Schmitt Sauerkraut crock

[skid]

http://www.ms-steinzeug.com/en/ms-steinzeug/fermentation-crocks-with-lids-and-stones.html


These pickling crocks come with the crock, the lid, and the two semi-circle stone weights. These crocks keep the sauerkraut air-tight which prevents any mold or yeast from growing on the food. It came well packaged in a double box set up and nothing was broken. It seems very high quality and is attractive enough for my somewhat rustic country kitchen (highfalutin wife and sister think so too)

I grew quite a few cabbage this year and they turned out quite well. I purchased a schmitt sauerkraut crock and made 15 liters of sauerkraut. I followed a simple recipe (cabbage, salt, caraway seeds and mustard seeds but couldn't find juniper seeds and my junipers don't have any currently), grated the cabbage, mixed in the slat and spices, pounded it down in the crock, set the stones in, put the cover on and filled the rim/lid trough with water. The water surrounding the rim allows the fermentation gases to escape by bubbling out as pressure builds, but prevents oxygen from entering the crock which prevents mold formation.

I should know in a few weeks as to how well it works, but from all accounts, this is the best/easiest way to make kraut. Also made some excellent cole slaw as well with the remaining cabbage I picked, but still have another 15 or so heads in the garden. I hope they can take some frost...

[woodman]

Nice! How expensive was shipping? I imagine it is shipped from Germany?

We have made a couple of batches of kraut this year. Canned the first one. It is excellent on sandwiches and for munching. I'd like to keep the second batch in the fridge or somewhere cool where it will stay tasty and I can benefit from the raw product.

[Shami-Amourae]

I've been looking for a fermentation crock to get eventually. I couldn't buy these though since they have a giant VAT tax. I checked them out on Amazon, but they are still grossly overpriced (I think since of the stupid VAT tax.) Sorry, I do everything I can to avoid paying any extortion fee to a group of armed thugs who want my money.

How would you compare it to fermentation in a mason jar? Since that's what I do currently.

[chad]

question about making it: doesn't it get mold, slime, etc. on the top? i mean, how does that work?

[Shami-Amourae]

Yeah. It's called "scum". You just spoon it off. No big deal.

[skid]

With this type of crock no oxygen can get in so it doesn't grow the scum on top. During the fermentation process, carbon dioxide gas is produced. This expels the oxygen that is in the crock initially, and the water trough on the top lets the CO2 bubble out with out re admitting the oxygen in the outside air.

[skid]

I've been looking for a fermentation crock to get eventually. I couldn't buy these though since they have a giant VAT tax. I checked them out on Amazon, but they are still grossly overpriced (I think since of the stupid VAT tax.) Sorry, I do everything I can to avoid paying any extortion fee to a group of armed thugs who want my money.

How would you compare it to fermentation in a mason jar? Since that's what I do currently.

I've never made sauerkraut before so I can't comment on the difference.

[skid]

Nice! How expensive was shipping? I imagine it is shipped from Germany?

We have made a couple of batches of kraut this year. Canned the first one. It is excellent on sandwiches and for munching. I'd like to keep the second batch in the fridge or somewhere cool where it will stay tasty and I can benefit from the raw product.

With shipping/taxes I paid around $290, which is a lot of money. However that was the cheapest I could find and because I have so many cabbages, worth it to me, as I wanted to make all natural sauerkraut without too much trouble.

[ImaCannin]

I fermented my veggies this year.... OH MY GOSH... they taste so good! I did not use a big crock, I used Fido jars.
http://i.c-b.co/is/image/Crate/FidoJarWClampLid1LiterOT9/$web_item$/1006012113/fido-1-liter-jar-with-clamp-lid.jpg
These jars work like this... you fill the jar to the shoulder, put salt brine in, close the lid. Sit the jar out of the sun light, (I Put a towel over mine). The jar will burp itself, and you dont have to worry about it exploding (like a mason jar) . With a mason jar, you have to burp it daily. I left my jars on the counter for 8 weeks. Then I moved them to my fridge. They are ready to eat now. There are "new age" types of fermenting out there, which include putting Whey in the ferment. I did not do this, because it is not the way they did it back in the day! On my Cabbage, I put 5 lbs of cabbage with 3 tablespoons of Redmonds Real Salt. On the other veggies, I made a salt brine and poured in the jar (like for carrots, celery, garlic ect.) I got my fido jars from here http://www.crateandbarrel.com/fido-jars-with-clamp-lids/f33489 . They have 4.95 shipping and the jars are the best price I can find online.

I found this web page http://www.nourishingtreasures.com/index.php/2012/07/03/sauerkraut-survivor-final-report/ where the lady, Lea, did a test on fermenting in several kinds of jars and or crock. She was most impressed with the fido jar. There is a company that makes fido jars with an air lock system on top. But the jars cost 25 to 35. per jar. while the fido jar cost 5.00. She proves that the plain fido jar does just as good of a job if not better than the one with the air lock ( http://www.pickl-it.com/ some good recipes on here) The Idea is that NO air gets in the jar, therefore you have no "scum". Not one of my 6 jars had scum on them.. With the smaller jars, you can do all kinds of veggies at the same time. Right now, I am doing 5 liter jar of celery, 1 liter jar of shredded carrots, 1 liter jar of onions, 1 liter jar of garlic, 3 liter and 2 liter jar of sauerkraut .

Here are some other web sites I found about fermenting
http://www.cookinggodsway.com/lacto-fermented-deli-style-pickle-spears/
http://www.picklemetoo.com/
http://www.nourishingtreasures.com/index.php/sauerkraut-101-step-1-supplies/ Step By Step directions for SauerKraut

http://goingferal.wordpress.com/2010/07/21/gundru/

[ImaCannin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l0joPdfV7E


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYhQWFBtFhA

[Old Herb Lady]

i used to have a book around here by Euell Gibbons on "Dill Crocks".
they are so fun to make & so delicious. didn't make any this summer but last year i did .... this thread is making me hungry.



http://www.buildanark.net/index.php?pages/Dill%20Crock.html

[skid]

Wow, IMA. You must be tireless doing all that!

I bought the one big crock as it seemed to be the simplest way of doing things. It took 4 - 5 heads of cabbage to fill it so I shredded it all in one go, made a cedar pounding stick to crush all the cabbage and salt, put the stone weights in and the lid on and called it good. I haven't looked inside yet as you're not supposed to open it for 3-4 weeks while it ferments, so god knows what's happening in there...

[ImaCannin]

http://i995.photobucket.com/albums/af75/ImaCannin/SauerKraut1.jpg
http://i995.photobucket.com/albums/af75/ImaCannin/fermentedfood2.jpg
http://i995.photobucket.com/albums/af75/ImaCannin/Fermentedfood1.jpg

[Old Herb Lady]

Ima, You are awesoooome woman !!! Thank You so much for your pics & info all the time. I greatly appreciate ALL OF IT !!

That 'Electrum' logo needs to go away & instead say "Canning Goddess'.

[ImaCannin]

Today, on the Power hour... They had on Sandor Katz Who is the author of the Art of Fermentation. The interview was ok.. Gave me a few more ideas.
you can find the audio here:

http://podcast.gcnlive.com/podcast/power_hr/1128123.mp3

His book on Google Books : http://books.google.com/books?id=-zmLa205d0QC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+art+of+fermentation&hl=en#v=onepage&q=the%20art%20of%20fermentation&f=false

Book at amazon 22.00 http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Fermentation-Exploration-Essential/dp/160358286X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354159501&sr=8-1&keywords=the+art+of+fermentation

[skid]

I finally took the lid off the crock. I found sauerkraut! It seems to have turned out well. It tastes good with no evidence of mold or anything else. I took out a few liters worth and have been eating that. I probably won't use the same recipe again, as the caraway seeds and mustard seeds taste a little strong. But the cabbage itself is perfect, so I can say that the crock works as designed.

[ImaCannin]

Skid,
Next time, try it with just salt. You will be surprised at how good it taste! We are so addicted to it that we have been buying heads of cabbage at the health food store and making a lot of it. Now if I could only get the stuff in the garden that I planted to grow!!!!
I am going to do alot of cabbage next garden season!

How are you storing what you are not eating? You can put it in canning jars and keep it in the fridge.

[zap]

hahha got a field of cabbage growing downtown as soon as its ready, Swoop got me some cabbage !

[chad]

i really need to order one of these.

[skid]

Skid,
Next time, try it with just salt. You will be surprised at how good it taste! We are so addicted to it that we have been buying heads of cabbage at the health food store and making a lot of it. Now if I could only get the stuff in the garden that I planted to grow!!!!
I am going to do alot of cabbage next garden season!

How are you storing what you are not eating? You can put it in canning jars and keep it in the fridge.

Yes, I will try just salt next time even though I am starting to like the taste with Caraway and Mustard seeds. I took out enough for a week or two and put the sauerkraut in the fridge in a large plastic container with a cover. The rest I just left in the crock and recovered it with the lid and more water for the seal.

[ImaCannin]

Dr. Mercola Interviews Caroline Barringer on fermenting food


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy87TnyNCPk

[big country]

can this be pressure canned/water bathed to make it shelf stable once its "perfect" or would that ruin all the goodness?
Does sauerkraut from a tin can at the super market have all the wonderful benefits gone and the only thing left is the deliciousness?

[ImaCannin]

COOKED FOOD IS DEAD FOOD! The enzymes are ruined at about 115 degrees. So if you cook, can or heat it you have ruined it. I think if you made it in the fall and kept it in your root cellar once it was done fermenting, it would keep all winter into spring. Putting the jar in the refrigerator will stop the fermenting process, then you could move it to your 55 degree root cellar.

[skid]

I just took out another half gallon out of the crock. It is now very mellow and tasty. No sharp taste anymore. It has been sitting on my kitchen counter for almost two months. I don't know how long it will keep, as there is still quite a bit left. Perhaps I should put the crock in my root cellar where it is nice and cool???

[ImaCannin]

You can take it out of the crock and put the ferment in canning jars with lids. Then put them in the cellar or the fridge. I think I heard that if Keeping it in the kitchen in a warm environment too much over 8 weeks could make it start tasting yeasty. How much do you have left?

My favorite snack is a hard boiled egg covered in Sauerkraut.

[skid]

The crock is still half full, probably a couple of gallons worth. I'll follow your advice and decant it into canning jars and refrigerate.