fermentation temperature

17 years ago

I will soon be getting a picklemeister that my brother ran across online and ordered for me. I have only attempted fermented pickles once before and I think temperature might have been part of my problem. I ran into a similar problem when brewing some beer a few years ago. The temp in my house at this time of year ranges from 78 to 81 and it is generally pretty warm here year round. I was able to brew beer successfully by using an ice chest and putting a frozen block of ice in blue plastic and changing it out twice a day with a hard frozen one. I was able to maintain around 68 degrees doing this and brewed several batches of beer successfully after failing on the first couple that ended up smelling like bananas. I plan to test the ice chest with the blocks of ice for a couple of days to see what type of temps I end up with. I want to make sauerkraut and also make another attempt at making sour or half sour pickles using this method. Just wanted to know what you folks thoughts are as far as temperature and also for those of you that make kraut, what is your general rule of thumb as far as salt to the amount of cabbage used. I have read several ratios and was figuring on trying around 2 percent salt of the weight of the cabbage used. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

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Comments (6)

digdirt2
17 years ago
I don't know for sure if it will help but just incase you aren't familiar with the fermenting info provided by NCHFP I've linked it below for you.

My house temp runs about the same as yours but the basement works for me for sauerkraut. If no basement you might discover that a closet or linen cupboard can gain you 5 degrees cooler with less work (just hope the kraut doesn't smell up all the linens ;).

But in theory, the ice chest idea sure sounds plausible.

Good luck.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP - Fermenting Guidelines
duajones
Original Author
17 years ago
Thanks for responding Dave and thanks for the link. A closet or other area is out of the question for me so I plan on trying the ice chest idea that I previously mentioned. Anyone that has tried this I would love to hear from otherwise I will just rely on guidelines temperature wise. Would also love to hear feedback concerning my thoughts on using salt based on 2 percent salt versus the overall weight of the cabbage. thanks again
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ksrogers
17 years ago
You can ferment these at higher temps, but use shorter times. Its hard to control a cool temp with an ice chest and ice packs, as they would require many weeks of switching out probably twice a day. If you have a cooler basement, that can help. Here, even if its 90+ outside, I can't live indoors at 80 or even 75 degrees. Luckily, I have AC here.
duajones
Original Author
17 years ago
switching out the ice packs twice a day is exactly what I do. I just make it part of my daily routine changing out the pack when I get up and again 12 hours later. I just dont want to put together a batch and have it fail on me because of the high temperature.
Anyone have thoughts on the salt ratio I plan to try for my kraut?
digdirt2
17 years ago
I can't say what the % of salt I use for kraut but I can say that we routinely make it with less than is normally called for because it is just too salty for our tastes. Recipe at NCHFP is 3/4 cup to 25 lbs of cabbage. We only use 1/2 cup for 25 lbs. and get good results. It takes a bit longer to ferment with the less salt.

It isn't considered "safe" I know so am not recommending it as safe but it works for us.

Dave
duajones
Original Author
17 years ago
Made my first batch today using the Picklemeister, one gallon glass jar and it took around 7 lbs of cabbage to fill it. As I mashed it with my fist in the jar I did notice some foam that rose to the top but it began dissipating before I put the lid with the air lock on. I just checked it and it is at 70 degrees but I did notice an air bubble around an inch from the top that is around the size of a pea. Bubbles like that arent good are they?