How can I make sauerkraut with plenty of liquid but without mold?

April 29, 2005

Hello Everyone.

My name is Nenah Sylver. I am a writer in the field of holistic health,

notably psychology and more recently, frequency medicine (including Rife

technology).

I have been eating healthfully for many years and understand how important

it is now, more than ever, to have good food available.

I'm writing because my partner and I can't seem to be able to make decent

sauerkraut! Our first batch was so-so, and the second was inedible.

We made our batches in a hard (non-leaching) plastic " Not-A-Crock " that we

bought from from Life Mission in Pennsylvania. It's like the ceramic crock

from Europe, but doesn't need to have its rim replenished with water. It's

designed so that air escapes but no air comes in. You simply grate the

cabbage, mix it with salt and pound it down into the bucket, close it, then

leave it for 3 weeks.

The first time, we used cabbage but didn't add water. We were disappointed

that there was hardly any liquid in the entire batch when we opened it. It

tasted okay, though it wasn't as fermented as we would have liked.

I called the woman at Not-A-Crock. She was mystified. She told me that she

never had a problem coaxing liquid from her sauerkraut batches. Moreover,

she said, she never added water, but always had plenty from the sauerkraut

when it had finished fermenting. How she could get more than 1/2 cup of

fluid from the entire 2-1/2 gallons is a mystery to us.

So the second time we made sauerkraut, we added filtered water, which

reached all the way up to the top of the stones holding down the cabbage.

When we finally opened the crock a few weeks later, the contents smelled

funky and we had to toss it. The funkiness wasn't just on the top layer; it

suffused the entire batch.

The only thing I can think of why this happened is that the water we used to

fill the crock was too alkaline. It could have been the temperature. Or-- ?

So we could really use some help. I thought that sauerkraut would be easy to

make, but am finding out otherwise. Can anyone help out?

Many thanks,

Nenah

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