If Mike K. can go off topic with Pickled Eggs I'm going to go down that road as well.

 

I have a fear of pickled eggs, I like them but there is a very dear cost to having them around the house. It's not me, but a very close member in my family can clear a room in seconds after eating a few of those.
 
PICKLED EGGS ARE BANNED in my house. 

So what could I do equally good but just as stinky..... Sauerkraut...

The direct translation of Sauerkraut is "sour cabbage" really it should be stinky cabbage.  There is nothing to making some good old fashion kraut, it's merely cabbage, salt and time. Two tablespoons of Kosher salt to five pounds of thinly sliced fresh cabbage, along with 30 days. 

Don't get me wrong, this is complex science... just the ingredients list is simple. What we need to do is to pickle the cabbage through fermentation.

First we draw the natural water out of the leaves with salt, this will combine and produce a simple brine. Bacteria starts the fermentation within a day, and begin producing an acid environment. Once the level of acid increases to where the original bacteria can not live, a second bacteria takes over. In the final stage another strain of bacteria eats off any remaining sugars. THis is accomplished within the 30 days. You have to keep the temperature about 70-75 (f) any warmer and the fermentation will stop and your batch will spoil. Any colder then 60(f) and the fermentation will stop cold. Again this is all balance.

 

I don't have a nice stoneware crock that will hold 5 gallons. I have to improvise. What you are looking for is a clean food grade container that will allow an air tight seal but allow for gas to escape. Any of you that has made wine know where I am going, so why not my 5 gallon "FERMENTATION PAIL" (duh).  You will also need to weigh down the cabbage with two large zip lock bags filled with water, you can use brine if you are worried that they may leak. This is necessary to keep the cabbage submerged and not exposed to containments. Don't worry about adding brine to the cabbage, it will produce enough juice within a day or two, just keep pressing it down. The important thing is to ensure that gas can escape. 

This is about 1/2 through my massive 2 heads of cabbage (20lbs), after a day the former full bucket had been reduced into 1/3 of it's original size. I have added caraway seeds to mine about 2 tablespoons to 20 pounds.

I will update this latter to show the brine, it already is rather tasty 



Cheers from the Big Dog