Had a guy at the community garden tell me to stop babying my sauerkraut

I was at the Harris Park garden last Saturday fussing over my crock, checking the brine level every hour. This older dude named Rick just laughed and said, "You're overthinking it. Fermentation wants to happen, you just have to get out of its way." He showed me how he just weighs his cabbage down with a clean plate and a jar of water, then leaves it alone for 3 weeks with no burping or stirring. I tried his method on my last batch and it came out way crunchier and more sour than my fiddly stuff. Has anyone else had luck with a super hands off approach?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_susan1mo ago

Rock from the backyard can crack the crock and mess with pH.

lewis.mila1mo ago

Wait is this the same Rick from the Harris Park fermenting group? I read a blog post by a lady who talked about how her grandma just used a rock from the backyard to weigh down kraut and never even checked on it for a month. She said the best batches come when you basically forget about them, no burping or stirring. I tried that once with a small jar of kimchi and it came out fizzy and tart like nothing I'd ever made before. It was super easy too, just left it on the counter for 2 weeks and ignored it. So yeah, I'm sold on the hands off method now, way less stressful.

roberts.leo1mo ago

@lewis.mila Yeah I saw that blog post too... Rick's definitely got his own way of doing things. Is a plate and a jar really that serious though? Seems like a lot of extra steps for cabbage. Just leave it in the jar and don't touch it for a month.