Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I started making my own sauerkraut several years ago, using a crockpot liner and a plastic bag. Once I found out how very, very easy it is to make sauerkraut at home, and how healthy it is, I ordered this fermenting crock pot. Yes, it's pricey. Yes, it's heavy. Is it worth it? Absolutely. If you're making naturally pickled vegetables, you really can use this. I haven't fooled around with temperature control or anything like that -- I keep it on my kitchen counter, and every four weeks or so I very thinly slice about 10-12 pounds of cabbage, add salt and a little extra water if I think it needs it, a teaspoon of red pepper flakes, a little brine from my previous batch, pack it in there, press the weights on top of the cabbage, put on the lid, pour water around the seal... and three or four weeks later... delicious sauerkraut! I pack that into quart jars, put 'em in my fridge, and eat it just about every day. Friends and family who love sauerkraut have gotten quite demanding about getting their own share. The water seal does a great job. As long as I don't get curious and peek inside (something I did my first couple of batches), I have had absolutely NO yeast growth. It's fun to listen to the water bubble occasionally as the fermentation starts and gasses escape from inside the pot. I was worried the first time the weather changed and suddenly the gutter was nearly empty of water. I'd just filled it! Where did it go? I realized the pot was acting as a rough barometer. When the air pressure outside changes, the water occasionally gets sucked inside the gutter, out of sight. Don't worry, it's not going in the sauerkraut, and it drains back into the gutter once the air pressure changes. I add enough water to keep the tiny vent-hole in the lid covered when that happens. Now I check the water level to get an idea of what the weather may be doing. Who'da thought? I went on a kick for awhile of shredding and fermenting carrots, but my sauerkraut-fans got rather strident about wanting more sauerkraut, so I've been back to cabbage. I did about three pounds of broccoli once...it worked fine, but the taste didn't appeal to me much. Maybe I'll try it again sometime. I hear collards make a great fermented vegetable, and turnips also get good reviews. I'm surprised at how much people like this 'kraut. Last Thanksgiving I brought a side "salad" of sauerkraut mixed with chopped dates, toasted walnuts and a couple of shredded carrots. I didn't bring too much, because I thought I'd be the only one eating it, especially after I told people I'd made the 'kraut myself. Turned out that I hardly got any because everyone gobbled it down. This year I'll be sure to double the amount. A few things I've learned: 10-12 pounds of cabbage (before coring and shredding) seems to be about the right amount for this size pot. It makes about 5 quart jars of packed-down 'kraut, with a little left over (I eat that). For me, that's a great amount -- three jars or so for my fridge, a jar for my parents and a jar for a friend. If I ever have more than four jars, I hold off on the next batch. Not sure how long a jar keeps. The longest I've ever had a jar before eating it was about three months. I don't can it in a boiling water bath -- I like to keep the lactic-acid bacteria alive and healthy. What's the point, otherwise? I can buy the boiled stuff at the store. I like to add a head of red cabbage to the two or three heads of green cabbage I use. It makes the 'kraut a nice pink-purple color, and I believe the red cabbage has more antioxidants. (Anything I know about healthy eating comes from my own reading or popular culture, so make up your own mind about that.) Adding a little of the brine from a previous batch of 'kraut seems to really give the fermentation process a boost. Sometimes I add a lot. My last batch had nearly four cups of brine left over once I'd packed the kraut into jars. I put a little aside in the refrigerator (I notice that the 'kraut tends to absorb some brine after sitting awhile, so I "top it off" after a week or so) and poured the rest into my next batch. I fooled around with the amount of salt I use -- I eat enough of this that I don't want to have it TOO salty, so I've found an amount that works for me. Too little salt and the 'kraut may not be crisp, too much and it's more useful as a condiment than a vegetable serving. I add about a tablespoon of salt for every five pounds of cabbage, occasionally a bit more, maybe as much as another tablespoon mixed in three or four cups of water, when I want to add some extra salt water to the shredded cabbage. This may or may not work for you. I realize this dramatically less than most "recommended" amounts, but it works for me. I found the book "Wild Fermentation" to be very helpful as I experimented with the amount of salt in my fermented veggies. I've only had two batches not work out (and I've had this pot for going on two years now). One batch, oddly enough, never really got sour. Not sure what that was about. It was edible, but bland and tasteless. I ended up composting most of that batch. The other "failed" batch was too soft for my taste (not very crunchy, a bland and disconcerting texture), so I used it to make soup. I think the temperature may have been too warm in my kitchen for both batches(it was summer) or I didn't use enough salt. Other than those two, I've made a couple dozen batches of fermented cabbage and other veggies in this pot, and haven't had anything go wrong. I've eaten pounds of the stuff, and nothing's gone wrong with ME, either. I prefer more brine than not, and so just to be sure I'm going to have enough liquid to keep the 'kraut covered, I usually add a cup or four of salt water to the shredded cabbage. This, combined with the juice that comes out of the cabbage, is always enough to cover it with enough left over to add to my next batch. Emptying the gutter was difficult the first time. I didn't want that water to get into my 'kraut, but the pot was too heavy to easily move. I use a "bendy" drinking straw as a siphon: fill the straw with water, put one end in the gutter, put the other end in a drinking glass at a lower level, and let the water drain into the drinking glass. Works like a charm. I mop up the rest of the water with a clean kitchen towel, and I'm ready to pack my 'kraut into jars. If I'm going to make another batch right away, I make sure to slice and salt the "new" cabbage, and then I can immediately pack it into the freshly-emptied pot without needing to rinse it out. The healthy bacteria in the pot get to work right away making another batch of 'kraut. Do NOT store the weights in the empty jar, especially with the lid over it. Even when they feel dry, they may not be, and I got a light dusting of mold on mine when I foolishly did that once. I cleaned them very well, let them sit in the bright sunlight for a few days, and that took care of the problem, but I've been careful ever since. On the rare occasions my Garitopf is empty, I rest the lid on top so that it doesn't seal, and I keep the weights behind the pot, in the open air. Update: March 10, 2012 I thought it might be time to update this review a bit, as my sauerkraut experience has increased. I still use the pot nearly all the time, and consider it one of my best pieces of kitchen equipment. I'm still surprised by how many people really, really like homemade sauerkraut. About a month ago, a friend of mine asked me to try making a batch of kimchi for a Korean pork roast he was making. I figured it was worth a try, reviewed a few recipes, and started a small batch, using quart jars instead of the crock, because I wasn't sure if it would really be ready in a week. It did, in fact, only take a week to get sour, and my place smelled strongly of onion, garlic and ginger for most of that week. I finally thought to seal the jars in a large Ziploc bag, and that took care of the problem. I will certainly make it again, it was delicious and a hit at the dinner party, but I will use the crock next time, and see if the smell is less strong. Nothing wrong with those smells, I just didn't want to sniff 'em 24-7. I'll let you know how it works. I still siphon the water out of the gutter before putting the sauerkraut into jars, but now I use a short length of silicone tubing I bought at a hardware store. It's easier than the drinking straw, and endlessly re-usable. In my original review I mentioned that I use a head of red cabbage. I don't do that as often any more, mostly because I found that I prefer the flavor of sauerkraut made from green cabbage. I've also recently been experimenting with the amount of salt I add. I still use about 10 pounds of cabbage, and I weighed the amount of salt I was adding. It came to about 70 grams for five quarts. I dropped that down to 50 grams last time and, if anything, the sauerkraut was even better than usual. I'm going to keep experimenting. A batch I made in January of this year startled me (and a friend) by fizzing like soda pop when the jars were opened. I was afraid something had gone badly wrong. I did some research, and from what I read, this is fine. I ate it, my friend ate it, and it was perfectly good. One site I referenced said that in Austria fizzy kraut is called "Champagne Kraut" and is considered a delicacy. (I have no way of knowing if that's true.) Delicacy or not, one such jar fizzed its way all over the shelf of my refrigerator, so now I'm careful to check the jars every few weeks and crack the lids a bit if necessary, to relieve the pressure. Out of all the gallons of sauerkraut I've made, I recently had one half-empty jar of sauerkraut go bad. I'd opened it in October, it got shoved to the back of my refrigerator for a few months, forgotten. When I opened it again in January, I immediately knew it was off -- the smell was unpleasant, not rotten, exactly, but like mildew. There wasn't enough brine in the jar -- the cabbage wasn't covered, and it wasn't protected. I tossed it in the compost heap. I've wondered before how I'd know if a batch wasn't good, and now I'm pleased to know how very and immediately obvious it is if a jar has gone bad. Finally, as I mentioned in my initial review, I personally have found the book "Wild Fermentation" to be quite helpful in my fermented-veggie journey. It's a book I checked out of the library often enough that I finally bought a copy of my own. I was surprised (although I don't really know why) when I read a number of reviews on this site by people who were offended by the author's salty language and political viewpoints, both of which are liberally sprinkled throughout the book. I personally found it all entertaining and educational, but more traditional and/or conservative people may prefer to get their tips and tricks from web sites, or trial and error. Just sayin'. I wouldn't want you to buy a book on my recommendation and then find it to be too offensive to be helpful. Thanks for the comments, and good luck!