I love sauerkraut, and have had it since I was little. My dad's side of the family was German.
I love homemade so much more than store bought, which is not that surprising.
And as stated, it's good for you, so win-win!
I was shocked at how much faster, and less messy it was to make with the new slicer and crock. Before using the OXO mandolin made a huge mess, and then trying to stuff it into a big jar was also messy. I hadn't really thought about the effectiveness of the slicer much before I used it. I knew it would be better. But it's got 3 blades that are supposed to take a 1/8" cut, so every swipe is cutting 1/4" - 3/8" off of the whole head. I am going to make a press to push the cabbage down for when there's not much left which will help me use more of the head. Last night I stopped when there was a big chunk left because I didn't want to slice off part of my hand, but I'd like to use MOST of the cabbage. I also feel like if you don't press the cabbage down hard enough, then you may get thinner slices. So you really need to apply firm, constant pressure to get consistent slices. I got better by the time I finished, but it was so fast that I don't think I was able to get into a groove.
And getting the crock set with the kraut is much easier than getting everything packed into the jars.
This is not my photo, but this is basically what our old setup was except that we had some "weights" that went on top of the kraut to hold it under the brine.
The problem was that the weights were too small and too light to really do anything. Once the kraut started bubbling, the bubbles were trapped down in the packed kraut and easily lifted the weights. And even a gallon jar with a couple of inches of headspace would expand due to the bubbles so that the brine would be pushed out through the airlock.
What we have now is essentially this setup.
The weights are 6# and get within 1/2" of the side of the crock. I'm not sure how well they are going to hold the kraut down once the bubbles form, and I can't see into the crock to check like I was able to see into a clear jar. I'm not going to remove the lid because it should be holding in the gases to keep the environment anaerobic. I've got a damp cloth between the crock and lid that I'm going to keep damp during the month-long fermentation to help "seal" the crock.