kimchi - nappa vs. american cabbage fermenting time

[Guest guest]

i usually use red cabbage in my kimchi as nappa isn't always available and

i've come to like red cabbage kimchi. typically i let it ferment for 1 or 2

weeks minimum at room temp before eating. by the time i finish fermenting

it, it has a pickle smell or lactic acid smell and the cabbage is about the

same consistency - moist but still a little crisp - as the sunja brand

kimchee. is this long enough to ferment this type of cabbage? i have thyroid

issues and am concerned about the level of goitrogens in cabbage that may

not be fermented long enough.

heidi, michael mentioned that you had said something about the difference in

fermenting time a while back - something about american cabbage taking 6

months to ferment or something of that nature? can you comment on that?

TIA :-)

Suze Fisher

Lapdog Design, Inc.

Web Design & Development

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3shjg

Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader, Mid Coast Maine

http://www.westonaprice.org

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[Guest guest]

>? i have thyroid

>issues and am concerned about the level of goitrogens in cabbage that may

>not be fermented long enough.

I don't know. I've never had hearburn from even slightly fermented

cabbage, but that's the only issue I've had with cabbage.

>heidi, michael mentioned that you had said something about the difference in

>fermenting time a while back - something about american cabbage taking 6

>months to ferment or something of that nature? can you comment on that?

Kraut purists say it should set for months in a cold place ... mind you MOST

of their ferment is done at lower temps (2 days room temp, and 6 months

outside). But I think a lot of this is aesthetics ... you get different bacteria

at different times and different temps. Kimchi purists (the few I've met)

seem to like kimchi that isn't so fermented -- and in my experience, the

Napa just doesn't need that much fermenting, while kraut needs more.

But this is mainly aesthetics -- if you LIKE the kraut and you don't seem

to have thyroid issues with it, then who's to say?

-- Heidi