I fought the slaw and slaw won....

[DTro]

Is there a law for slaw to help reduce solution pollution?

Sometimes mostly with a creamy slaw recipe, I get a build-up of water in the mixture after an hour or two. It usually tastes great when I first make it, crispy and creamy, but as it sits, it stays crispy but it gets watery. The problem is, I always make it in advance and put it in the fridge for serving later. This doesn't happen all the time, so I am baffled. I usually make it to taste not following a specific recipe. At its base it usually includes cabbage, carrot, vinegar, sugar, mayo, and sometimes sour cream and or heavy cream, salt, and pepper.

I assume the extra water is leaching from the thinly sliced cabbage, but it could be other ingredients separating. Should I salt the cabbage first and let it sit for a while? Any suggestions?

Now off to slaw school.... Thanks!

[holehogg]

You get Murphy's law and you get Cole's law. This happens every time I make slaw. I just mix it all up again before serving.
Not sure if there is a solution but keen to learn if there is.

[bmillin]

I use the Serious Eats recipe with good results - Classic Coleslaw Recipe (seriouseats.com)

It is amazing how much the cabbage wilts in a short period of time. A full head of cabbage finely shredded takes up two good sized bowls but fits in one after the salt/sugar treatment, it sheds a LOT of moisture.

I actually bought a salad spinner just for this.

[DTro]

Looks like that would work.

[theroc]

If I really want to cut down the water leaching out of the slaw I'll slice the cabbage, salt it, and then let it sit in a large colander for a while to pull out some of that moisture. Then you may need to rinse the slaw to get some of that salt off, unless you want it. Of course, then you need to get rid of some of the rinse water on the slaw.... I do that that putting it in a salad spinner, and blotting with a towel.

But despite all of this, I still almost always get some liquid draining out. This is why I usually just ignore it....

[Dan Deter]

It is probably from the cabbage, which has a lot of water. MH doesn't give a solution, but he does talk about it in the article about making slaw https://amazingribs.com/tested-recip...slawsome-slaw/

[DTro]

Thanks for that link.

[WillTravelForFood]

One thought is to lightly salt the shredded cabbage and place in a colander over a water capture vessel. Let the cabbage weep for one to four hours, then make the slaw.

Lightly press the slaw to squish out any remaining excess water, then pat dry with a paper towel.

For fun -- add some gochugaru seasoning to give your coleslaw a slight kimchi-inspired kick.

[DTro]

gochugaru hmmm... Will I have to bury the cabbage?

[Attjack]

Store it in a colander that sets inside of a bowl.

[DTro]

Might work well. Especially if I freshen the dressing right before serving.

[CandySueQ]

While I love a mayo slaw, this recipe looks like a real keeper!

https://oursaltykitchen.com/autumn-apple-cider-vinegar-slaw/

[DTro]

Like the fennel addition. May have to try that.

[Bkhuna]

Vinegar based slaw is the de facto standard in North Carolina for bbq. I can't understand the recent phenomena of putting mayo based slaw on pulled pork. Slaw that uses mustard instead of mayo is yummy and also pairs well with pork.

[rickgregory]

Shred the slaw veggies, make the dressing and then don't combine until right before service.

[Jerod Broussard]

Buy chopped cabbage, throw on plate, cover with store bought coleslaw dressing.

[DTro]

Easy out, but once I realized I couldn't read most of the ingredients in the dressing, I stopped doing that.

[bbqLuv]

Ditto

[DavidNorcross]

How much vinegar are you using? Do you immediately put into the fridge?

[DTro]

Usually 1:1 vinegar to sugar depends on my taste and how much coffee I had that day. 2 tablespoons max - per half a head of cabbage and other veggies. Goes right into fridge until serving. Do you think vinegar, or the amount of vinegar may be the issue?

[DavidNorcross]

I do not think you are using to much. I think texastweeter nailed it below.

[texastweeter]

Make the dressing thicker tan you want, then when you mix it all back up, it is right. It is the salt pulling water out of the cabbage...you are koshering it for lack of a better term.

[DTro]

Very salty point texastweeter - I think I may have to try to salt the veggies before mix and let them seep. Once diluted with water the flavors / experience suffer.

[Starsky]

Happens to me a lot. I try to only mix up what I need to serve right before dinner

[shify]

Agree with the above. Shred the cabbage, mix with salt and let sit in a colander for at least 30 min and then spit or pat dry.

Not only does it purge the excess water so your dressing doesn't get watered down but the texture of the cole slaw stays much crunchier too.

[Polarbear777]

After letting the veggies sit, salted and draining, I wring them out tightly with cheesecloth right before combining. Amazing how much water you can wring out.