Thank you for your reply. Meat? You can add meat? While it is fermenting? It smelled up the house the way it was. I made the kraut in my front porch this winter because it was nice and cool. It is so smooth tasting. I added a bit of water and salt when it would start to get dry. The house is dry in the winter. I then refridgerated it. Can I leave it indefinately unrefridgerated do you know? Will it every stop the ferment process or go to rot? My mom drinks the juice made from a recipe in Nourishing traditions, where you chop the cabbage, put it in a large glass jar with salt enough to brine. The add water filling the jar. I can't remember how long to leave it sit. Then she pours off the juice. We have left the cabbage in as well. The book says that the juice can be drank and one more batch can be made. Then the cabbage has been spent. I like the kraut myself. My mom has diverticulitus so it gives her great pain. She sticks with the juice. Thanks-Again!