08/06/2023
Something a little different for you!
I have been obsessed with fermenting in waves of varying hyperfocus over the past 5 or 6 years, according to Facebook memories that waves peaks again around this time of year and predictably last week it returned.
I have been asked for my sauerkraut method by several people - I normally just use red or white or both cabbage but I had a lot of root veg in my odd box delivery so I have done a mixed one.
Here's how I made it..
Sauerkraut
What you will need;
A round clip top jar (I used a 1.5ltr for this, but for 1 large head of cabbage a 1ltr jar is fine. Asda or IKEA are cheapest, kilner are overpriced!)
An empty gu pudding pot (the small glass ramekins)
A sharp knife or food processor
Salt (not table salt as this has anti-caking agent, just sea or rock salt is fine)
Cabbage
A dish to stand the jar in after
A very large bowl to mix it in
Patience
Veg
Cabbage - white or red are fine, and I normally just use that
But
You can add other root veg if you have them!
Steps.
Shred your Cabbage - slicers preference, thick or thin, by hand or on a food processor
Grate other veg
(I used celeriac, carrots, beetroot, a brocolli stalk and sweet potato today)
Put them all into your large dish and
Weigh all the ingredients
Work out what 2% of the weight is (on a phone calculator basically put in the veg weigh x 2%
Weigh out that 2% in salt.
Add the salt to your veg
Massage the salt into the veg with your hands, you are starting to break down the cell walls and you will begin to feel the veg getting wetter as it starts to release water.
If you have chopped chunkier pieces this might take longer, leave it to stand for 15 mins and massage again but don't panic if you aren't getting loads or you are getting gallons, it's all good!
Now pack the veg into your clean clip top jar (it doesn't need sterilising)
You need to really pack it in, push it down hard with your fist or the end of a rolling pin.
The idea is to get all the oxygen out and you'd be amazed how much you can pack in!
Fill is as high as you can then you need to keep the veg under its own brine to stop mold. This is where the gu pudding pot comes in!
Pop it in the top right way up, and keep pushing it down until you can safely clip the jar shut, if it's not quite there, leave it another 15 minutes and try again.
Pop the closed jar in a dish to catch any overflow, and leave it somewhere safe at room temperature - I keep mine at the back of the kitchen bench.
Depending on the temperature 🌡 it will start fermenting pretty quickly - usually within 12-24 hours, the clip top jars will 'burp' out the fermenting gasses so your jar won't explode but it won't let oxygen in.
Some juice may bubble out as well but that's what the dish is for
After 1 or 2 weeks if its warm, the fermenting should slow down, you can now open it and taste it. If you like it then pop it in the fridge to slow the fermentation right down, if not, close the lid and wait (I've had kraut fermenting for months for a softer bite)
Mold and yeast.
You may see a pale creamy whitish yeast or film on it, this is Kham yeast and is fine - you can just soak it off with a bit of kitchen roll, it won't harm you at all.
Mold, if you see any Mold, green or pink etc then you must throw it all away, as it will have infected it all (even if it looks like it's just on the surface)
However - in 6 years of fermenting I have never encountered mold.
You may drink the fermented juice or use it as a salad dressing if there is any, or your sauerkraut may well reabsorb all the liquid once fermentation has slowed down.
It looks and sounds complicated but you are basically shredding veg, adding salt and stuffing it in a jar!
Enjoy your millions of healthy bacteria 😊
Oh, and just ask if you have any questions!
