First Sauerkraut

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Right. I am sure a produce person can look at a single picture and guess the density, calculate the shape and determine an accurate weight without using a scale or having two reference points with exact measurements to at least be able to figure out volume. Do you by chance run a unicorn ranch or have a rainbow farm?
I can tell from the one next to your box of salt that it's not near 7#. I've been making kraut for over 20 years so I know a thing or two about it. The last batch I made was with 4n heads that size and they were all right at 1 1/2 pounds each. JMHO Oh like I said I have that same bucket as a reference point also. 
 


I don't get why you are so hung up on this but you have yet to offer how it is that you can estimate the density of the cabbage from a picture I posted. Maybe there is something in the water of NV that we don't have here in NC that gives you this super power? You also don't know how close the cabbage is to the bucket or the salt box. I am sure in your head the reasoning is sound and you think I am lying to everyone. Although, for the life of me I can't figure out what I would have to gain in claiming a 7lbs cabbage over a 1 1/2lbs cabbage. I did weigh each of the 3 cabbages before slicing them up so I could use the appropriate amount of salt when layering and punching them down. And while I can't say I will lose sleep tonight over you questioning what my scale said, I will say you are on the most pointless quest I have ever seen on an internet forum. I hope you get whatever fulfillment out of it that you need to continue on with life.

Your buddy,

Joel
 
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Cabbage can get quite Large
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  I can easily get 12 lbs. of white cabbage + weights in my 5.5 gal. Crock.  I simply put 4 inches or so of shredded cabbage in a plastic container then pound it down with a heavy weight to break it down.  Then place in crock and press again with a potato masher, repeating until the desired level is reached.  The juice is already covering the cabbage at this time and fermentation visibly starts in less than two hours.  Regardless of the container or type of cabbage, put in as much as you can, remembering to allow for expansion.
 
Unfortunately for you, it is a fact. Not an opinion.

I can bring some if you want some Rick.


Proof is in the pudding they say, walk hard they say! :)


Yes it is. And here is your chance to display this incredible power of yours. I went back to the farmers market and picked up another head of cabbage and placed it next to the salt box. Tell me how much you think this one weighs.

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Dang I want to play too, but I'm at a disadvantage as I don't know how tall a Diamond Krystal box is.
I'm going to guess that head is 6.3" tall and it weighs 4.01235 Lb.s

What do I win?
 
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Now this brings back memories!! Every fall when I was growing up my parents would always take us to my grandparents farm to help harvest the cabbage and then spend a day making sourkraut.   The harvest would in most cases consist of a full trailer of cabbage which , in turn, would be shredded and packed into an old fiftyfive gallon wooden barrel. Salt, whole apples and dill seed were all that was added to the mixture.  I can still picture the archaic shredding tool and old wooden club used for packing the cabbage.  After the barrel was filled, a loosely fitting wooden cover, held down by a large rock, would be placed on top of the cabbage. The cabbage was then left to work its magic!  For the next few weeks us "youngsters" would sneak down into the cellar whenever we got the chance, and dig through the top layer of "funk" to steal a taste of the good stuff!

Thanks for the reminder of such a wonderful memory!
 
Now this brings back memories!! Every fall when I was growing up my parents would always take us to my grandparents farm to help harvest the cabbage and then spend a day making sourkraut.   The harvest would in most cases consist of a full trailer of cabbage which , in turn, would be shredded and packed into an old fiftyfive gallon wooden barrel. Salt, whole apples and dill seed were all that was added to the mixture.  I can still picture the archaic shredding tool and old wooden club used for packing the cabbage.  After the barrel was filled, a loosely fitting wooden cover, held down by a large rock, would be placed on top of the cabbage. The cabbage was then left to work its magic!  For the next few weeks us "youngsters" would sneak down into the cellar whenever we got the chance, and dig through the top layer of "funk" to steal a taste of the good stuff!

Thanks for the reminder of such a wonderful memory!


Apples seem to be pretty common in homemade kraut. I will have to try it. I am guessing Houghton isn't your winter home Denny.
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Since this new pick is 1/3 to 1/2 smaller, I am going to say 3.75lb...Being Polish my family and I eat A LOT of Cabbage and in my late teens I worked in the Produce dept of a large Grocery Chain and have prepared Thousands of Pounds of Coleslaw in various Restaurants...So I can say with complete confidence and authority that 1.5 pound Cabbages are not only uncommon, in Grocery stores, but no bigger than a regulation Softball...You may find larger diameter Cabbages in farm markets with local loose head cabbage but large growers pack 45Lb Cases on average 15-20 per Case and this is what Restaurants and Grocery Stores get...JJ
 
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The last time I weighed a head that looked that size the only scale I could find was the one my BIL uses to weigh his bass that he loves to catch..

AND brag on..     Would U believe that head weighed 45 pounds EVEN !!    Never would have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself..
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