making cultured veggies...

I just put up my first batch of cultured veggies last night, and I am sitting here listening to the thing burp - I bought a big crock from germany that's made for this purpose, and the seal is with a ring of water in a trough around the lid, so that the gasses escape, but it does not let air in. Not very high tech, but the principle makes sense. It also has 2 half-circle ceramic stones inside for weighting down the top.

I'd like to hear anyone's experience with making this stuff - I am really wondering how this will turn out. The company that makes the crock recommends for making saurkraut using layers of shredded cabbage with salt, and then pounding it by hand until mushy. They also say it takes 4-6 weeks to ferment (and not to open it before then), while Body ecology recipe says 3-14 days and you can open to check the status as you go along. I bought the Body Ecology starter cultures (although didn't read the fine print that they were supposed to be kept refrigerated), and used those according to their recommnendations, pureeing part of the veggies with water. I've had the storebought veggies and they all smell kind of garbagy, but taste pretty good. I have no idea what to expect with this. I can smell the burps coming from this batch right now, and at less than 24 hours, anyway, it's funky for sure. I've also heard you can use whey as a starter (I assume from fresh kefir, but maybe even the powdered stuff - don't know.)

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