Glen Gibbons wrote:
> Hello-
>
> I'm hoping this question doesn't come off as sounding like I'm making
> this up or that I'm a complete imbecile but I need a bit of advice
> before making some home-made sourkraut:
>
> I remember my parents and grandparents putting up a huge, wooden barrel
> of this every year and the fragrance and taste of this fermented product
> beat the junk at the stores! I was spoiled by the best decades ago.
>
> Here's the problem- I also remember a sort-of scum that had to be
> removed as the fermentation process went along and I need to know before
> I begin if it's a penicillin mold. I am allergic to penicillin and it
> almost killed me a few years back. I still have to carry an Anakit with
> me for 'just in case'. I keep bakery items including breads in the
> fridge, and blue or green cheeses such as Danish blue are completely out
> of the question now. You get the idea......
>
> Could someone tell me if that stuff that needs to be removed is a
> penicillin mold? If it is I will have to continue to do what I have for
> years- buy it in a store as the brine is a vinegar/wine/salt brine.
>
> Thanks kindly for your advice,
> Carol
>


I don't think the scum is penicillium, but I don't kknow for sure, and
there's no reason mold couldn't form on top of the scum -- so it your
case I wouldn't risk it.

However, I have posted a procedure here a few times for making
sauerkraut in quart jars [basicaly, pack the salted cabbage into jars as
tightly as possible, fill with water to displace the air, close the jars
with canning lids, and put them in the basement in a big tub or
something to contain the leakage], and no skimming is required. You
might have to monitor the jars and wash the ones that leak before they
get a chance to mold.

Hope this helps,
Bob