Operation Fermented Cabbage in Full Effect

I didn't want to write about it until I started to get some actual fermentation, but I started a batch of sauerkraut Saturday night. It's pretty easy to get started, the proportions are 5lbs of cabbage to 3-4 Tbsp of non-iodized salt (I also added caraway seeds). I used grocery store bought cabbage so I had to make some additional brine water to make sure the cabbage was fully submerged.

What really amazed me was how much water can be pulled out of the shredded and chopped cabbage by pounding it a bit. Apparently with very fresh cabbage you can pull enough water to full submerge it.

The hardest part for me was actually packing it in. I read multiple ways to do it and tried a few different ways on top of that. The issue is, you need to keep the cabbage under the water. If it's exposed to air it will rot. As of this morning, there are a few pieces of cabbage floating on the surface along with the bubbles. I plan to repack tonight and use cheese cloth to help keep the cabbage under the brine. Right now I simply have a plate in the middle with a baggie full of water on top of that. It keeps it weighted down, but since it's in a crock, there's exposed areas on both sides of the plate.

It's been a pretty exciting process thus far, it was great to wake up to bubbles all over the surface, especially considering I wasn't sure if I was doing it right. Only thing I need to do now is get some additional crocks, so that I can return the one I'm using to my wife's slow cooker (no pot roast until I do).