I'm hoping that there is some sauerkraut experience in the forum that can weigh in on a couple of questions I have regarding sauerkraut that I am making following the Ball Blue Book recipe. Three questions:

1. I started the kraut about 3.5 weeks ago and have yet to see any of the bubbling that apparently sigmals fermentation. The sauerkraut smells OK and looks fine but doesn't show any visible signs of fermentation (there has been no scum formation and today I wiped a little mold from the crock that was about 1.5" above the level of the cabbage). It has been cool in my house, probably in the 68 - 70 degree range for much of the time, up to 75 for parts of some days (though it was considerably cooler, probably around 63-64 when we were away for a week). Is it a problem or will fermentation just take longer?

2. I added additional liquid (using the formula in the Blue Book) to the crock at the beginning and again when the level dropped from dehydration: could this be slowing the fermentation? What should I do when dehydration lowers the level to the point where the cabbage is in danger of not being submerged?

3. The crock is 'sweating' brownish salty feeling stuff around the bottom 2 - 3" and also just under the rim - though it is only about half full. Is this typical or the sign of a problem?

Thanks in advance for giving this some thought - I look forward to hearing folks' opinions about what's going on.