Sauerkraut is an excellent independent appetizer, an ingredient in sour cabbage soup, borscht, bigus and many other dishes. And salting is a great way to harvest vegetables for the future, to process a large crop. Why does sauerkraut not always work?
Cabbage is the most important ingredient
Not every cabbage forks are suitable for pickling. Regardless of the recipe you choose, even if it has been tested for decades and centuries, sometimes it doesn’t work. For fermentation, the largest heads of light color are used, green leaves are always cleaned, they give bitterness, an unpleasant aftertaste. But still, not this is more important.
Cabbage by maturity:
- Early grades. They are absolutely not suitable for salting, the cabbage will turn out soft, mucus will appear in it. We mark it right away.
- Mid-season cabbage. She scored enough sugar, fermentation is allowed, but it will not work to get a really tasty and worthwhile harvest from medium cabbage.
- Late cabbage. It is ideal for salting, contains a lot of sugar, quite juicy and dense. It is from it that a good sauerkraut is obtained.
Before salting, it is recommended to try cabbage. She should not have any extraneous tastes, including bitterness. If a vegetable is purchased, it is important to verify its quality. Salting also does not leave cabbage grown on nitrates and fertilizers.
Advice! If at home only mid-season cabbage, then when fermenting with salt, it is recommended to add a little sugar.
Why is gray cabbage
Ideally, the cabbage is a white or slightly yellowish hue. Color depends on spices and additional ingredients. Often in the presence of carrots, and sometimes slices of beets. But in any case, gray cabbage should not work.
What could be the reasons:
- Little brine. If the cabbage is not completely immersed in the juice with salt, it begins to disappear from above, the fermentation process is inhibited, this affects the result. The whole mass will deteriorate to the very bottom, and not just the top layer.
- Not enough salt. Although it does not participate in fermentation, the main role is played by vegetable sugars, but salt is a natural preservative. Without it or with insufficient quantity, the process of decay can begin, mold will appear.
- Wrong utensils used. The gray color of the workpiece very often appears if you ferment cabbage in an oxidizing dish, for example, from aluminum. It is wiser to give preference to enameled pots, plastic buckets, glass jars.
Sometimes cabbage gets dark due to a violation of technology. It should be acidified in a warm place, bacteria do not work in the cold. It is important to periodically "pierce" the workpiece, to release gases. As soon as the cabbage picks up acid, the fermentation is over, it is taken out in the cold, lowered into the cellar or simply sent to the refrigerator. If you do this ahead of time, the workpiece will turn gray, will quickly disappear.
Why did the cabbage turn out soft
The most unpleasant thing that happens with sauerkraut - it becomes soft, sometimes even mucus appears. In this case, there is no question of any taste and vitamins. Often this happens when using unsuitable early and medium grades. If the reason is not this, then look elsewhere.
Why did you get soft sauerkraut:
- Not that salt. In fact, it does not participate in the fermentation process, but it provokes the release of juices. It is important for the workpiece to choose coarse rock salt and always without iodine.
- Hot water was added. Inadmissible moment of souring.
- Cabbage stood for a long time in a warm place. The salting is carried over to the fall for a reason, the workpiece is better obtained in the cold season.
- Little sugar. In order for bacteria to work and roam, you need sweet cabbage. Not all later varieties have a lot of sugars, the growing technology, the frequency of watering, and the number of sunny days also affect the content.
- Not enough juice. On its allocation affects the quality of the cabbage itself, as well as the amount of salt. Often boiled water or brine is poured into the workpiece.
By the way, it is important not only to use the correct salt, but also to lay in the right amount. On average, 1 gram of cabbage is 20 grams. If you add more, you get too salty billet.
Why is sour cabbage?
Sometimes cabbage quickly becomes acidic, literally on the second or third day after salting. The reason is the hot room. It is advisable to leave the workpiece at a temperature of 18 to 22 degrees. Otherwise, the process occurs quickly enough. As soon as a pleasant sour taste appears, you need to immediately lower the temperature. It should not exceed 7-10 degrees. In this case, nothing will peroxide.
Advice! Sour cabbage does not need to be thrown away. It can be washed, soaked, used for various dishes.
Why is bitter cabbage
If you do not pierce the workpiece and do not release gases from it that are formed in the first days, an unpleasant bitterness appears. Getting rid of her is almost impossible. You need to pierce the cabbage until fermentation is in progress. This is usually done with a wooden stick, the process takes several seconds a day.
The second reason for the appearance of bitterness or extraneous taste is use of iodized salt. On some packs it is even written that it is unsuitable for preservation and preparation. But for some reason, the mistresses continue to make this mistake.
National signs and beliefs
With sauerkraut, many different signs are associated. It has long been believed that vegetables should be harvested at a certain time and taking into account all the nuances. Otherwise, nothing good will come of it.
What were the signs:
- You can not salt the cabbage in the full moon. They usually wait after him for five or six days. Only in this case you get a crispy and tasty workpiece.
- You can not engage in harvesting on critical days. Nothing good will come of it.
- The most delicious and crispy is the cabbage that was cooked on tuesday or thursday.
Believe it or not, it's a personal matter, but even special calendars are issued for gardeners. Salting cabbage is given a special place in them. If it didn’t work out, then someone certainly envied you. So claimed our grandmothers.
