Why does cabbage turn out slippery after salting? Secrets of sauerkraut If the cabbage is sour, what to do

What to do if you decide to cook sauerkraut according to your grandmother’s proven recipe, but the result is, to put it mildly, undesirable? Instead of crispy and elastic leaves, at the bottom of the container there are “snotty” cabbage leaves, which not only are there, but you don’t even want to pick up? And, before renouncing a family recipe, you should carefully study the possible reasons for this state of the vegetable in order to avoid similar phenomena in the future. After all, if your grandmother delighted your grandfather with delicious sauerkraut for so many years, then everything should work out for you, so why did the sauerkraut turn out slimy?

Causes

There may be several reasons for this condition, so it is important to understand the requirements for all stages of preparing a fermented dish. To avoid “snotty” cabbage leaves, you need to pay attention to:

• Choosing the right container for fermentation.
• Choosing a suitable representative of the cabbage family.
• Use of high-quality additional ingredients.
• Compliance with cooking technology

The container for cabbage should be made of natural materials, since the fermentation process is accompanied by the release of bacteria, which ferment the vegetable. It is better to take a container with a small diameter and significant height. Before placing cabbage leaves there, you should rinse the pan well and dry it.

The second rule for success in non-slimy cabbage is choosing the right vegetable. This must be a representative that has no noticeable physical defects in the form of insect damage and rot. The veins on the cabbage should be rough and noticeable. Cabbage must be fresh, not previously frozen.

And the last thing is proper preparation. If you are not sure about the recipe, it is better to use only salt. Other components in the wrong ratio will make the cabbage not only slippery, but also unpleasant to taste. Take regular salt without iodine additives, preferably with large granules. The leaves themselves are cut into large pieces and carefully mixed with salt. There is no need to mash them excessively, otherwise excess juice will begin to form.

It is also important to pay attention to maintaining the temperature regime. Do not exceed the norm of 20 degrees, otherwise you will have to shed tears over the “snotty” porridge.

Should I just throw it away?

The required three days have passed, and in the container, instead of the expected masterpiece, something indecipherable is floating. And it’s a pity to throw away such “good” and nothing can be done. Although, do not rush to get rid of sauerkraut, because, despite its unattractive appearance, the taste remains very pleasant. Now you can thoroughly rinse the leaves with cold running water and use them in preparing borscht, cabbage soup or other national domestic dishes. Even dumplings with cabbage will turn out very original and tasty.

In addition, if during fermentation you notice that mucus begins to form, you can easily reverse this process. Simply select a clean container, rinse the leaves well and rub them again with salt. It’s just not advisable to use additional components. Just pickle the leaves of the vegetable and leave it to ferment for another day. This simple manipulation should help. About how to store cabbage.

Some housewives take very seriously the observance of folk signs when fermenting. They try to match the favorable phases of the moon and the positions of the celestial bodies. Whether such techniques help is a moot point, but it might be worth a try.

Here are some tips to prevent your sauerkraut from turning out slimy.

Preparing vegetables for the winter is not an easy task. This requires not only desire, but also skill. However, everyone makes mistakes and you must always be ready to find a way out of the most difficult situation. For example, what should you do if you over-salted sauerkraut? You can do it in different ways.

A simple solution

People make preparations all the time. This is inherent in them by nature. In winter, when the vegetable season has passed, it is time for home canning. Since ancient times, housewives in every house have fermented cabbage. It was considered not only healthy food, but also the best snack. They tried to make it according to some family recipe received from mothers and grandmothers. But such work is never without surprises. It happens that all the ingredients are taken in the right quantity, but the taste of the product is not at all what it should be. For example, what to do and what to do if you over-salted sauerkraut? This is, of course, unpleasant, but completely fixable. There are many different ways to help correct the situation. It all depends on at what point such a problem is discovered. The easiest way to understand what to do is if you over-salted the sauerkraut and noticed it immediately, even while mixing the ingredients. Here you can simply increase the amount of vegetables and everything will return to normal.

The main thing is not to be lazy and mix everything well. Knowing this secret, you won’t have to ask anyone what to do if you over-salt your sauerkraut. The secret is simple but very effective. Yes, and there will be more reserves for the winter.

Rescue by water

Sometimes housewives are so confident in their recipe that they don’t even try the semi-finished product. What should they do if the sauerkraut is over-salted, and this only became noticeable at the moment when the vegetable mixture released its juice.

In this case, too, there is no need to panic. First you need to try the brine, because it is in it that the main amount of salt accumulates. After this, you can drain some of the liquid and replenish its amount with clean cold water. The moisture will mix and the concentration of the solution will become lower. For cabbage, you will get exactly the environment you need. For this method, you need to take into account the main rule: you should never drain all the brine. Otherwise, only water will remain for fermentation. The final product will be very bland and not at all tasty. Therefore, you must strictly remember: if the sauerkraut is over-salted at the first stage of fermentation, then you simply need to reduce the concentration of the initial brine and continue the process.

Cooking secrets

Over-salting during fermentation happens quite often. This depends not so much on the skill of the housewife, but on the quality of the vegetable itself. If trouble happened in the initial stages, then it is easy to cope with it. What to do if you over-salted the sauerkraut, but noticed it when it was too late to use all the previous options. Is it really impossible to save her?

It turns out that there is a way out. True, he is not quite familiar. Everything must be done very carefully so as not to completely spoil the product. To work you will need a raw chicken egg. It must be carefully removed from the shell and placed in a bag or gauze folded in half. After this, the “surprise” should be placed in a container with cabbage and left there for ten minutes. This time will be enough for a significant part of the salt to pass into the egg. Some housewives are a little familiar with this method. True, they use it when cooking soups, and rice grains are used as hygroscopic components.

A win-win

What should those who missed precious time do? How to save over-salted sauerkraut if this only became clear when it was taken out of the cellar in winter? In its natural form it is not suitable for food. What should I do? Do you really have to throw away the product? It turns out that everything can be fixed here too. The easiest option is to rinse the cabbage under running water and then squeeze it well. Naturally, all the salt will not be washed away, and what remains can be easily drowned out with the help of fresh chopped onions and vegetable oil. The result is a wonderful salad that goes perfectly with hot new potatoes. In addition, salted cabbage can be used as a filling for pies. You will need to simmer it a little first. This cabbage will also make a good vinaigrette. And excess salt can easily be overcome by potatoes and butter. But the best option is cabbage soup.

Only when cooking should you not add salt or use powdered broths.

I have been sauerkraut for many years. Always the same, just like they fermented it at home. Even from the wrong American cabbage, I always got very tasty cabbage to eat as a salad or even for cabbage soup.
And for the first time in my life, my cabbage became snotty when fermenting. That is, at first it fermented and foamed, as it should be. I pierced it a couple of times, and it looked and smelled completely normal.
But today, when I decided to pierce it for the last time, planning to put it in jars tomorrow and put it in the refrigerator, I discovered that the cabbage juice had become somehow slightly viscous. The cabbage still looks and smells completely normal. Can this cabbage still be saved or is all that can be done is throw it away?
Now I spent half an hour on the Internet trying to figure out this issue, but to no avail. All discussions on the topic of “snotty” cabbage are related to how to ferment it correctly and who has the best recipe. Nobody writes what can be done with this very snotty cabbage. I don’t need a pickling recipe; All these years I was satisfied with what I used, but I would like to hear methods of salvation, as well as recommendations on how to avoid such misfortune in the future.
True, the advice that cabbage should be of the right variety is unlikely to help me, since cabbage in our country is generally sold, not counting the Chinese varieties, of only one variety, with which until now I have not had any problems. I do not believe in the connection between the beginning of sauerkraut and the phases of the moon, which is given great importance in many Internet discussions on the topic of sauerkraut. I would be happy to read any other ideas and recommendations.

Update: As I understood from the discussion and from additional reading of Internet sources, the process of “snotting” or, scientifically speaking, sliming of the cabbage brine can occur when the wrong types of bacteria living on the cabbage and in the environment take over during fermentation. I was not able to find out exactly the conditions under which this could happen, because the sources say very little about them and are quite contradictory. For example, some put forward as a possible cause too low, and others too high, ambient temperature at the initial stage of fermentation. I think that this does not apply to my situation, because judging by all these sources, my temperature was ideal.
It seems that this process depends little on us and it’s just that sometimes the cards fall in such a way that even if all the rules are followed and a recipe that has been tested many times is completely repeated, punctures occur.
Since, judging by online sources and comments, the “snotty” quality of cabbage is not harmful to health, and the comments describe cases where the snottyness goes away after being kept in the refrigerator, I put it in jars and put it in the refrigerator. I'll see what happens in a week or two. It’s never too late to throw it away; as a last resort, if it doesn’t work out perfectly, I’ll wash it and throw it into bigos.
Many thanks to everyone who took part in this discussion, it was very informative.

By the way, the simplest and most logical answer came to me by email:

<А отчего эти самые "слизеобразующие бактерии" развились именно в этот раз, а раньше никогда не развивались? Интересно, что этому способствует? >
Nevertheless. "exactly this time." Fermentation is a non-deterministic process. Each time he takes a new path. It's just that most of these paths lead to the result the user expects. Once upon a time, we talked here (in Easy) about botulism when making garlic in oil. Here we have approximately the same case - the procurement conditions were slightly changed or the set of bacteria on the raw material slightly changed - and voila, a certain barrier was crossed.
So. "Why... exactly this time." For whatever reason. The billet temperature was changed. The supplier treated the cabbage less aggressively with chemicals and not everything died. The medium was “contaminated” with something during the fermentation process. A dog brushed himself off nearby, for example.
"What contributes." First of all, a set of bacteria on raw materials and procurement conditions. Salt and moon phases may play some role, but in your case I would not consider them.

It increases resistance to stress, activates metabolism, stimulates the production of red blood cells, promotes cell growth and tissue rejuvenation, regulates fat metabolism and lowers cholesterol levels in the blood, thus preventing stroke, strengthens muscles (especially the heart), and improves immunity. Can you guess what we're talking about? This vegetable is very familiar to you! And this is cabbage. And not just cabbage - but sauerkraut. The most popular autumn and winter dish. Of course, to prepare it, you will have to tinker longer than with salting or pickling. But the product will be not only tasty, but also very healthy, even medicinal.

If, when cooking cabbage, almost half of the vitamin B9 (folic acid) in it is destroyed, then during pickling it remains intact. And after fermentation there is even more ascorbic acid: up to 70 mg per 100 g. Sauerkraut contains 20 times more vitamin P than fresh cabbage. Due to lactic acid fermentation, a large number of probiotics are formed, which makes sauerkraut comparable in usefulness to kefir .

Sauerkraut is an excellent preventative against intestinal cancer. Brine is also very useful - it contains substances that prevent carbohydrates from turning into fat, and therefore it is excellent for the prevention of gastritis with high acidity, and is also recommended for people watching their weight.

It’s easy to say - sauerkraut. And there have already been so many failures: the result is sometimes gray, sometimes sour, sometimes soft, sometimes rotten... Not every housewife succeeds in cabbage the first time. As in any business, there are rules and subtleties here.

Only late and mid-late varieties of cabbage are suitable for pickling. Early cabbage is not suitable: it has little sugar and therefore the fermentation process is worse.

There is nothing complicated about the fermentation technology itself. The main thing is to do everything clearly and consistently. Clean the heads of cabbage, remove dirty and greenish leaves, cut out rotten and frozen parts. No need to wash! Trim the stalk: it is an “accumulator” of nitrates and other harmful substances. Shred the cabbage using a shredder or knife. You need to shred the cabbage across the veins into strips approximately 2–3 mm wide. If you plan along, there will be a lot of rough parts. And the cabbage itself will lose its attractive appearance. You can also cut into pieces - squares or triangles. The larger the cut, the more vitamins and other nutrients are retained in it. In this sense, fermentation with whole heads of cabbage is ideal.

The taste of traditional sauerkraut can be improved not only with carrots, but also with berries (cranberries, lingonberries), fruits (apples, plums), mushrooms (salted and pickled), vegetables (pepper, beets, celery, etc.), spices (cumin , hot pepper, cloves, bay leaf, horseradish, etc.). If you decide to add seasonings to cabbage, then follow these proportions: for 10 kg of cabbage you need carrots - 200 g, apples - 800 g, cranberries or lingonberries - 200 g, cumin or anise - 5 g, bay leaf - 3 g, sweet pepper – 1 kg, beets – 1 kg.

Place the shredded cabbage and prepared additives on the table, sprinkle with salt and lightly rub with your hands, adding the necessary additives until the cabbage releases juice. You can use an enameled wide pan or basin - the wider the better. The larger the area of ​​contact with air, the faster the fermentation process occurs.

Some housewives add not only salt, but also sugar when sauerkraut. It will certainly speed up the fermentation process. But at the same time it will make the cabbage softer.

Prepare the container. This can be either a large container or a regular 3-liter jar. Place cabbage leaves on the bottom. Pour 10–15 cm of cabbage and compact it tightly so that after laying the juice releases on the surface. And so layer by layer until the very end. Up again, cabbage leaves, put a clean cloth on them, circle and bend. If you ferment cabbage in a large container, place a small whole head of cabbage inside the cabbage mass. A 3-liter jar can be covered with a plastic lid with holes.

So we leave the cabbage to ferment for 2-3 days at room temperature (plus 17-21 degrees). If everything is done correctly, then after a day bubbles and foam should appear on the surface. This means that the fermentation process has begun. During it, juice will be released, so it is better to place the fermentation container in a basin or other container. In the future, this juice can (if necessary) be added to the cabbage.

If for some reason the juice does not appear for a long time, you need to increase the pressure or add brine. It is prepared at the rate of 1 tbsp. l. with a heap of salt per 1 liter of chilled boiled water.

Always remove foam. At first it will become more and more, and then it will decrease. And when it disappears completely, it means the cabbage has fermented.

In order not to spoil the cabbage, you also need to get rid of the unpleasant-smelling gases formed during fermentation - hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide. Otherwise the cabbage will taste bitter. Therefore, every day (or even twice a day) pierce the cabbage with a long wooden stick in several places to the very bottom of the container.

After the cabbage has settled, remove the weight. Remove the top leaves and browned layer. Wash the mug and napkin thoroughly with baking soda, and then soak in saline solution. Wring out the fabric and cover the cabbage with it, place a circle, and put less weight on it. The brine should extend to the edge of the mug.

Depending on the temperature, cabbage is ready in 15 - 20 days. To keep it longer (ideally up to 8 months!), it should be stored in a dark and cool place at a temperature of about 0 degrees under a closed lid. To be on the safe side, you can moisten the top cloth with alcohol: this will protect against mold. At room temperature, cabbage quickly darkens, becomes soft and accumulates excess acid.

It is better to use regular coarse salt for pickling, or sea salt, but not iodized salt! 200–250 grams per 10 kg of cabbage is enough.

Work on mistakes

Almost every housewife experienced disappointment when sauerkraut did not turn out well. Instead of juicy and crispy, there is a sour soft mass. So why cabbage

...TOO SOUR

In order for cabbage to ferment well, butyric acid bacteria are needed. They multiply rapidly if the fermentation temperature is above plus 20 degrees. An excess of butyric acid gives the vegetable a sharp, unpleasant odor and rancid taste.

...BITTER

The temperature during fermentation is too low (up to plus 18 degrees). Perhaps the heads of cabbage were slightly frozen. You could have over-salted it. Since the taste of cabbage depends on growing conditions, it is possible that excess fertilizer was added to the soil.

...SOFT

There may be several reasons. We took an early variety - its leaves are soft on their own. Or you let the cabbage sour in the warm season. It is possible that along with healthy heads of cabbage there were several frostbitten or overfed with fertilizers. Perhaps there was not enough salt: less than 20 g per 1 kg was added. The fermentation temperature was too high. Or, finally, the air did not escape properly during fermentation.

...SLIMY

Sauerkraut “slips” due to excess air, which provokes the growth of mycelial yeast. But they are needed only at the beginning of fermentation, and then in small quantities. If there are too many of them, putrefactive bacteria begin to actively develop. As a result, the cabbage spoils. Therefore, make sure that it is always covered with brine and does not protrude above it, coming into contact with the air.

..."PAINTED"

Cabbage changes color for various reasons. If it turns green, it means there was a lot of air during fermentation. The product turns black upon contact with metal. That’s why the best utensils for fermentation are wooden or glass. It is strictly forbidden to ferment cabbage in aluminum containers. Lactic acid corrodes aluminum, and substances that are extremely undesirable for the body end up in the dish. The vegetable turns red due to an excess of salt, and also because the pickling container was poorly washed and there is some old brine left in it.

Attention

Sauerkraut, although healthy, is still (especially in large quantities) contraindicated for diseases of the thyroid gland, liver and kidneys, high acidity, peptic ulcers, internal bleeding of the gastrointestinal tract and hypertension.

From folk wisdom

In the old days it was believed that cabbage works well if it is served on men's days - Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. To make the cabbage tasty and crispy, you need to ferment it during the new moon. Want something softer? Then get to work in the last quarter. But take a rest during the full moon: the cabbage will turn out very soft and sour.

Cabbage busting

Not only white cabbage is fermented, but also its other types.

RED HEAD Cabbage is not inferior in taste to white cabbage. Its fermentation differs only in that less salt is given (200 g per 10 kg) and sugar is necessarily added (200 g per 10 kg): in red cabbage there is much less of it than in white cabbage. Carrots are not added to it, but firm green grapes, slices of green apples and sweet peppers will give it a rich taste.

Cut 2 kg of hard and sour apples into strips. Peel 500 g of onion and cut into strips. Chop 10 kg of red cabbage, rub with your hands with 200 g of salt, mix with apples, onions, 25 g of cumin or dill seeds. Place tightly in a bowl. Cover the top with cabbage leaves and cloth, place a circle and a stone.

COLORED Cabbage is rarely fermented. And in vain: this is a very tasty and healthy product. For its preparation, only intact, dense white heads are used. They are carefully separated into inflorescences, which are blanched for 3-4 minutes in water (per 1 liter of water - 1 g of citric acid or 10 g of table salt), and then immediately immersed in cold water. Then they are placed tightly in a prepared container and filled with cold brine: 1 liter of water, 50 g of salt, 3 g of citric acid. Cover the top with canvas or gauze, place a wooden circle and oppression. Keep at room temperature. When fermentation begins, transfer to a cold place. Sauerkraut is eaten raw, boiled and served as a side dish with butter and breadcrumbs.

You can also ferment BRUSSELS cabbage First, the heads of cabbage are soaked in cold water for 1 hour. Then they are blanched for 3 minutes in salted boiling water. After this, they are placed tightly in half- or liter jars and filled with hot 2% saline solution. Pasteurize for 40 minutes and roll up the lids. Store in a cool place.

"Original"

Divide the head of cabbage into 8 - 12 parts, cut 1 - 2 beets and 2 carrots into thin slices, 3 sweet peppers into strips, 4 cloves of garlic and a bunch of dill.

Place everything in a container in layers, sprinkling with salt (to taste) and sugar (1 tbsp.). Boil water, pour 1 tbsp into the cabbage. l. citric acid and pour boiling water so that the water covers the cabbage. Cover with a clean napkin and apply pressure. In 3 - 4 days the cabbage will be ready.

Spicy with beets

Cut the head of cabbage into 8 pieces. Grate 2 beets, chop 2 heads of garlic, chop 2 - 3 parsley roots and 2 - 3 horseradish roots, finely chop 1 pod of hot pepper.

Place the cabbage in a container, sprinkle with chopped vegetables and salt to taste, fill with hot boiled water and place in a bowl where excess brine will be poured. Leave in a warm place for three days, piercing with a wooden knitting needle. Once fermentation is complete, refrigerate.

With pumpkin and herbs

Peel 1 kg of pumpkin from skin and seeds, cut into large slices, add 3 tbsp. l. sugar and leave until the juice releases.

Chop 4 kg of cabbage, mix with a bunch of chopped herbs and 130 g of salt. Place cabbage and pumpkin pieces in layers in the prepared container. Leave at room temperature for several days.

With pickles

Chop 1 kg of cabbage and add 20–25 g of dill seeds to it. Grate 500–600 g of pickled cucumbers on a coarse grater.

Mix everything and pour hot brine: 1.5 tbsp. l. salt per 1 liter of water. Place under pressure for 12 hours, then divide into jars and store in the refrigerator.

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Great stuff. Thanks.

Yuri, do you want to say that you need sourdough???

Irina, Yuri wanted to say that preservatives from store-bought cabbage are definitely needed to stop fermentation. Without them, the process continues and the cabbage spoils.

Excellent article!!! Thank you. I also want to add one recipe: Mix shredded cabbage of late varieties with a small amount of carrots, compact it tightly into a 3-liter jar, put a bay leaf and black peppercorns on top (5-10 peppercorns), sprinkle 1 heaped tablespoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of sugar and pour cold running water, as when pickling cucumbers, so that the cabbage is completely in the water, that is, the salt and sugar are distributed evenly. Sometimes I add more salt. Cover with a lid with holes or gauze and put in a warm place for 2.5 days, and also remember to pierce the cabbage several times a day, releasing gases. I kept the cabbage near the radiator, making sure that it did not over-acidify. The cabbage turns out very tasty, with sourness (As I like ).

Yuri. I know the only proven recipe for sauerkraut, the one my mother used to make sauerkraut. And I ferment. No snot and industrial cabbage (who trampled it underfoot...)
Take cabbage. Shred. Salt it. Just salt, without pouring, not in layers - salt. Like a salad, but good. Lightly rubbing in your hands (not into molecules). You're rubbing a carrot... that's it. For her to be there. Approximately one large head of cabbage. You mix cabbage and carrots, tamp it into the vessel in which you will ferment, put pressure on top and that’s it. Then, the next day, you poke holes in it and let it breathe, and after another 1-2 days, put it in jars and put it in the refrigerator, that’s it, you can eat it. No sourdough, no sugar, nothing needed. There is enough sugar in the carrots, and then it will ferment on its own. I promise, try it.

We always salted cabbage according to the same recipe: a 3-liter jar filled with shredded cabbage with carrots, one tablespoon of salt and two tablespoons of sugar, poured cold water. After three days, the cabbage turned out excellent. Delicious, crispy and beautiful to look at. This year there is nothing like it at all no. Everyone did the same, but the cabbage was soft. Why, we can’t understand. We’ve already salted it three times and everything turned out the same

“Brine is also very useful - it contains substances that prevent carbohydrates from turning into fat, and therefore it is excellent for the prevention of gastritis with high acidity.”
- Is gastritis caused by fat?

You got the moon phases wrong.

Why does cabbage turn out slippery after salting?

There can be many options. Most often, this effect is caused by a lack of salt; cabbage produces little juice and begins to ferment. As a result, it becomes slippery. It could also be the effect of a too hot marinade, when part of the cabbage was simply boiled and not salted. Therefore, it is better to salt the cabbage cold, or pour the prepared brine after it has cooled. When pickling cabbage, its variety also means a lot; purchased cabbage may simply not be suitable for pickling, but be used as salad cabbage. In addition, it is unknown what effect will be given by the various fertilizers that manufacturers stuff store-bought cabbage in order to speed up its growth. And of course, sauerkraut should be kept in a cold place, ideally if you have a cellar.

Finally I found the reason why cabbage can be snotty. The question is that I shifted the sugar, made a mistake with the norm and got this result. You can correct it as follows: drain the brine from the jar and fill it with salted water.

We had to throw out a whole container of already cooked cabbage because it became slippery, cloudy and slimy. We were very surprised then, we asked our friends, and it turned out that many people fell for cabbage. They sold a variety not suitable for pickling. They didn’t ask where they brought it from. But since then, we first examine the heads of cabbage, ask where they came from and what variety. And it can also be slippery due to iodized salt.

Therefore, salting is not the cause of snotty cabbage.

You can ferment cabbage according to different recipes; add apples, cranberries, lingonberries, and carrots. The taste may be different, but additives cannot make cabbage snotty.

As practice and scientific arguments of ecologists have shown, cabbage turns out slimy when fermented (pickling) if there are nitrates left in it. Sometimes cabbage is picked early, it does not ripen, and the nitrates obtained from the soil with fertilizers are not spent on the development of the cabbage fork. As a result, during fermentation, the wrong fermentation processes occur, or rather, the process of rotting occurs.

The mucilaginous effect can also be achieved by using iodized salt, since iodine also disrupts the process of lactic acid fermentation when sauerkraut is sauerkraut.

The point is most likely that you used early varieties of cabbage for pickling or a variety that is unsuitable for pickling.

It is also possible that fermentation may occur, causing the cabbage to become slimy and generally unpleasant to the taste. Cabbage should be stored in a cold place, and when fermenting, thoroughly rinse all vegetables that will be used.

The reason for this is that there is little salt; it should be up to 2% of the cabbage’s weight, otherwise the cabbage will not release juice. Slipperiness may occur because cabbage is stored in a warm room. My grandmother always stores sauerkraut on the balcony, in the cold, which is why it turns out crunchy, juicy and incredibly tasty.

Indeed, sometimes sauerkraut turns out to be slippery, and the brine in which it was cooked is somehow viscous.

This most often happens if you use a recipe that calls for granulated sugar.

The second common cause is the use of iodized salt. In these cases, the cabbage is not fermented, but fermented. These are completely different processes. If sauerkraut is very healthy, then fermented cabbage will not bring any benefit to the body.

And finally, the third reason - the cabbage was fermented in a room where it was very warm. We remember that the optimal temperature for sauerkraut is 18-20 degrees, and for storage it should be stored in a cool place.

Maybe this happened because the pickled cabbage was not removed from the heat to the cold. As soon as you have prepared a jar of cabbage, it has cooled down, put it in the basement, on the balcony (if it is not hot there). She started wandering around, so she turned out to be snotty. Also, cook cabbage only according to proven recipes and follow the proportions, otherwise you will get slippery cabbage every time.

Cabbage should be poured with cooled brine, and not just boiled.

For the first time, I also salted the cabbage so much that it turned out like snotty mushrooms.

My recipe for pickling cabbage. Fill the container with shredded cabbage, alternating layers with grated carrots, bay leaves and allspice.

Brine per 1 liter. - 1 heaped tablespoon of salt, and 2 tablespoons of honey. I usually prepare 2 liters of brine in a well-filled container. I cool completely. I pour it in gradually. Then I prick the cabbage with the handle of a slotted spoon or a thick knitting needle so that the brine gradually sinks to the bottom. When the bolon is full, I put it in a deep plate and on the windowsill.

When the brine runs out into the plate, I put it in the sink, prick it again with a knitting needle so that the brine sinks and what flows out into the plate, I pour it back into the bottle.

After 3 days the cabbage is ready.

But again, I don’t pour out the brine, but pour it into a separate bottle and store it in the refrigerator. Since pickling cabbage often coincides with upcoming holidays and birthdays, the pickle is used after the holiday as a hangover cure (it also contains honey and vitamin C).

It's not how you salted it, but what type of cabbage it was. It is noteworthy that there are varieties that are not suitable for pickling at all. You need to know this and always check with sellers for such small details, this is important.