Cool(ed) pickles

Since the 4 years I live in Thailand, I have made a lot of fermented cabbage (sauerkraut), but recently my pickle teacher (Bill Hetting from http://www.perfectpickler.com/) told me that my room temperature (30 degrees Celsius-86 degrees Fahrenheit) is too warm to pickle and it could create some less beneficial bacteries, and indeed after a while my sauerkraut gets a bit too dark and the taste is not that "sauer" anymore.
So I decided to cool my pickles during the first 4 days of fermentation to less than 25 degrees Celsius-77 degrees Fahrenheit, so I bought myself a big waste bin, filled it partially with water and ice and put my pickle pot in it, so it was cooled "bain Mare" style. After the initial 4 days I put it in the fridge, where I can keep it for at least 8 months.The pickles "bain Marie" style  gave me a much better result, thanks Bill.

And Sauerkraut, one more time

As I am pickling a lot of sauerkraut lately, pickle authority, Bill Hettig (www.PerfectPickler.com) shared some of his secrets:
start the fermentation at 70 degrees fahrenheit (21 C), then take it down to 66 or 67 F (18-19) for 7 to 8 more days. That is because there are a variety of bacteria that rise and fall in those temp. His rule of thumb for kraut fermentation is a minimum of 4 days (shredded or finely sliced), and 1 additional day for each degree below 70F (21C). 
So if you had it at 66 degrees, it would be 4 + 4 = 8 days.
As my room temperature (with airconditioning) is 86F (30C) I have to find a way to cool it down: I think about putting my Perfect Pickler pots in a bucket with colder water for 4 days and then even more colder water for the next 6 days, before putting it into the refrigerator.
Over 2,500 years ago, the Chinese actually figured out the optimum temperature range for sauerkraut  71 to 64 degrees Fahrenheit  (21 to 17 C)
Thanks Bill, you did us all a big favour.

Sauerkraut part 2

Now that I have a customer for my sauerkraut, I have to get the best white cabbage possible.

I phoned a few organic farms, the first told me to call back in December, but the second (Rangsit Organic Farm) could deliver at my place. So I ordered 30 lbs (15 kilogram) of white cabbage and they will bring it tomorrow at 6 am.

Normally the white cabbage costs 30 thb (1USD) for 2 lbs (1kg), but the organic ones cost 70 thb (2.2 USD) for 2 lbs, so I am very curious if I will be able to taste the difference.
I will not use my kitchen robot anymore, but I will use my sauerkraut cutter, that gives me much more pleasure.