Sterility is very important, as I understand it. It’s almost like making wine.
I had forgotten that my husband did try it once; it was ‘clean’, but he didn’t like the way it tasted, and tossed it. He thinks he ‘fooled around’ with it too much, instead of just leaving it be.
A project for another day. (We did small batches in big mason jars, and I really think you have to do it the giant-crock way.)
Our instructor had us over for a cookout; he mixed the kraut with buttered noodles, a Pennsylvania Dutch dish, I think. Seems like it had celery seed or poppy seed. It was good, but the kraut was so mild, it tasted more like cabbage.