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Originally Posted by Ms Arielle
Would love if you would post on this thread, so its here forever.
I tried cukes but they are mushy. A learning curve to eat them as mouth and brain knows crunchy. Totally trying to avoid addatives when possible.
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Here is a basic recipe, from "Wild Fermentation" by Sandor Katz. A good book to look at if you decide you like the idea of home fermenting, and are interested in a "free wheeling" approach. If nothing else, he gives one a good feeling that it will turn out well in the end
(There are many other sources if you prefer a "by the book" approach)
5 pounds of cabbage (fresher and juicier the better)
3 Tbls of salt (he says "sea salt"; other sources specify "pickling salt" as it won't cloud the liquid) (Katz says he isn't too exact with the salt [nor am I], but tries to keep it at about that much.)
This quantity will give you about a gallon. Scale up or down depending on what you want, or how big your cabbage is, keeping the cabbage/salt ratio constant.
If you have a pickling crock scald it with hot water before use. I use quart or half gallon Mason jars.
Shred the cabbage, and put it in a large bowl, sprinkling over with salt as you go. Mix it all up thoroughly, and pack it into your container, using your fists, or some other implement to pack the cabbage down tightly. The salt pulls the liquid out of the cabbage, and packing it down tightly ensures that the cabbage will be covered with liquid. It may take 24 hours or so for enough liquid to be pulled out, but that's OK. Leave some room at top as the brine will bubble up eventually. If the brine isn't above the cabbage after 24 hours mix up some salt water (1 Tbls salt to 1 cup filtered water) and pour enough in to cover.
You will need some sort of weight to hold the cabbage under the brine. A plate is good in a crock, with something heavy on top; an interesting DIY tip I have read about is an appropriately sized river rock that has been scrubbed and boiled. For a Mason jar I use a smaller jar filled with water (a regular pint jar on top of cabbage inside a wide mouth quart jar). No need to cap the jars; depending on the weight you won't be able to anyway. Maybe a clean cloth to keep out dust or insects.
Put the container(s) in something (a pie plate or the like) to catch any overflow, and leave at room temperature. Check it every day or so. If using a glass jar you'll be able to see bubbles. You should start to taste it after a few days; it will get more sour as time goes on. When it has got to a point that you find pleasant take off the weights, cap the jar, and refrigerate.
During fermentation you might find a white "mold" forming on top. This is normal, and harmless. Remove the weight, skim off as much as you are able (or willing), wash the weight, and replace. This is actually a type of yeast (Kahm yeast), and is really just an esthetic problem.
The process tends to go quicker in warmer weather, and slower when it is cold.
This is the basic recipe. You can mix it up a bit by adding spices or herbs, or apples. A good one for this time of years adds apples and cranberries. But I would keep it simple for your first batch.