Sauerkraut Watch, Day 30

Pins and needles, right? The month has dragged by as you fret for my rosy veggies to emerge edible?

Last night I decided to try it again and package the rest. The flavors of the vegetables and toasted spices have opened up, gelling better than two weeks ago. The sour tartness is more pronounced, more effervescent. The punch of the red onion and garlic has toned down slightly. The texture is still slightly squeaky and crunchy, though the act of repacking into jars will mitigate that. My only regret is using Real Salt rather than sea or kosher... some of the trace minerals haven't dissolved past the gritty, sandy stage. Overall, I think it turned out pretty freaking good. Can't wait to try it on a good frankfurter or a fish taco.

The remainder fit into 12 pint and two quart mason jars, which were promptly tossed into the fridge. I used the business end of a french rolling pin to really pack the jars, leaving a decent layer of protective kraut juice. Since I didn't use a water bath or pressure cooker, I'm slightly worried about botulism. Heh heh.... Well, that stuff in the store wouldn't say "Raw" if it had been through a commercial canning process right? Anyone? :::crickets:::

In an attempt to distract myself from potential liability, I decided to make a fancy-pants label for my pseudo-professional product. Laugh all you want, cynical prick, it's fun to dream. I've done this before when bottling my homebrewed IPAs and barleywines, but this time without the help of Adobe CS3. Evidently, MS Word and Avery labels require one to trick them into working as you want it. Jeebus.

So now it's time to pawn these jars o' botulism off on innocent co-workers ($5-a-pop sound right to you?). But then, what's next? Spicy dill pickle slices? White-guy kimchi? Whole dills? Pickled green beans? Hot-pickled carrots and cauliflower? Fermented hot sauce? Lawsuits?