The Liberated Kitchen, redux

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Day 3 is pretty boring. Check your kraut. Make sure the water level is right. If it's too high, pour some water out of the pint mason jar. Too low, either push down on the jar or add a little brine (1 c water to 1 T salt).

Give it a good sniff. Smells like cabbage, huh? Give the friendlies a couple days to really get to work. It will start smelling sour pretty soon and lose that cabbagy aroma. Since I keep the house around 60 degrees F, my sauerkraut can take weeks to ferment. Which is good. The slower it ferments, the longer the kraut will stay good. In the warmer months, it may only take a few days. Let your nose and your salivary glands be your guides. When the kraut stings your nose just a little (in a good way) and your salivary glands give a little tingle, it's time to taste.

Taste just a little bit. It's hard to know whether it's done or not if you don't have much experience with homemade kraut. When in doubt, give it another day or two and see if it gets better. It's easy to fret over whether or not your kraut is done. Resist that urge! There are just too many variables to set a certain time limit on your kraut.

Sauerkraut is a pretty forgiving ferment. If it tastes good, eat it. If it gives you terrible gas, let it ferment longer.

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