Sauerkraut and Olives

[Wag]

I've located a few growers on line which will ship. There are no olive trees in this are that I know of so on line is my only option. Pretty seasonal, though, so I may have to wait.

--Wag--

[Walks]

"RINSE THE KRAUT" !?!?!?

JEEZ, Ya lose half the goodness of the Kraut experience.

Would you scrape the cheese off the pizza ?

[samari46]

My mom was of German descent. Loved it when she made a real German potato salad. I'm the only one in our family that gets the so called German sauerkraut either with hot dogs or Hillshire Farms kielbasa. Small town here in Louisiana and even the specialty meat stores do not make a good kielbasa. Got spoiled by living in NYC for a half century. Knew a bunch of meat shops that specialized in good kielbasa. Had one bakery that specialized making Czech pastries cannot remember the name but they were thin and dusted with powdered sugar. Frank

[tommag]

Fermented kraut is so much better than canned kraut! You should try ribs and kraut. I prefer beef, but pork works too.
Brown the ribs in a pot till they're good and brown. Add kraut and simmer until the meat is ready to fall off the bone. Serve with boiled potatos and mash a fair amount of the kraut into the potatos.

[Rick N Bama]

I use this fermenting jar for making Kraut for our use. It does a good job and although it's only 1/2 gallon that's plenty to do us 2 or 3 months. BTW, if you should make what you think is a bad batch just keep it in the frig for 2 or 3 months. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how the flavor has improved.

https://www.amazon.com/Cultures-For-...rmentation+jar

[gbrown]

Try making old fashioned fermented brine cured pickles sometime! I keep them in the fridge when they are half sour and they keep souring as I use them up. Flavor from my childhood when I made the first batch! Grandma's pickles were always so good but I could never get that flavor with a vinegar pickle... fermented did the trick! I have 2 one gallon German fermenting crocks with a moat the lid sits in. Keep that filled with water as stuff ferments. I make a gallon of kraut every year too, I BBQ a lot of ribs in summer and save the rib tips/trimming for a inter meal of ribs braised in kraut.

This is the crock I use, can probably find a better price with a search. I found mine on Amazon but that seller is no longer there.

FWIW, I get my butchering supplies from Allied Kenco over in Houston, TX. Here's their website. http://www.alliedkenco.com/ I was in there last week and noticed they had these in 2 or 3 different sizes. Only thing is the shipping costs would probably be pretty steep. I make my Kimchi in an old gallon pickle jar I got about 30 years ago. I just ferment with the cap slightly loosened. I could drill a hole in the middle of the cap and epoxy a fermentation lock to it, which you can pick up at brewing supplies stores or probably on-line. Would work well with small batch fermentation.

ADDENDUM: After posting this, I went back and looked at the Allied Kenco site again. Under "Brewing" they have several small batch fermenters and fermentation locks at reasonable prices.

[white eagle]

I to have loved Kraut since I was a youngin
never understood why my son does not like it
I will need to look for some recipes thanks for bringing it up

[Bulldogger]

My mom was of German descent. Loved it when she made a real German potato salad. I'm the only one in our family that gets the so called German sauerkraut either with hot dogs or Hillshire Farms kielbasa. Small town here in Louisiana and even the specialty meat stores do not make a good kielbasa. Got spoiled by living in NYC for a half century. Knew a bunch of meat shops that specialized in good kielbasa. Had one bakery that specialized making Czech pastries cannot remember the name but they were thin and dusted with powdered sugar. Frank

Hozky?

[RED BEAR]

I will have to try my hand at making some just love it and have never tried homemade.

[Wag]

I will have to try my hand at making some just love it and have never tried homemade.

Tastes nothing like store bought and 1,000 times better!

--Wag--

[Echo]

I planted some olive trees in my front yard, and when they matured and stated producing olives, I processed 'em. Took a couple weeks, have to soak them in lye for a week to kill the acid, then gradually stronger brine, but Boy were they GOOD! Trees got sick, and I only have one left, and it doesn't bear enough to bother with...

[gbrown]

I to have loved Kraut since I was a youngin
never understood why my son does not like it
I will need to look for some recipes thanks for bringing it up

For you and Red Bear, the recipes are really simple-- 3 tablespoons of non iodized salt per 5 pounds of shredded cabbage. Mix salt and shredded cabbage by tossing in large pan. I also add 1 tablespoon of caraway seed on top each 5 pound mixture when I put a layer in the crock. Place in fermentation vessel--5 gallon plastic bucket, crock, or other clean, non corrodible type. Keep doing it til you use up your cabbage. (I usually do 50 pounds at a time in a crock) When done, pack it in. (I use an old baseball bat stuck in a new trash bag) Tamp it down good. Should have an inch or so of liquid covering the cabbage. Put some type of heavy plate over this and then put a weight on it. I have a very heavy plate that just about is the diameter of my crock. I put a gallon jug of water, in a clean trash bag, on top of this. I then take another clean trash bag and slide upside down over the top of the crock. I leave mine in a place that is going to have a temperature of a constant 60-70 degrees for 3 to 6 weeks. Might peek now and then to make sure there is not something going wrong. Never had a problem.

I will add this: The major enemy you face here is contamination. I've done so much of this and other things, like food preparation--sausage making, cold smoking, canning, etc., it's second nature to me. Making sure all tools, implements, containers, and such are well sterilized is a must. There are a lot of airborne contaminants out there and you have to try as hard as possible to make sure they are not introduced into whatever you are doing. I'm probably a little overboard or OCD about this, but I've never produced anything that was bad or made anyone sick. I'll continue to do so.

[samari46]

Bulldogger, nope think they started with a C. Darned if I can remember the name. Sort of like a funnel cake dusted with powdered sugar except more bite sized. Miss pierogi's, knishes, all the good stuff that the doc's can kill you now. Think they were called cruzicks or something similar. Frank

[Wag]

Bulldogger, nope think they started with a C. Darned if I can remember the name. Sort of like a funnel cake dusted with powdered sugar except more bite sized. Miss pierogi's, knishes, all the good stuff that the doc's can kill you now. Think they were called cruzicks or something similar. Frank

Rings a bell, somehow........

Kolach? Maybe called Kolácek knutý (Definitely not the Kolaches you see stuffed with sausage.)

Just a quick Google search......

--Wag--

[condorjohn]

Samari46, Could you be thinking of "Kalaches" (sp)?

[762 shooter]

I have some collard kraut in the bucket. Should be ready in 2 weeks. First time trying.
Smell krauty good.

762