Sauerkraut 2015, Take Three

Well we ran out again... so we made some more again!  I wrote in my post Take Heed! Watch those fingers... about slicing the end of my thumb off, well we did finish up that batch, before my Stone Creek Trading Cabbage Slicer came in.  So after the half failure I wrote about in my post Sauerkraut 2015 Part II - A Lesson in Fermentation, we have learned from our mistakes and I've been checking it every day or two since it's conception.  It has been in the basement for about a week now and I thought I'd share some pic's.

CO2 bubbles coming up between the fermenting stones.

You can see above that there is a decent about of foam forming on the surface, as well as a decent amount of cabbage that has floated up to the top.  Previously we have put large cabbage leaves between the cabbage and the weights, which may have contribute to our partial past failure, as they might have trapped the bubbles... just a theory.

Fresh cabbage and sauerkraut soup, just what the doctor ordered!

Okay, I'll admit... for the first week or so, this stuff does stink.  Each time I go down to skim off the surface, I smell it.  It's not overpowering, but I smell it.  It's nowhere as bad as changing a diaper blowout, believe me!

Anyway, this is how I cover the crock while I'm fermenting... it's a kitchen towel and a shoe string with a prusak knot and a bowline so I can tighten it up when I'm not inspecting it.  Talk about fermenting on a shoestring budget!  (Sorry,  I couldn't help it)

My kitchen towel and shoestring lid...

Okay, I guess I don't have as many pics as I thought.  Hope this was informative for somebody!
~Clinton