I wasn’t expecting to do a write-up until Day 14, but some jars started molding up and they needed to be removed from the experiment.
This post will be focused on just the jars tossed. You will see the photos of the jars as well as the brine samples I took showing the spoilage. The brine samples were taken with my new (high resolution) camera on this microscope and are large. Click on the brine sample for full-sized image (1024×768).
Jar 1 (Cheesecloth), TOSSED on Day 10
The mold on the cheesecloth spread to the sauerkraut.
Jar 4 (Cabbage Leaf held down by small jar), TOSSED on Day 10
The rotting cabbage leaf spread to the sauerkraut.
Jar 11 (Cork with Airlock), TOSSED on Day 10
All the brine spilled out. Due to the dry environment, the sauerkraut started turning pink and will mold. You can see how far the cork falls into the jar. If I had not filled the jar so much, the cork wouldn’t have touched the brine and the brine wouldn’t have overflowed. I do think this set-up could work, and will try this again with a jar less full to see.
Jar 16 (Bucket), TOSSED on Day 10
As you can see, a lot of spoilage going on here.
Jar 18 (Salsa), TOSSED on Day 10
This had such a tight seal, the pressure caused the brine to push out through the glass tube, emptying the brine and causing the top to dry out and look pink. No brine on top = spoilage. This jar would do fine with an airlock.
THANK YOU!
Many of the supplies (including the cabbage) purchased for testing were mostly covered by the donations from Loving Our Guts, Pickle Me Too, Easy Natural Food, Common Sense Homesteading, Lisa M., Traditional Foods, Grocery Geek, Rachel C., The Urban Hearth, Hybrid Rasta Mama, Sarah M, Miriam R., and Leslie C. THANK YOU!
The Lacto-fermentation Air-Lock System was generously donated by the manufacturer, Cooking God’s Way.
The Pickle Pro was generously donated by the manufacturer, Homesteader’s Supply.
The Pickl-It was purchased through the generosity of GNOWFGLINS.
The Harsch crock was purchased by the generous donations largely from Homesteader’s Supply along with with GAPS Diet Journey, Hybrid Rasta Mama, and Dishrag Diaries.
If you would like to contribute funds to this experiment, I would be ever grateful. Please send PayPal funds to: [email protected]. If you have a blog I would be happy to link to it as a contributor. Thank you!
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proud contributor |
| Lea Harris founded Nourishing Treasures in 2006. A mom passionate about her family's health and well-being, Lea believes education is power. Encouraging others to take baby steps in the right direction of health for their families, Lea's goal is to raise awareness of what goes into our mouths and on our bodies, providing natural alternative information that promotes health and prevents disease by using traditional foods and nature's medicine.
Lea is a Certified Health Coach graduate from Beyond Organic University, and a Certified Aromatherapist graduate from Aromahead Institute. "Like" Nourishing Treasures on Facebook, join the Nourishing Treasures Group on Facebook, follow @NourishTreasure on Twitter, and subscribe to our newsletter. You can also find me on Learning About Essential Oils forum, and Fido Fermentation Facebook group. Disclaimer: I use affiliate links wherever possible. So if you click on a link, and make a purchase, I might make a small commission, but it doesn't cost you any more. |
Some of those are absolutely gruesome! Amazing how it can spoil. I love the microscope pics by the way!
Thanks for stopping by, Debbie! Pretty fascinating, isn’t it?
I’m having such fun following this! Thanks for providing such informative entertainment.
Off to share on my blog’s Facebook page now!
Thanks for stopping by, Jennifer! I appreciate the share
Lea,
The plot thickens! So interesting!
I can see that there are differences in the brine samples, but how do you know what little critters are LAB’s, molds, yeasts, etc? Is there a good picture field guide you’re using to ID them?
LABs are distinctly “rods” and look like elbow macaroni once they get past the first stage (which is little round circles). Molds and yeasts can look like many things, but never like LABs. Molds tend to look like branches with buds, or dark and fibrous. Yeast tends to be round and in clumps, like a cluster of bubbles.
Wow Lea, you are a sauerkraut rockstar!!
Thank you so much for doing this — I can’t wait to see the next post!!
Thank you, Deb! LOL @ “sauerkraut rockstar” *giggle*
SUPER interesting! Some of those were nasty, especially the bucket! EEEWW!
Will be sharing this on my page for sure!
I’m having such fun reading each new post!
Rock on rockstar!
Thanks, Jessica! This was the most fun post so far
I have made fermented sauerkraut using the cabbage leaf covering the kraut in a wide mouth canning style jar, but the leaf was trimmed or folded to the approximate size of the diameter of the jar. All of the cabbage leaf must be submerged under the brine; which means you must have something to weight it down. Otherwise it will mold and spoil. Your experiment makes it look unsafe, but done correctly it works perfectly fine.
Barb - I appreciate the comment. Jar #5 is similar to the method you are describing and it is working out just fine. I do know some people who do leave the cabbage leaf hanging out (as shown in jar #4). I think Jar #4 is a good way to visualize what happens when the cabbage isn’t submerged
Yep, after I left the comment I saw jar #5 which is very close to what I do. After your experiment I’m looking into some of your recommendations simply because they can simplify the process and I won’t have to wrestle with that cabbage leaf! I also believe I’ll be leaving it out a little longer to allow all those good bugs to grow. Thanks for sharing your experiment.
I am glad to hear you’ll be leaving it out longer so you get more probiotics. Yay! Your gut will thank you
Here is my Final Report, in case you missed it: Sauerkraut Survivor, Final Report.