Suitable Containers, Covers, And Weights For

* Exported from MasterCook *

SUITABLE CONTAINERS, COVERS, AND WEIGHTS FOR

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Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
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***** NONE *****

A 1-gallon container is needed for each 5 pounds of
fresh vegetables. Therefore, a 5-gallon stone crock is
of ideal size for fermenting about 25 pounds of fresh
cabbage or cucumbers. Food-grade plastic and glass
containers are excellent substitutes for stone crocks.
Other 1- to 3-gallon non-food-grade plastic containers
may be used if lined inside with a clean food-grade
plastic bag. Caution: Be certain that foods contact
only food-grade plastics. Do not use garbage bags or
trash liners. Fermenting sauerkraut in quart and
half-gallon Mason jars is an acceptable practice, but
may result in more spoilage losses.

Cabbage and cucumbers must be kept 1 to 2 inches under
brine while fermenting. After adding prepared
vegetables and brine, insert a suitably sized dinner
plate or glass pie plate inside the fermentation
container. The plate must be slightly smaller than the
container opening, yet large enough to cover most of
the shredded cabbage or cucumbers. To keep the plate
under the brine, weight it down with 2 to 3 sealed
quart jars filled with water. Covering the container
opening with a clean, heavy bath towel helps to
prevent contamination from insects and molds while the
vegetables are fermenting. Fine quality fermented
vegetables are also obtained when the plate is
weighted down with a very large clean, plastic bag
filled with 3 quarts of water containing 4-1/2
tablespoons of salt. Be sure to seal the plastic bag.
Freezer bags sold for packaging turkeys are suitable
for use with 5-gallon containers.

The fermentation container, plate, and jars must be
washed in hot sudsy water, and rinsed well with very
hot water before use.

ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ ÿ

* USDA Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539 (rev.
1994) * Meal-Master format courtesy of Karen Mintzias



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