Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Sauerkraut: I do believe it was a success!!

After a couple of weeks of fermenting, I noticed that there was in fact "scum" on the surface of my brine. I had previously thought that certainly, not MY sauerkraut would develop scum!!

According to Sandor Ellix Katz (aka, "Sandorkraut"), creator of the Wild Fermentation website (www.wildfermentation.com) and the author of Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods (Chelsea Green, 2003):

Sometimes mold appears on the surface. Many books refer to this mold as “scum,” but I prefer to think of it as a bloom. Skim what you can off of the surface; it will break up and you will probably not be able to remove all of it. Don’t worry about this. It’s just a surface phenomenon, a result of contact with the air. The kraut itself is under the anaerobic protection of the brine.

OK, so if "Sandorkraut" thinks it is OK, then allright, I'll give the scum a chance. (Sounds like a lesser-known John Lennon B-side song "Give Scum a Chance").

So, I left the sauerkraut alone. I didn't taste it every day or two like Sandorkraut said to do. I was a bit afraid of the scum and afraid of my experiment being a failure!

But, alas, I decided tonight to check it out. I pulled off the cover and all of the scum pulled up with it! None remained on the kraut.

I tasted it.

Oh my.

I've never had real fresh sauerkraut. And it is delicious! I think it is a success!

I put it all in a gallon ziploc bag (for lack of a better storage container) and put it in the fridge. Now, we need some vegetarian brats to make a yummy kraut and sausage sandwich!

I'll have pics later!

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