- 1 stainless steel lid- made from 304 surgical stainless steel (corrosion resistant)
- 1 glass fermentation weight- fits in a standard wide-mouthed mason jar, and will not react with food
- 1 air lock
- 2 rubber stoppers, 1 with a hole, to use with the airlock, and one solid
- 1 rubber canning gasket
- Himalayan powdered salt
- Instruction guide that includes a basic sauerkraut recipe
This kit is designed for use with a standard, wide-mouthed, glass mason jar.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that I am typically not a fan of sauerkraut, pickles, and similiar products. However, it's good to try new things, right? Fortunately, my husband and oldest daughter are big fans of those kinds foods, so I knew that at least half of the family would eat the final product, lol.
I had my starter kit, now the next question was, what should I attempt to ferment first? The Fermentools website has a nice recipe section with plenty of ideas, but ultimately, I decided to keep it simple, and give sauerkraut a go. My husband loves to fiddle around in the kitchen, so he was right beside me as we put this together. It's an easy recipe to put together. We had our standard, wide-mouthed mason jar, a head of green cabbage, and our starter kit. It was go time!
We thought that we would start with 1/2 of a green cabbage, as we were only filling one jar. It ended up being the perfect amount, yay! I sliced the cabbage finely with a regular kitchen knife, but you can use a food processor too. Put the cabbage in the bowl, and then sprinkle the Himalayan salt over the cabbage. This is the tricky part of fermenting. It really is a trial and error process, with some guesswork involved. You may have to make a few batches to settle on the amount of saltiness that you ultimately prefer. The recommendation in the directions is between approximately 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of the Fermentools salt (the Himalayan salt) per 5 lbs. of cabbage. For our 1/2 of a head of cabbage, we tried a little over 1 tablespoon.
After adding the salt, you'll use either a potato masher, or your hands, to squeeze the cabbage, which will cause it to release its natural juices. I recommend using your hands. I first tried the masher, and it just didn't do the job. You'll do this for about 10 minutes, until the cabbage is softened, and there is a good amount of liquid.
Next, I put the cabbage in the mason jar, packed it tightly, and added the liquid over it. Then, the glass weight goes on top of the cabbage. The goal is to keep the cabbage, or whatever vegetable being used, under the brine solution.
Now, I finished with the air lock. First, the rubber seal goes on the mason jar, followed by the lid with the hole, where the plastic cannister fits into. Put the rubber stop that has the hole, securely into the lid's hole.
The cannister has a removable top, and a little removable piece inside. Open it, take the removable piece out, and add unchlorinated water to the fill line. I used filtered water from my Brita pitcher. Put the cannister's top back on, and fit it tightly into the rubber stopper. Let the fermenting commence!
Your sauerkraut or whatever vegetables, need to be kept in a dark, warm place. I wrapped a kitchen towel around my jar, and kept it in an appropriate spot on our kitchen counter. You'll want to leave it to do its thing for anywhere from 3-14 days. We decided on 8 days.
How was the final product? On day 8, we were ready to try it out. According to the instructions, and what they said to look for, we were encouraged. It had the right look and smell. But what about the taste? Well, it tasted like...sauerkraut! Hurray! It was however, pretty salty, so, we actually gave it a rinse under water, which helped. We decided that for the next batch we'll decrease the salt by half. My husband and daughter agreed it was still good though. We celebrated with brats, and piled on the kraut.
I was so happy with the process, that after our general success, I went back to the website and ordered an additional 4 pack kit so that I can make a bunch of veggies at a time. It's fun! We currently have a batch of Giardinara, and a general vegetable mix fermenting away. We'll be trying them this weekend.
We have warm weather, and garden vegetables ready to plant in our gardens. It's a great time to try out this preserving technique. Save money, and improve your health. Give it a try!
I had my starter kit, now the next question was, what should I attempt to ferment first? The Fermentools website has a nice recipe section with plenty of ideas, but ultimately, I decided to keep it simple, and give sauerkraut a go. My husband loves to fiddle around in the kitchen, so he was right beside me as we put this together. It's an easy recipe to put together. We had our standard, wide-mouthed mason jar, a head of green cabbage, and our starter kit. It was go time!
We thought that we would start with 1/2 of a green cabbage, as we were only filling one jar. It ended up being the perfect amount, yay! I sliced the cabbage finely with a regular kitchen knife, but you can use a food processor too. Put the cabbage in the bowl, and then sprinkle the Himalayan salt over the cabbage. This is the tricky part of fermenting. It really is a trial and error process, with some guesswork involved. You may have to make a few batches to settle on the amount of saltiness that you ultimately prefer. The recommendation in the directions is between approximately 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of the Fermentools salt (the Himalayan salt) per 5 lbs. of cabbage. For our 1/2 of a head of cabbage, we tried a little over 1 tablespoon.
After adding the salt, you'll use either a potato masher, or your hands, to squeeze the cabbage, which will cause it to release its natural juices. I recommend using your hands. I first tried the masher, and it just didn't do the job. You'll do this for about 10 minutes, until the cabbage is softened, and there is a good amount of liquid.
Next, I put the cabbage in the mason jar, packed it tightly, and added the liquid over it. Then, the glass weight goes on top of the cabbage. The goal is to keep the cabbage, or whatever vegetable being used, under the brine solution.
Now, I finished with the air lock. First, the rubber seal goes on the mason jar, followed by the lid with the hole, where the plastic cannister fits into. Put the rubber stop that has the hole, securely into the lid's hole.
The cannister has a removable top, and a little removable piece inside. Open it, take the removable piece out, and add unchlorinated water to the fill line. I used filtered water from my Brita pitcher. Put the cannister's top back on, and fit it tightly into the rubber stopper. Let the fermenting commence!
Your sauerkraut or whatever vegetables, need to be kept in a dark, warm place. I wrapped a kitchen towel around my jar, and kept it in an appropriate spot on our kitchen counter. You'll want to leave it to do its thing for anywhere from 3-14 days. We decided on 8 days.
How was the final product? On day 8, we were ready to try it out. According to the instructions, and what they said to look for, we were encouraged. It had the right look and smell. But what about the taste? Well, it tasted like...sauerkraut! Hurray! It was however, pretty salty, so, we actually gave it a rinse under water, which helped. We decided that for the next batch we'll decrease the salt by half. My husband and daughter agreed it was still good though. We celebrated with brats, and piled on the kraut.
I was so happy with the process, that after our general success, I went back to the website and ordered an additional 4 pack kit so that I can make a bunch of veggies at a time. It's fun! We currently have a batch of Giardinara, and a general vegetable mix fermenting away. We'll be trying them this weekend.
We have warm weather, and garden vegetables ready to plant in our gardens. It's a great time to try out this preserving technique. Save money, and improve your health. Give it a try!
