime last fall (we started with Bubbies brand, not homemade). Maybe kraut will be the next super food we all hear about in the news!

[Chuckie]

Jul 15, 2016 16:01:05 GMT -5 cinnabar said:

Chuckie,

I believe you do not have to heat the kraut before you put them in the jars for processing. Called cold or raw pack. Google it and there are lots of sites that will give you the time tables for it. I knew a lady who just packed it into the jars and sealed them up.  It was all good. 
Cool lake breeze here, but heat later on next week. Got blueberry wine a going and will have some apricot/ plum going in a day or so. I cleaned out my parents freezer before this years fruit comes in. Yum.

cinnabar

Cinnabar: THANKS for posting this! After doing MORE research (due to YOUR post!), I think the next batch will just be put in 1/2 or gallon Mason jars, and then put in the beer refrigerator on the back porch. Says canning "kills" all the probiotics it is alleged to be good for.

Monkey says the canned stuff "tastes fine to me", so IF we get more than will fit in the icebox, THEN we'll can THAT!

Thanks again!!

CHEERS!
Chuckie

[sporko]

The cooked/canned stuff and the cold stuff are different animals. BOTH are delicious. If you have the energy, you might do a little of each!

[metrowmn]

Kraut that's cold processed IS the next super food. I was going to make some. Enzymes, probiotics etc etc. Just have to find a place and a big enough crock. My old crock broke. Just bought a horseradish plant too. Who knows, maybe i"ll make that too. I hear a small spoonful every day is really good for you and kills bad germs.

[nana]

It will clear out your sinuses for sure!

[mach12]

I have a bunch of horseradish to do this year. My dad always said that you process horseradish only in a month with an R in it so September will be the soonest, though I'll probably wait until they start dying back in October. I just grind it, mix in vinegar and a touch of sugar, and then can it in those little 4 oz. jelly jars. That's quite a bit of horseradish in a jar but we use the heck out of it and it gets used up. Can't beat homemade cocktail sauce and so many others made with horseradish.

Dang - I just ate and I'm getting hungry again!

[Chuckie]

Jul 29, 2016 21:19:36 GMT -5 mach12 said:

I have a bunch of horseradish to do this year. My dad always said that you process horseradish only in a month with an R in it so September will be the soonest, though I'll probably wait until they start dying back in October. I just grind it, mix in vinegar and a touch of sugar, and then can it in those little 4 oz. jelly jars. That's quite a bit of horseradish in a jar but we use the heck out of it and it gets used up. Can't beat homemade cocktail sauce and so many others made with horseradish.

Dang - I just ate and I'm getting hungry again!

Mach12:  I always heard the same thing about eating wild rabbit---only in a month w/an "R" in it.  But I DO remember shooting a rabbit once in the summer, and it had a sort of "weevil" under the skin--you could see the head of it--so maybe THAT'S why they said that about rabbit!  Mother made me pitch it, and chastised me to NOT shoot ANYTHING I did NOT intend to eat (didn't know I WASN'T gonna @ the time!)

When I was a kid, our old neighbor Larry--to the NORTH no less--used to make horseradish. He had the old time grinder that hooked on a tabletop or bench, the latter was what he had outside. Me Mater (to the SOUTH of him where the prevailing winds would be forthcoming) would be outside hanging laundry on the line, and would suddenly exclaim, "GOD HELP US, Larry is making that STINKIN' HORSERADISH again!!!!" LOL

Kevin (a friend of ours) has scattered patches around town, and talked us into putting in TWO patches a few years ago, that we have placed around our martin houses. He has YET to let us harvest any, so we may jump him this year about it (although he DOES give us a jar from his patches every year).

Two 'asides' on horseradish--you MUST grind it "outside" or in a V-E-R-Y well ventilated place, as it W-I-L-L suck ALL the air outta your lungs--much like chlorine gas (or another comparison is lye & H20 for you that make homemade soap). Kevin had ALL the doors/windows closed on his garage--even though his Da had warned him--and commenced to grinding.  It winded him so, that he said should the walk-in garage door have swung IN instead of OUT, he'd of PASSED OUT from the 'fumes', it had taken his air away completely, and he hit the ground outside the door, ready TO pass out!  The other is, it gets tall & has BEAUTIFUL leaves, and makes a good 'backdrop' to a flower garden, and does NOT let ANYTHING grow up in its midst. Should you nick a leaf w/the mower, you can smell the horseradish as well.  I'll take a pic of our patches, so you can see what I'm talking about the leaves...

CHEERS!
Chuckie

UPDATE: Here's a pic of both bird poles. The yellow arrow shows a yardstick I stuck in the middle so you could see how big it gets. 'Tis the season it starts to 'brown out' a bit--due (I guess) to heat & lack of moisture. Mach12, I believe Kevin harvests his after the first frost, but can't say for SURE, as he's never cut ours---YET!  Our buddy Jerry ("Mr. Greenjeans" is what we call him), works for a LARGE metropolitan lawn business--Grass Pad in KC--and has a degree from KU in such matters.  He said they have folks buy it just to use as a "backdrop" against a fence and/or in a flower garden.  They almost look like the tobacco plants growing over in Weston, MO.

[Chuckie]

Jul 15, 2016 12:50:51 GMT -5 Chuckie said:

Approx. 3 gallons of sauerkraut, heating up to be canned! Set in crock June 27th, s-o-o-o-o-o hot here, it was done WAY before six weeks!!! That's the reason it's being canned on the porch stove--too friggin' HOT to cook inside on the Chambers!!

CHEERS!
Chuckie & Monkey

A "friend" bought us TWO five gallon buckets of cabbage he harvested this a.m., about 16 or 17 LARGE heads.

Came out to 20#'s shredded, and made about 4 gallons of kraut!! Here is the 3 gallon crock filled to the brim!!

Gonna take the last 5#'s worth of shredded cabbage--which is already salted in a crockery bowl--and place it in a one gallon crock we have, and use cinnabar's suggestion and add some juniper berries, caraway seeds and one online suggested mustard seeds as well.  I used cinn's kraut recipe as well--3 TBS (canning) salt to 5# shredded cabbage.

--------------------

OK, updating this, the last of the 5#'s cabbage DID fit in the 1 gallon crock, w/enough room to remove two good-sized handfuls of the stuff from the 3 gallon, which allowed the weights/lid to fit perfectly the 3gal. The recipe I found online called for TWO pounds shredded cabbage, so since this was FIVE, I just doubled it. For 2 pounds it was 10 juniper berries, 1 tsp yellow mustard seed & 1 tsp caraway seeds. I put in 1/2 the shredded/salted cabbage, mixed in 1/2 the spices, then pressed it into the small crock. Stirred the other half of the spices into the remaining salted cabbage, and pressed into the crock. Filled it NICELY!! Monkey had a pizza stone that fit it pretty damn good, so we employed it as a lid!!

Will let you know how all comes out!

CHEERS!
Chuckie

[mach12]

We used up the last of our sauerkraut a few months ago and I'm really anxious to do some more. We've been buying the stuff that comes in bags and while it beats the stuff sold in cans it still doesn't compare to homemade sauerkraut. I didn't put in any cabbage this year (basically doing most of our gardening in planters on the deck and in what used to be a flower bed this year) so am having a friend watch the farmers market for cabbage. It was a really cool and rainy spring so we're behind the curve so far.

I do kraut in a crock and after slicing the cabbage I put in a layer, tamp the juice out of it with a tamper (my dad made it by cutting the end flat of my brothers baseball bat after my brother discovered cars and girls), then sprinkle in some salt, add another layer and repeat. Once I have the cabbage ready I place a bag I found in the canning section of a Hardware store that I fill with lightly salted water, seal it, and place it on the cabbage. After one of our overseas moves I couldn't find the bag in our storage items and tried to find another but couldn't, so used a regular plastic bag that was labeled freezer proof and food safe and it worked fine too. My Dad always used a plate that he weighted with a flat granite rock.

Both my Dad and my Grandfather always said the key was keeping the air away from the kraut while it fermented. They also said the tamping was more to squeeze the air out of the cabbage and when we stirred it we took care to not stir too fast or do anything that would mix more air in. They always had great success so I pretty much stay with how they taught me. I'm not saying this is how it should be done, just tossing out how I do it. I have a recipe for a method my Dad sometimes did where he made the kraut in canning jars but was never too wild about it so haven't tried it. It was okay but just didn't have the same flavor. Seemed too mild, though some might prefer that I guess. Stuck in my ways I guess.

[nana]

Gosh, Chuckie, your gardens out there must be like at least a month and a half if not two full months ahead of ours here! This is how big my EARLY cabbages are. We had a cold cold cold spring (8” of snow the day before Mother’s Day) and then June hit and we switched over to HEAT and almost no appreciable rain all month. Things can be kept alive with watering and mulch, but they really need rain to thrive...The pole beans are only now starting to climb their fence. My foot is there for scale!

[Chuckie]

Jun 30, 2020 15:40:35 GMT -5 nana said:

Gosh, Chuckie, your gardens out there must be like at least a month and a half if not two full months ahead of ours here! This is how big my EARLY cabbages are. We had a cold cold cold spring (8” of snow the day before Mother’s Day) and then June hit and we switched over to HEAT and almost no appreciable rain all month. Things can be kept alive with watering and mulch, but they really need rain to thrive...The pole beans are only now starting to climb their fence. My foot is there for scale!

That's a fine, big FOOT you have there, Grandma!!! LOL



CHEERS!
Chuckie

[nana]

Hey! My foot isn’t big, the cabbages are small!!!

[Chuckie]

Jun 29, 2020 13:11:05 GMT -5 mach12 said:

We used up the last of our sauerkraut a few months ago and I'm really anxious to do some more. We've been buying the stuff that comes in bags and while it beats the stuff sold in cans it still doesn't compare to homemade sauerkraut. I didn't put in any cabbage this year (basically doing most of our gardening in planters on the deck and in what used to be a flower bed this year) so am having a friend watch the farmers market for cabbage. It was a really cool and rainy spring so we're behind the curve so far.

I do kraut in a crock and after slicing the cabbage I put in a layer, tamp the juice out of it with a tamper (my dad made it by cutting the end flat of my brothers baseball bat after my brother discovered cars and girls), then sprinkle in some salt, add another layer and repeat. Once I have the cabbage ready I place a bag I found in the canning section of a Hardware store that I fill with lightly salted water, seal it, and place it on the cabbage. After one of our overseas moves I couldn't find the bag in our storage items and tried to find another but couldn't, so used a regular plastic bag that was labeled freezer proof and food safe and it worked fine too. My Dad always used a plate that he weighted with a flat granite rock.

Both my Dad and my Grandfather always said the key was keeping the air away from the kraut while it fermented. They also said the tamping was more to squeeze the air out of the cabbage and when we stirred it we took care to not stir too fast or do anything that would mix more air in. They always had great success so I pretty much stay with how they taught me. I'm not saying this is how it should be done, just tossing out how I do it. I have a recipe for a method my Dad sometimes did where he made the kraut in canning jars but was never too wild about it so haven't tried it. It was okay but just didn't have the same flavor. Seemed too mild, though some might prefer that I guess. Stuck in my ways I guess.

I hadn't checked the kraut in a coupla weeks, so told Monkey we needed to see if it was "ready". OMG, the top of each was COMPLETELY covered w/MOLD!!! I've always had a WEE bit, but guess I waited too long in between skimming checks!!

I scooped all the mold out and pitched it, then dug down to the kraut that was "sealed" UNDER the H20/weights. Monkey-the-Kraut-Queen said it tasted "GREAT", but needed to set "a bit more". I say she's the QUEEN as she eats some EVERY DAY, and has even been known to have a helping for BREAKFAST!! She takes a very small container of it in her lunch daily too, and all the mechanics @ the garage just shake their heads and mutter under their breath when she's eating it! (smell I guess! LOL)

Just curious IF any of you have had similar issues?  I'll keep you's updated as to how ours comes out...

CHEERS!
Chuckie

[cinnabar]

Just what you did, scape off the moldy foam and do a taste test. Keep it covered with the weights and liquid, because air is not your friend.

[nana]

I’ve had that white kind of scummy mold that forms like a skin on top. Sometimes it even takes on a pinkish hue.I think that it’s fine to just skim it off and do like you did, and if the kraut smells and tastes OK, then it is OK. Black mold would worry me. Fermenting is one of the safest ways to preserve food, and when it’s no good, it lets you know, unlike that sneaky botulism in poorly canned food!

[Chuckie]

Jul 25, 2020 20:44:41 GMT -5 cinnabar said:

Just what you did, scape off the moldy foam and do a taste test. Keep it covered with the weights and liquid, because air is not your friend.

Thank you, THANK YOU, cinn and nana!!! I THOUGHT that, but has been awhile since we made it, and we NEVER had this much mold before!!  Maybe that was because I wasn't MINDING it like I should've--MEA CULPA, lesson learned!!

You ladies made me a HAPPY camper tonight!!!

CHEERS!
Chuckie

[nana]

Even if the top layer of cabbage itself is icky, you can pull that off and dig down to the good stuff. For thousands of years fermenting was one of the few ways to preserve food, and if it was difficult, iffy, and dangerous, we wouldn’t be around today to do it because our ancestors would not have had any progeny!!

[Chuckie]

The moment of truth--today is canning day. Was NOT gonna can it due to losing the probiotics, BUT the mold had me SCARED!!

Here's a coupla pictures of the mold---kinda pretty and "lacy" actually---if there IS such a thing w/mold!!  Kind of looks like a morel mushroom; I flipped the one edge that it was attached to on the weights so you could see the bottom side as well:

I did some reading on a few websites, and they basically said THIS type of mold is okay, ti's BLACK mold that means it's spoiled

Monkey says it tastes JUST FINE, and the further down we go, the better looking it is--not as dark as the first coupla inches, is what she tasted from.  Those were about the colour of the mold pictured:

I threw away the first coupla inches, JUST to be safe.  Again, cold packing into STERILIZED jars/lids and boiling for 20 minutes SHOULD kill any creepie-crawlies, BUT also the probiotics I understand---ALAS!!!

Stay tuned...

CHEERS!
Chuckie

[nana]

It’s OK, it’ll still taste like sauerkraut!

[Chuckie]

Aug 2, 2020 14:10:05 GMT -5 nana said:

It’s OK, it’ll still taste like sauerkraut!

UPDATE: Wound up w/18 pints--six of which were the seasoned variety from the one gallon crock. They're not pictured.  TWO of the unseasoned ones busted in the water bath, talked about PI$$ED!!!:

That "seasoned" stuff had like a "pickled" taste to it---NOTHING like regular Kraut--VERY delish!!!  Gonna make a BIG batch of that next year!!

Was a B-U-S-Y day on Monkeyhill---we also peeled, blanched, de-cobbed & cryovaced 2 dozen ears of corn, or fifteen cups for our Thanksgiving/Christmas suppers. My sister makes it using cream cheese and butter in a crockpot, and it's AWESOME!!!

My Irish arse is DRAGGIN'!!!! Gonna go SOMEWHERE and have a cold beer, Monkey said she's "gonna go bike ride", animal that SHE is!!  The floor needs mopping as you can see, BUT we'll let the dogs back in to clean up the spelt stuff, and mop that baby tomorrow!!!  zzzzZZZZZZZ


CHEERS!
Chuckie

[nana]

Yikes! I went for a walk, visited my dad, watered my plants and that was about it! I did nothing like you did Chuckie, to earn the cold beer I drank!

Are you really gonna mention that crockpot corn dish without actually giving us the recipe?

[Chuckie]

Aug 2, 2020 18:26:48 GMT -5 nana said:

Yikes! I went for a walk, visited my dad, watered my plants and that was about it! I did nothing like you did Chuckie, to earn the cold beer I drank!

Are you really gonna mention that crockpot corn dish without actually giving us the recipe?

I didn't HAVE it, but I emailed my sister, and she sent it to me. My kind of recipe---not really an "EXACT" recipe! She usually uses six cups of corn I believe she said, or two bags of the frozen stuff. I cut/pasted what she sent below:

"It’s just cream cheese and butter. The secret is to cook it slowly. So a crock pot on low or over very low heat. Depending on how much you are cooking I usually use 1 1/2-2 pkgs cream cheese and a couple sticks of butter"  She ALSO told me later this evening in a phone call that "I forgot to say I add fresh ground pepper too, as I LOVE it!".  So there you have it.

Sounds PERFECT for the thermowell--maybe twenty minutes of gas, then an additional hour MINIMUM CWTGTO?...  Whoever tries this in the well FIRST, let us all know!

And whenever I get some time to kill, I'll TRY to remember to put it under it's own posting.  I also wanna post a picture there of the doohickey Monkey bought to get it OFF the cob--works MAH-VELOUSLY!!!

CHEERS!
Chuckie