Just saw a guy at the farmers market use a cabbage leaf as a weight

I was at the Saturday market in Boise, buying stuff for sauerkraut. This older guy next to me was talking to the vendor. He said he never buys glass weights anymore. He just saves the big outer leaves from his cabbages. He folds them up and tucks them on top of the shreds before sealing the jar. Said it works perfectly and you just compost it after. I tried it last week with a batch of kimchi. It kept everything under the brine way better than my old plastic lid trick. Anyone else use veg scraps as weights?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_ryan1mo ago

Gotta admit, that sounds like a lot of work just to avoid buying a two dollar glass weight. My plastic lid never gave me any trouble.

barbara41mo ago

Yeah the "lot of work" part is so real. I mean I get the idea of DIY but sometimes the easy store bought thing is just fine. My plastic lid works great too, idk why you'd mess with a whole project. Maybe it's just me but I'd rather spend that time on something else.

robert6417d ago

Honestly, the whole point is to use what you already have. @the_ryan, buying a special weight for every jar is how you end up with a drawer full of single-use kitchen gadgets. A cabbage leaf is free, it's already right there in your hand, and it turns into compost instead of trash. My plastic lid always let little bits float up. This just works better, and it feels less wasteful to me.