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Pro tip: I thought those glass fermentation weights were just for looks
For my first few batches of sauerkraut, I just used a cabbage leaf to keep everything under the brine. I figured the fancy glass weights were a waste of money. Then my last batch, about two months ago, got a spot of mold on top. I lost the whole jar. I finally bought a set of weights for 15 bucks and my current ferment is totally clean after 4 weeks. It's a small thing that makes a huge difference. Has anyone else had a simple tool fix a problem like that?
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skyler6311mo ago
Why mess with what works though? My grandma never used weights and her kraut was fine, just gotta keep everything clean. Seems like an extra step for no real reason.
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the_holly1mo ago
Yeah the "keep everything clean" part is key, but weights just help keep it that way by holding everything under the brine.
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the_mia24d ago
My aunt in Wisconsin has made kraut for forty years and never once bought a special weight. She just uses a clean rock from her garden boiled for ten minutes. It works every time and costs nothing. I get that mold is scary but it feels like we're buying solutions to problems that don't need to be that complicated. If a cabbage leaf worked before, maybe something else in your process changed, not the lack of a glass disk.
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