Two weeks ago, I started a nine pound batch of sauerkraut. I shredded two green cabbages, one purple cabbage, and a couple pounds of ginger. All of it got stuffed into a six quart crock.
The crock started on the kitchen counter. Part of the crock’s design allows gas to escape but no air to enter into the crock. Basically, as the cabbage ferments, it releases gas and the crock “burps”. Each burp actually sounds more like a “ploofp” (like a distant fart). Whenever the crock farts, my cat Donovan’s ears perk up. He stands up tall and alert, and runs across the room to investigate.
After about a week of this, Donovan started standing on the counter about a foot away from the crock. His eyes would glue to the crock and I couldn’t pull him away. He kept running back. Eventually this lead to him pawing the lid (to create bubbles in the air lock).
I realized quickly that this wasn’t going to work. I feared that he would somehow heft the six quarts of kraut onto the floor. Though a completely unrealistic fear, I decided to move the crock to my pantry.
Going back to the crock’s design, the crock releases gas but doesn’t let air in. This is fine except the inside of the jar smells like a fart. Each time the crock burps, it releases a stinky gas.
On the counter, the air dissipates easily. Inside the pantry… not so much! Each time I’ve opened the cabinet for the last week, I’ve been greeted by a bright fart smell.
This kraut was a relatively short ferment. You can let kraut go for months, if you really wanted to. I usually do shorter ferments. This one was fifteen days.
When I opened the kraut, and the farts fully released, I was struck by how bright purple the juice has become. After texting the gross, purple picture below to my friends and family, I transferred the concoction to mason jars. I’ll show the process below. The last pictures are a cross color comparison of a couple krauts in my fridge: regular kraut, turmeric carrot ginger kraut, and the purple ginger kraut.
Three Siblings Kitchen (TSK) 
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