Hello Veggie Fer"mentors",
I just joined today and received a helpful reply from Christopher Weeks who recommended that I toss the question I inserted into my introduction over here, to get everyone's input.
Below my question is Christopher's reply.
I hope everyone will forgive me for doing this, but I have a situation that is perplexing..... This past July I harvested the balance of my spring cabbage (Stonehead) and started a 5 gallon batch of cabbage/brine to begin the fermenting process. Well, due to circumstances I have just now opened the bucket which I had all but given up hope on thinking I had let it go too long. I had it in an air tight bucket with a Gamma lid and a bubbler which I believe did let some air in because the lid ring spun while trying to turn off the lid ( I assume the seal in the ring was not making sufficient contact with the rim on the bucket). In either case, when I took off the lid, the kraut was still 1 inch below the level of the brine. There was no mold, the liquid had a slight brown tinge to it, and the top 2-3 inches of kraut was slightly brown too. After removing the discolored kraut the rest was bright and tasty looking. My wife even grabbed a bit and tasted it before I could stop her. She said; try it it's good, just very salty. I declined, then asked her who is going to take care of you if we are both sick! That was a several hours ago and so far so good. My question is this; is there any way to salvage the 3 1/2 gallons of bright delicious smelling kraut or is it a lost cause? So far we have drained the kraut, replaced the brine and are heating it up on the stove to hot pack/water bath it. Waiting hopefully Larry
Seeddropper
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Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2016 10:40 am
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Re: Introduction and question
Unread postby Christopher Weeks on Thu Dec 29, 2016 2:57 pm
Welcome, Larry.
I have every reason to believe your kraut will be fine. I keep vegetable ferments in room temperature brine for years with no problem. If you want to talk more about it, try posting over in the Veggie Ferments board.
(And a lot of us here will be sad that you're killing your culture by canning it. You could just keep it in the barrel and eat it out of there!)
Christopher Weeks
Nuka Ninja
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Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2010 2:59 pm
Location: Jordan, MN