Terms of readiness of sauerkraut depend on a grade of vegetable, storage temperature of the fermented dish therefore it is impossible to tell with an accuracy when viands can be eaten. It is possible to determine readiness of cabbage only by its appearance and gustatory qualities, a brine in which it is made sour.
Cabbage after a zakvashivaniye can be eaten in any day, the only thing should be considered that in the first days vegetable will remind fresh cabbage salad, and only later certain time the dish will gain pleasant sourness. Therefore if you wish to regale on sauerkraut, then it is worth waiting when all signs of full readiness viands appear.
How to understand that cabbage was fermented in bank
First of all it is necessary to pay attention to quantity of cabbage in bank (well or in that container in which it is made sour, for example, in a pan, a bucket). Usually completely ready-to-eat meal loses the initial volume of percent on 20. That is if vegetable was made sour in a 3-liter can, at the same time the container densely jammed cabbage practically to the neck, then ready will settle viands centimeters on five from initial volume.
Also it is possible to define readiness cabbage after a condition of juice in which vegetable is made sour. Usually in the first or second day after a zakvashivaniye the strengthened fermentation of a dish begins, on a surface of a brine foam is formed. And so reduction says amount of foam or its total disappearance that fermentation ended, and the product can be removed on storage to the cool place.
And the most reliable method of definition of readiness of a product - test removal. Fresh sauerkraut has a sweetish slightly acid flavor, and vegetables have good density and crunch in the teeth.
Cabbage was fermented: what to do next
Further actions with cabbage depend on the purposes of preparation of a dish. If viands prepared in a small amount for food for few weeks, then it is possible just to remove it in the fridge and to use as required.
If cabbage was fermented in a large number (in a bucket), then in this case it is worth taking care of freezing of a product. The fact is that the first five-six weeks of storage viands at above-zero temperature won't especially affect its gustatory qualities, and here longer endurance of cabbage (even fermented) in heat will surely lead to its damage.