Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Eating and Drinking => Cooking, Storing and Preserving => Topic started by: flowergirl on October 17, 2007, 19:37

Title: red cabbage
Post by: flowergirl on October 17, 2007, 19:37

ok ive searched and cant find, ive chopped some red cabbage and covered it in salt for pickling do i boil the vinegar or just chuck it on over the cabbage in a jar?and is it pickling vinegar?ive also taken a slice out of my finger in the process but will not be putting that in with the cabbage :lol: im only allowed 1 sharp knife cos when i inevetably cut myself preparing stuff i bleed like a running tap! and can anyone tell me why my red cabbage went blue when steamed :? cheers

Title: Re: red cabbage
Post by: mushroom on October 17, 2007, 19:42

Quote from: "flowergirl"

and can anyone tell me why my red cabbage went blue when steamed :? cheers

the pigment making red cabbage red is red when conditions are on the acidic side, blue when on the basic/alkaline side. Kent is a hard water area, the water contains appreciable amounts of chalk and other carbonates, causing both temporary and permanent hardness. Though the carbonates are not transferred through steaming, I bet you splashed some water on them, causing them to go blue. Calcium and magnesium carbonate (the main carbonates causing hardness) are alkaline in solution.

this link explains it in a bit more detail. (http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/content/kitchenscience/exp/red-cabbage-litmus/)

Title: red cabbage
Post by: muntjac on October 17, 2007, 19:45

cos ur colour is diluted it goes purple ... pickled cabbage  is done raw
  put chopped cabbage in a bowl sprinkle salt in and then wiegh a plate down in the bowl to press down on it hard leave fer 48 hours my nana used to use the old iron .. iron
then wash it off n dry shove it in ya hot pickling jars with sugar n peppercorns mustard seed 1/2 teaspoon of each.then pour the white vinegar on em n close the lids tight .leave em fer a month before ya try it  :wink:

Title: red cabbage
Post by: gobs on October 17, 2007, 19:51

IMHO and regular experience red cabbage: + salt= blue, add vinegar= back to purplish. :wink:

Title: red cabbage
Post by: flowergirl on October 17, 2007, 20:10

ok just went to put something heavy on the tray and the salt has gone green :shock: its like a weird science experiment!!

Title: red cabbage
Post by: gobs on October 17, 2007, 20:19

It is, you can play it with beet root as well, I just can't remember what you put on them and then they go yellow. Fun with vegetables. :D