Pro tip: My aunt told me to use a cabbage leaf as a weight and it saved my kraut

I was making a batch of sauerkraut about three months ago and couldn't find my glass weights. My aunt, who's been fermenting for like 30 years, told me to just use a big outer cabbage leaf tucked over the top of the shredded stuff before putting the lid on. I mean, I was sure it would just float up and let stuff get moldy. But I tried it anyway because I had the cabbage right there. It worked perfectly. The leaf got soggy and heavy and kept everything under the brine. I left it for 2 weeks and it was the best batch I've made, no kahm yeast or anything. I've done it for every batch since. Has anyone else used this trick, or do you have a different cheap weight hack?

3 comments

3 Comments

daniel5931mo ago

Love that old-school hack, honestly.

derek_schmidt61mo ago

Ever run into the weird file permission bug after you use it? Had to chmod the whole directory last time.

willow40714d ago

Is it really that serious though? Seems like a minor inconvenience at worst.