- Deborah Geiser, Lehman’s Kidron, Ohio
was at Lehman’s in Kidron, Ohio when Mom, my sister Fran and I made our memorable trip. The trip that promises to change the face of my newest love, sauerkraut.
How could I improve my first attempt to make sauerkraut?
The answers came from Deborah Geiser who is one of three co-owners of Pioneer Farm in Apple Creek Ohio. She made a special appearance on Saturday to describe the makings of and benefits from eating sauerkraut. The visit was much more than I had hoped for. Deborah was funny, very approachable, warm and a Chef to boot. The best part, she knew what I needed to do differently to make my sauerkraut better. She gave away samples of her sauerkraut. Which I compared to mine, hers ~ Yummy, tangy, full of flavor, toothsome strands of homemade honest to goodness sauerkraut, mine~ limp, mild, no tang, bland but salty. In a word, lame.
The two things I picked up from our visit were;
1. Beat it down more. When you think it’s enough, it’s not, beat it down more. She means beating it until all the juices were out of the cabbage and into the container. Enough to produce enough liquid to cover its self all the cabbage by about an inch. My mistake was expecting the brine of salty water to do the work of the cabbage juices. I sorta lightly squashing it to make a little room, just a pat compared to her instructions.
2. Ferment longer. Turns out, I didn’t let my kraut ferment long enough. Her family put it into the pot to sit (and work) in August, not touching it until New Years. I put mine in the pot, let it sit a few weeks, then canned it. Whoops, I clearly was taking it out too soon.
I am looking forward to August this year when I will attempt another round of kraut making.
But until New Years of 2011, we will be eating the lame stuff.
For more information about Sauerkraut making or to contact Deborah you can visit Http://www.pioneerfarm.net
Tags: canned, fermented, homemade sauerkraut, Kidron, Lehman's, Ohio, pioneer farm, sauerkraut
April 27, 2010 at 12:10 pm |
I don’t want to totally commit, but maybe we could do this together? I’m not sure how my August will be looking, but I’d love to make some home-made kraut!
April 27, 2010 at 9:28 pm |
How about when I get to the stage when sauerkraut making is a possibility, then I will let you know. The actual process is only a few hours depending on how much talking gets done at the same time.
May 12, 2010 at 6:05 pm |
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