I love fermented foods.
Kraut and Kim chee are two of my favorites.
We recently found a cheap and small scale way to make both more easily than we have before;
http://www.perfectpickler.com/
Anyone else make their own?
been know to, and way overdue for another batch.
The wife is a bit compulsive and we generally do a multi year batch, however.
All my life I never could like sauerkraut, mainly because of the acid content. I tried. Now it does really offensive things with my innards, so I have the excuse of public safety to beg off with. OTOH I love me some kimchee. And it doesn’t rot me from within.
I only recently found out that kimchee is really not just that one thing made of Napa cabbage as we know it in the States, but is actually a general concept that in real traditional Korean cuisine can be based on many things, including radishes, and isn’t always spicy.
I also like both sauerkraut and kimchee, although I have never tried making it myself. I can get kimchee at several of the Chinese restaurants that I go to. To save on the food bill, I often shop at a low-cost food store, named Aldi’s, which has German owners. Aldi’s carries an assortment of European foods at very reasonable prices, compared to the regular food stores, where imported food is usually quite expensive. I recently bought two jars of pickled/fermented vegetables with a German label. One is a German-style sauerkraut, which is made in Poland. It is very tasty in comparison to other American-made kraut that I have purchased. Another that I am having for dinner tonight is pickled red cabbage and apples, made in the Netherlands. I have German roots on my mother’s side of the family, and that is surely the reason that I have an affinity for these foods, including their chocolate.
One of the things that really surprised me when I first worked in Korea was the number of “German style” beer hall/restaurants I saw around Seoul. The times I tried them, they were a pretty decent for a late-night meal, though they substituted kimchee for sauerkraut as often as not.
A Korean coworker claimed that they was a natural affinity between Korean (pork, kimchee, soju) and German (pork, kraut, beer) drinking cultures that made them popular. He might well have been right, but I don’t recall seeing huge numbers of Korean places when I was in Germany 
Could it be the chilis and garlic, do you think?
Thanks for the link Maki. Gotta order me one of those!
Welcome Paul.
We’ve been getting alot of use out of ours.
Now we are exprimenting with different recipes, onion and garlic kimchee, Japanese style pickled cabbage(tsukemono).
Cheap and fun.
A helpful hint maybe to buy Beano by the case. Good luck!
Edited to add-
We have several books too. The one we found most useful is,
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Fermenting Foods
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Fermenting-Foods/dp/1615641505
Its no nonsense guide to fermenting foods, and even has instructions for a DIY
air lock fermenter.
Got our fermenter yesterday and I put up a batch of basic kimchee in about 15 min this afternoon. This is very easy and the possibilities are quite intriguing.
Still no bubbles 
My former homebrewing experience had me hoping for quicker results.
You didn’t forget to add the whiskey, did you?
I don’t always have bubbles.
As long as you have brine comming up around the cabbage.
If its any comfort, we been using this fermentor for a couple of months
and haven’t a bad batch yet.
It’s alive!
Yesterday I noticed bubbles within the cabbage of the Kimchi, and the water in the airlock has all pushed to one side from the pressure. I think I’m gonna have to steal me a taste…
Sláinte!
Did you use napa cabage? White radish? Tons of chili flakes? Garlic? Fish sauce, or dried shrimp?
Everything but the fish sauce. I’m planning on adding some to taste after it’s finished fermenting. I did go on the light side with the chili flakes 'cause my wife can’t handle things too hot. I also added chopped fresh ginger. Tomorrow afternoon will be the end of the recommended 4 days in the fermenter.
I open it up this morning and snitch out a little piece of Napa. Wow! The flavor was terrific. A bit of the ginger came along with it and I had the greatest flavor in my mouth for at least a half hour. I’ll probably start another batch of something pretty much right away 
.
Do you tend to save some of the liquid as a starter for your next batch?
I haven’t.
It seems to ferment easily enough without, so I don’t bother.
Congratulations on your first batch!
Update-- I made a second batch of Kimchi which was fabulous. This time I added the fish sauce right from the start and also added a small amount of dried Chipotle pepper which gave a terrific smoky flavor.
I also did a batch of Sauerkraut which is simply fantastic. This contains nothing but cabbage and salt–who knew? The flavor is much more complex and richer than the store bought variety. We’ll be grilling up some Hebrew Nationals tonight and topping them with this wonderful stuff.
Right now I have a batch of Japanese Pickled Onions in the fermenter, following the recipe in the Perfect Pickler brochure. Can’t get enough of this stuff!
Its incredible how much flavor and nutrition is killed by pasterization.
I wonder if people who have digestive issues with kraut have ever tried
the fresh unpasterized kind?
I must say that what I have had, the canned sauerkraut is very different than the fresh.
I notice that the Japanese do something similar to make tsukemono, but it seems like it is a much shorter brining process and do not know if fermentation is involved.
I suppose next you all will be trying to make kombucha.
Edit: Looks like Nukazuke would be another kind of fermented pickle, that may be a bit closer to kim chee than tsukemono, but I have only made the latter.
OK, guys, you’ve made me curious, so I ordered this on ebay.