calldoctoday Well, hunt up some seeds and plant away. I’ve never grown anything that was this easy. You can find it under “lacinato kale,” “Tuscan kale,” or “dino kale.”

I swear by Victorinox (formerly Forschner) Fibrox in the kitchen. They are light enough for a long day, but not so light that you feel no control, and they are well balanced. They pretty much feel like a knife ought to feel–like an extension of your own arm. That’s good both for use and for steeling. They keep an edge pretty well and are easy to sharpen when it’s time. They are inexpensive enough that I won’t have to reach too deeply into my pocket to do so, but my 8" chef’s knife is still good as new after over 12 years of heavy use. The rest of the set doesn’t get as much use, but I value them just as much.

As good as they are in every way, their best feature is the grip. That Fibrox grip is magnificent. It is as sure a grip as I’ve ever felt on a knife, wet or dry.

I picked up that chef’s knife after a visit to Smitty’s in Lockhart. We asked what they used for knives, and the answer was a very simple and emphatic “Forschner.” I’ve more than gotten my money’s worth out of those knives, and I could still say that if I paid twice as much for them.

I love me some dark mode, even during the day. Thanks!

mrobisr I agree. I also enjoy putting together my own blends for the same reason, but there’s something to be said for grabbing something off the shelf for a quick batch, especially if it’s tasty!

processhead My thoughts, exactly. I would never ask for details on a recipe, but sodium content is important information that hardly gives much away.

I’d also be fine with a “no salt” product, but that’s another discussion for another thread.

Dave in AZ You touch a little on why I pretty much exclusively make my own spice blends instead of buying the Excalibur ones. The won’t provide sodium content, and that’s something I want to know.

Dave in AZ Thanks for the info. Another reason to always keep your vents properly opened while you have a bowl of sawdust on the burner.

sheleyp1 Just judging from the kale I put into this batch, it would taste pretty good. However, it also would be MIGHTY chewy.

I don’t mind at all having some chewy bits here and there in this kimchi. In fact, I quite like it. However, I think a straight batch would not be good to eat on it’s own unless you chopped the kale into much smaller bits than you traditionally would the napa cabbage.

calldoctoday I don’t recall because it’s been a while! LOL! It had to be either Burpee’s or Hudson Valley Seed Co.

kyle I’ll just say that I also use that Escali scale, and I love it. If you want to get extremely precise, you can pick up a jeweler’s scale for under $20, but I doubt you need that kind of precision when the Escali scale will do 99.99% of what you want to do.

If you ever want to quickly convert ounces to grams, head over HERE

sheleyp1 I always expect the same thing around here, but I have these incredible lacinato kale plants that both flourishe through the Summer without bolting but also have survived multiple freezes (including last year’s whopper). These dadgum things are over 2 years old and show no sign of slowing down.

wdaly I didn’t add any daikon to this batch, but I can easily get them around here. We have Asian groceries all over the place.

@dennyo-s said in Kraut:

Because I stomp all 10 pounds at one time and fill into the 2 jars to ferment for 4 weeks, Can I add the caraway and the mustard seeds after I divvy them into quart jars to store?

You could do that, but I’d rather add the seeds when I stomp the cabbage. It all mixes up a bit when I do that, anyhow, so it would be some extra effort to go back and mix in the seeds later.

@dennyo-s Yes, that’s Napa cabbage in the bowl. I added the kale later on and didn’t get a picture.

If I use kale in the future, it’ll go in with the Napa cabbage. The reason it went in later this time was because it was an afterthought.

calldoctoday I figured it could only be a small mistake, so I gave it a whirl. It’s a close cousin to Napa cabbage, after all.

My largest concern was that it would be too tough, but it’s fine. In fact, I rather enjoy the additional texture, so I’ll likely continue adding kale.

I did salt and rinse it the same way I did the cabbage, but I don’t know that did much–very little liquid came out. What was more important was “massaging” it to tenderize it after I had chopped it up. It’s lacinto kale, so it’s especially tough (but tasty!)

Y’all got me up out of my chair and in the kitchen to make some kimchi. I had a jar of paste already put away in the fridge, so easy enough. I was absolutely wrong about making only a 5-pound batch, though. I bought two heads of cabbage that totaled out to about 6 pounds and, as you will see below, I had plenty of room to make a 10-pound batch. I need to remember that!

Cabbage chopped, salted, and ready to sit for 90 minutes (mixing up every 30 minutes):

Cabbage after salting, rinsing, and draining. Plus, the other goodies–the paste, a couple of grated carrots, chopped green onion, and extra freshly grated ginger:

All mixed up:

And set aside to ferment for what turned out to be about 24 hours:

I didn’t like all thar room in the jar, so I went and picked a bunch of kale that I chopped, salted, rinsed, and added to that mix. It still didn’t fill up the jar, but it got closer (and it came out pretty tasty!) I forgot the photo, though.

I also do 2%. Shred the cabbage and weigh it. Weigh out 2% of that weight in salt. I always add caraway, and I might add something else (dill, fennel, cumin, dried red chile). I’ve never added mustard seed, but I’ll be sure and give that a try next time. I like to let mine go 7 weeks.

I typically stomp mine into my crock along the lines of what calldoctoday does, but I mixed the last batch by hand because I added some grated carrot and wanted that mixed evenly.

For those who were wondering about kimchi, I’ve used Maangchi’s simple kimchi recipe as a starting point and been happy. I add more ginger (because I like it), and I leave out the squid or oysters (because I like it better that way), and I make about a 5 pound batch instead of 10 (because that’s all I have room for). I typically let it get it a little more on the sour side. Doak likes his kimchi funky.

I do go ahead and make the full batch of “porridge” so that I only have to do that every other time. In fact, I might very well make a double batch of “porridge” because it actually improves as sits in the back of the fridge.

You reminded me of the Thanksgiving Cowboys game where John Madden had the six-legged turkey!

I just jarred up my latest batch. I put a couple grated carrots in there too mix things up. I like it, but I’ll cut that in half of I ever do it again. It’s a little too much carrot flavor. It’s good, mind you, just not what I want.

I love some pickled sausage, and I like the idea of using the smokies! Very snackable! Do post your recipe(s)!