What to do if cabbage is not fermented

Every year, thousands of people are engaged in sauerkraut. But even experienced housewives do not always know the rules for preparing this dish. As a result, the vegetable does not ferment, acquires a rotten smell, or turns out to be soft and crunchy - and all efforts are in vain.

In the article we will tell you why cabbage does not ferment when pickled and how to solve the problem if the cabbage is not fermented.

Why cabbage does not ferment

Fermentation is a chemical reaction during which lactic acid bacteria develop. It is thanks to them that the fermentation of the product occurs. For bacteria to multiply, create favorable conditions:

• maintain the optimum temperature in the room;
• use only clean cans;
• respect the proportions;
• vegetables are thoroughly washed before cutting.

If even one of the conditions is not met, the cabbage may not ferment.

Why does cabbage go out

Housewives, especially beginners, are often faced with the fact that the workpiece acquires a musty smell, darkens, becomes slippery and too sour. What can lead to such an unpleasant result?

The reasons are different:

1. Not enough juice. Do not put cabbage in a jar immediately after shredding. Before that, it is crumpled so that the juice stands out.
2. The wrong salt was used for salting or the proportions were out of order. For fermentation, use ordinary edible salt without additives. Iodized for pickles is not used.
3. The vegetables in the jar “suffocated” under the influence of fermentation gases. During the course of chemical reactions, carbon dioxide accumulates in the container. On the third day, they begin to pierce the contents of the jar with a wooden stick to release the gas. Do this 2-3 times a day.
4. Oxygen ingress into the jar. To prevent this from happening, the brine must completely cover the cabbage.
5. The appearance of a fungus. After salting for 2 or 3 days, foam will form on the surface of the jar. It is important to remove it in time, otherwise fungus may appear and the pickles can no longer be eaten.

How to save sauerkraut if it doesn't ferment

If the cabbage does not ferment, it means that a mistake was made during cooking. In some cases, it can be corrected.

Fermentation should begin on the second day. If this did not happen, but outwardly the vegetable looks quite normal and there is no unpleasant smell, then you can still save the situation.

What to do if the cabbage is not fermented:

1. Dilute sugar in water at the rate of 2 tsp. for 1 kg of vegetable and add liquid to the jar.
2. Check the temperature in the room where the cabbage is fermented. It shouldn't be too cold or too warm there. The optimum temperature for fermentation is + 17 ... + 21 ° С.

What to do if salted

There are two ways to make kale less salty.

Method 1

Add water. This can be done only at the very beginning of the leaven, when the juice is released. First you need to taste the brine, because it contains the main amount of salt. If the brine is too salty, it is recommended to pour out about a third of the liquid, and pour the same amount of ordinary settled water into the jar.

When mixing, the concentration of salt in the jar will decrease and the necessary fermentation medium is formed. This method is suitable only if the workpiece was made in a small container - to stir the water with the brine, the container must be shaken. If cabbage is fermented in a barrel, it will be impossible to do this.

Attention! You cannot drain the entire brine, otherwise the cabbage will lose its taste and juiciness.

Method 2

Add egg... This method is applicable when the fermentation is over, but suddenly it turned out that the taste of the preparation is too salty. Take a raw chicken egg and break it into cheesecloth, and then place in a jar for 10 minutes. During this time, the egg will absorb excess salt.

Important! Place the egg in the jar very carefully. If the egg leaks out of the cheesecloth, the cabbage will become unusable.

How to ferment correctly

Sauerkraut is prepared by natural fermentation. It contains many vitamins and nutrients. The high concentration of vitamin C helps to enhance immunity. So that the dish does not lose its useful properties, fermentation do according to traditional rules.

Choose the right variety

The selected vegetable variety plays an important role in cooking. For pickling, only cabbage of late varieties and hybrids is used: for example, Moscow late, Geneva f1. These crops are harvested in early October. Such cabbage has a slightly yellowish color, and when shredded, juice is released. Leaves are firm, not too thick. Late varieties have a sweetish flavor.

Observe proportions

This is the most important rule. The amount of salt depends on the amount of vegetables. So, one head of cabbage weighs 3 kg on average. To ferment this amount of vegetables, you will need 2.5 tbsp. l. salt.

If there is not enough salt, the vegetable will not begin to produce juice. Accordingly, the fermentation process will not start.

If the proportions are observed, a lot of brine will stand out. All the liquid should fit in the containers, so choose a container taking into account the subsequent fermentation.

Fermentation technology

To make the cabbage tasty and juicy, follow these recommendations:

1. Chopped into pieces about 5 mm thick. If they are smaller, then the cabbage will turn out soft.
2. For fermentation take ordinary, coarse, not iodized salt.
3. Pickling is performed in glass or wooden dishes. You can also use enameled containers, provided that there are no chips on it.
4. Fermentation takes 3 days. After this term the dish can be eaten. However, the classic taste of sauerkraut will appear only a week after salting.
5. In order for the cabbage to ferment well, it is pressed with a load - a plate or a three-liter jar filled with water will do.

Store the finished dish at a temperature of 0 ... + 2 ° C. For comfort storage in the refrigerator, it is transferred to small glass jars.

Conclusion

Pickling cabbage is a rather complicated process. It is important to maintain proportions, strictly follow the recipe and avoid storage errors. Then the preparation will turn out tasty, juicy and crispy.