Quick kraut

[Choufleur]

Was feeling lazy, so I went to the supermarket and picked up some pre shredded cabbage (cole slaw called).

Went straight to kitchen and put the contents into two jars I had handy, and covered it with correctly salted water brine.

It I has been sitting in my countertop for a few days and it does not appear to be doing anything.

Will this little experiment eventually work.?

I was thinking to myself that the store might have processed the cabbage in some way, perhaps added vitamin C or perhaps (eek) something else.

Coming to you pros here to see what you folks think!

Thank you for your reading and hopefully responding.
Chou

[BeckyD]

I have only use the freshest plumpest looking veg I can buy. Most precut bagged veg has a 2 to 3 week shelf life and has been radiated so it looks fresh, typically it is dead produce. Not knowing exactly what you bought it really is hard to say.

[Choufleur]

Thank you Becky D.

Hmm. The bag has a good date on it. I think it was only a few days old. But I never dreamed it would be radiated. Wouldn't radiation make it all wilted? I am pretty sure these places (large supermarkets) use vitamin C to keep the product from turning brown. It was from a very high quality supermarket which I trust. They deal with their own produce and organic produce.

I will keep everyone posted.

I don't want the kraut to go to waste, if it ferments nicely.

If anyone else has any ideas, I welcome further input.

I guess with so many years of making my own kraut, I wondered if anyone had wanted to take a bit of a short cut, and used 'already shredded' cabbage and carrots.

Cheerio
Chou

[sourmilk]

Uh, what? Do not use brine and expect sauerkraut. Get a box of canning salt and calculate how much salt for the weight of cabbage you have. Add the salt to the cabbage, work it in and then place in your container. The salt will extract water from the veg and produce brine. Very simple.

[Christopher Weeks]

I have gotten cabbage in the early spring that has lost so much of it's internal water that I had to add some to make enough brine/juice to submerge the solids.