In praise of kraut!

[AccountingDrone]

mmmmmm kraut. Yes we do really need a food smilie.

That being said -
I patronize Gold Mine Natural Foods for all sorts of my dietary goodies. In addition to some seriously yummy kraut, they sell the crocks for making said kraut complete with weight discs. They also sell a cute plastic japanese pickle maker that I lust after but haven't managed to talk Rob into buying for me [yet].

You could actually use the cute little japanese pickle press to make single head batches of kraut, by the way.

Making kraut is actually pretty simple - I always did it the way my mom taught me. Shred several heads of cabbage, and layer alternating with a sprinkle of salt. One of my cousins adds caraway seeds into her kraut. After you fill the crock, you top it with a weighted disc, then lid it. My crock has a lid that fits into a well around the rim you put water in to make a crude airlock. Kimchee is more or less Korean sauerkraut made with a different cruciform veggie and peppers. I have another cousin that makes it in a glass lined 85 gallon overpack drum ... they have 14 kids and live in a miltigeneration extended family household [AKA traditional Amish household] and go through 8 or 9 drums of kraut in a year.

And I will *never* buy a used crock, as they can have microfine cracks that will leak, or one can never be certain what was done with said crocks previously.

Hm, maybe we should also discuss rumpot ...

[Jester]

I read the description of the rumpot.

I am now drooling all over my computer, my lap, my desk, the floor, the neighbor's cat (how'd he get in here?), the neighbor (how'd HE get in here?!?), Gary Oldman (WHO LEFT THE DAMN DOOR OPEN!??!?!)......

[Amina516]

I read the description of the rumpot.

I am now drooling all over my computer, my lap, my desk, the floor, the neighbor's cat (how'd he get in here?), the neighbor (how'd HE get in here?!?), Gary Oldman (WHO LEFT THE DAMN DOOR OPEN!??!?!)......

Ditto!! (Except Gary Oldman, I'll not drool on such a fine actor)


I'm disappointed that I've never heard if this before! I have spent the last 29 years of my life not really living.

[Jester]

I've found that the key to enjoying life is not to regret that which we haven't done, but to look forward to that which we shall yet do.


Holy crap, that is far too profound for me this early in the morning! (While I don't drink coffee, I am at the mental point where most coffee drinkers who haven't had their morning coffee yet might be.) Yep, way too profound. I shall have to fix that.


I've found that the key to enjoying life is not to regret that which we haven't done, but to look forward to that which we shall still yet do. Which is why I look forward to Anna Paquin.

[AccountingDrone]

Ahhh, the wonders of growing up with 'ethnic' foods ... Mom being Amish grew up with more or less renaissance German cooking as the normal. I can make pretty much anything German [or at least regional to Altenkirchen] with some normal new world turn of the 17th century cooking tossed in. It worked out nicely when we lived in Germany for 5 years

You can make rumpot in any non-plastic sealable vessel. I have made it in a 1 quart mason jar, fergoshsakes! Fits in the fridge better than the 5 gallon crock

[wolfie]

Rumpot sounds like old-tech food preservation. Most fruits (apples are one of the few exceptions) spoil very easily, so they can't be kept in storage (especially in the days before refrigeration). Solution? Store them in alcohol, which kills off the spoilage beasties.

[AccountingDrone]

Pretty much. any time you put fruits and veggies into a brine [salt water with or without herbs and spices] a pickle [ a vinegar based brine with or without herbs and spices] or alcohol [brandied fruit, spiced peaches in brandy] it is a form of pickling, and preserving fruit and veggies. When you cook down fruits into 'butters' or 'curds' you are removing the water required for microbial overgrowth - before pressure canning you made your jams, jellies, butters and curds and topped them with a good layer of wax - in a confit you cook a meat in fat until all the water is driven out and the solidified fat preserves the confit. An old style pork pie made properly has the meat inside the heavy inedible crust sealed in with a heavy layer of aspic and fat, and was used as travel food because it was designed to last for up to several weeks.