Today, we got out one of my jars of probiotic fermented vegetable sauerkraut for a taste test!
Before I get into that, though, if you haven’t seen my earlier posts, you may want to visit the links below, first (they will open in new tabs, so you won’t lose this post!).
Take One (includes recipe)
The Failure
Take Two
The recipe I got from my friend said to leave it to ferment for 2-4 weeks. It’s 2 weeks today, so we’re trying the one jar, and will leave the other to ferment for another 2 weeks.
After what happened last time, I did check the brine levels twice during fermentation. Both times, I did add just a little bit of water, which had been boiled first, because the cabbage leaf covering the sauerkraut was starting to get dry. No sign of mold, though, so that was good!
As you can see in the photo, the coffee filter is damp, and there is dried brine on in the dish I kept it in, so at some point during fermentation, it did rise at least enough to wet the paper, causing it to drip.
Parts of the cabbage leaf did rise above the brine, but that probably had more to do with me poking at it to check for mold before topping up the brine.
So far, so good!
Removing the cabbage leaf showed that there was plenty of brine covering the sauerkraut below.
Looking good!
Before setting it aside to ferment, the liquid had an orange cloudiness from the carrot juices, so it’s interesting to see that there is no sign of that. The vegetables themselves seem to have absorbed it, as they have taken on the colour a bit.
Finally, it was time to scoop some out and give it a try!
My daughters and I all tried it, and we all agreed that it was good. Which is saying something, since none of us have ever been fans of sauerkraut! 😀
There is a definite difference between this and the one jar of plain sauerkraut that survived. For starters, it is a lot more “sour”, though I could still taste a bit of the saltiness from the brine.
It has a nice texture to it. For myself, I found that after that initial salt and sour taste, another flavour starts to kick through, and I don’t think I like it. The plain sauerkraut does not have this at all, so it’s definitely a taste from one of the ingredients, but I really can’t tell which one.
While we ate it straight on its own for the taste test, it’s pretty strong and definitely would be better with something to take it down a notch. I’m thinking of some sausages we’ve got in the fridge right now, and that this would be great in a simplified version of bigos!
For now, it’s all sealed up and in the fridge, awaiting culinary experimentation!
It should be interesting to compare this with the one that is getting an extra 2 weeks of fermentation!
The Re-Farmer
adendum
I thought you might enjoy this video, on how to make bigos. 🙂
The Re-Farmer 
Pingback: Bigos – Re-Farmer Style! | The Re-Farmer
Looks much better than the last attempt 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lack of mold will do that… LOL
LikeLiked by 1 person
True 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: Fermented vegetable sauerkraut, take two: four week taste test | The Re-Farmer
Awhile back I mentioned that my grandfather used a long piece of wood to “beat” on the cabbage. I was looking at some sauerkraut recipes on line and found one that mentioned using a “pickle packer” to smash the salted cabbage
I looked at pickle packers on-line and it looks like a long piece of wood with a flat end.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah! I’ve seen those in fermentation kits I’ve been looking at. Would work much better than the pestle I’ve been using. *L*
LikeLike