Sauerkraut "crock"

Just thought I'd show you what I'm fermenting my sauerkraut in.  It's not yet 24 hours and the contents already smell like sauerkraut - I'm excited!

Click on image to enlarge.  Please forgive my spelling of "cannister" in the image!

This canister is way big for the amount of sauerkraut, but it's what I had handy.  If you click on the image you can see a bit of liquid in the dish - when I push down on it to make sure that the cabbage isn't exposed to air, some of the brine naturally fills the dish.  Those little floating bits are dill, not bugs!  

Also, you shouldn't be using your fingers to press down on whatever weight you're using if it means your fingers touch the liquid or touch the weight where it will have contact with the liquid unless you've just washed your hands. Unwashed fingers are a big source of microbes that could contaminate your lovely fermentation microbes.  I use two chopsticks to press down but of course you can use anything that'll do the job as long as it's clean.