Packing Cabbage for Dummies

So I repacked my stinky ol' fermenting cabbage last night and now feel like I fully understand the fine art of packing & weighting. When I originally packed it, I experimented with just having a bag on top, laying saran wrap over it and pressing it down to create a seal, and then eventually placing a small saucer in the middle and placing the bag over that. The saucer worked out well except that the crock was oval and the plate didn't cover it fully. Cabbage was floating to the top by the time the fermentation actually started, no good. So that's why I opted to repack it last night.

I made sure to pick up some cheese cloth from the store (my wife had advised earlier on that we didn't have but a foot of cloth at the house). Cheese cloth was the missing piece I needed. The cheese cloth can be laid over the cabbage and pushed down while still letting the brine through. I doubled the number of plates used as well, this covered more surface area and kept everybody right where I wanted them. From there I added the obligatory bag filled with water on top. I'm a dare devil, so I didn't double bag, nor did I fill it with brine in case it leaked! From there I draped the cheese cloth over the bag and then covered the whole thing with plastic wrap. I had read that people leave the cloth hanging outside of the container, but that just seemed like trouble since the cheese cloth can pull and retain moisture. I'd just rather the whole thing contained. After that, I covered it with a tea towel and stuck it under the built-in in the kitchen. And now we wait.

Speaking of waiting, my wife threw out another batch of sour dough starter she made. She keeps claiming that it should be "doing more" even after two weeks. I say it needs fed or it's just going to sit there. She's supposed to be purchasing a starter from King Arthur Flour soon, or as I called it "cheating"