# Sauerkraut failed



## bassmaster17327 (Apr 6, 2011)

I was planning to can my sauerkraut today but when I opened the jars it smelled like it was rotting.

I took a canning lid and drilled a hole it it then shoved a rubber hose into the hole and ran the other end into a jar of water for a homemade airlock. I shredded the cabbage and added salt until I had a lot of juice, packed it into the jars and coverd with juice then put my homemade airlock on it. watched it and it started to bubble and juice pushed out and leaked around the lid. I forgot about it after that and it has been maybe 12 weeks, I opened it today and the water level was just below the cabbage leaving some of it exposed and it smelled like rotting cabbage.

What did I do wrong? Was my homemade airlock a bad idea? Did I let it sit too long? Is it because the water level went below the cabbage, all the cabbage smelled awful not just what was exposed? It looked good but smelled awful


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## WestFork (Dec 20, 2012)

how much salt did you use per pound of cabbage? Did you try rinsing the kraut then trying it. Mine has an off smell when I crack the lid. I rinse it with good cold water to get the salt out, then I keep it in the fridge. 

It sounds like you didn't add enough salt to me. My recipe takes a lot.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

bassmaster17327 said:


> I *forgot about it after that *and it has been maybe *12 weeks*
> 
> Did I let it *sit too long*? Is it because the *water level went below the cabbage*,


All of the above.

I've never heard of the airlock thing with kraut.

When you drilled into the lid, you exposed bare metal to the corrosive kraut juice. While this probably didn't cause the spoilage, the metal will taint the taste of the kraut.


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## WestFork (Dec 20, 2012)

I had my water level go way down & I pulled the bad cabbage off the top & the rest was o.k.


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## bassmaster17327 (Apr 6, 2011)

suitcase_sally said:


> All of the above.
> 
> I've never heard of the airlock thing with kraut.
> 
> When you drilled into the lid, you exposed bare metal to the corrosive kraut juice. While this probably didn't cause the spoilage, the metal will taint the taste of the kraut.


 
How long can you leave it to ferment? It stays 68-70 degrees in the basement where I had it.

Th rubber sealed tight against the whole so no bare metal was reall exposed, there is no sign of corrosion.


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## tentance (Aug 16, 2012)

it only takes a week for kraut to ferment on my kitchen counter here in the warm south. then i put it in the fridge to inhibit further bacterial growth (don't want the yucky ones moving in). one time i had to skim off the orange discoloration on the top, but the rest was ok. try plain cabbage with sea salt as your first batch, it's no fail.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Six weeks at 70Âº is about normal.

The first time I did kraut was in quart jars sitting in a plastic dish pan (to catch the "spew".) I put the kraut in jars, put a lid and ring on and tightened "fairly tight". It was enough to allow the kraut to vent. It made the lids bulge and leakage around the seal. Because of such a small amount it didn't require much attention.
I find now that it's much easier to do it in a plastic bucket. If you have one of those 3-gallon buckets from Dunkin' Donuts, you can make about 10 qts fairly easily. Make sure you keep th kraut under brine and *don't leave it and forget about it!!* The kraut needs to be maintained at least every other day - if using a bucket, remove any yeast floaties on the surface of the brine. If you don't and the brine level drops, then the yeast will invade the kraut and spoilage can occur. The salt in the brine will draw out the sugars in the cabbage and that is what the yeast feeds off of. Keep the level of yeast down so that the yeast/sugar ratio can be maintained.

I agree, pull of the top 2" of kraut and see if what's below that is edible. It's alot like cutting out a bad spot in an apple.


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