My brother said my sauerkraut would fail if I didn't weigh it down with a cabbage leaf.

He swore by the method, but after two batches in my Brooklyn apartment, I just used a glass weight. Both ferments came out perfect, no mold. Has anyone else ditched the cabbage leaf trick for something simpler?

2 comments

2 Comments

faithb789d ago

What's the point of the leaf if a weight works? I saw a video from a fermentation guy who said the leaf is just an old school weight that can rot and cause problems. Glass or ceramic weights keep everything under the brine without adding extra stuff that can go bad. Your brother's method works until you get a slimy leaf floating up and ruining the batch.

haydenp958d ago

You know, faithb78, that fermentation guy might be overstating things a bit. People have used leaves for ages without their pickles turning into a disaster every single time. A glass weight is fine, but calling a leaf a problem waiting to happen seems like fear mongering. It's not like a cabbage leaf turns into a toxic sludge bomb overnight. Sure, maybe check on it once in a while, but ruining a whole batch seems like a worst case scenario, not a sure thing.