Just about this time last year I had my first go at making my own sauerkraut. The process didn’t get the desired results and the occurrence of mold on top caused me to throw out the whole thing. (I did learn that this can be treated like mold on cheese and removed- leaving the rest just fine, though I am not sure I would still take the chance). It took me a year to try again, but I did and this time with much better results.
Two things really made a difference this time. A pounder was fashioned out of an oak branch (a heavy, dense wood) and that made the ten minutes of mashing actually produce a good liquid. Last time I don’t think I worked the cabbage long enough because I used a can of beans or something and it was difficult to hold for very long.
The second new technique was to use whey. This brings cultures in and speeds up the fermentation process. I had the whey from making cheese. I used sea salt (that we use in our food generally), caraway seeds, and whey. If you don’t have whey, you add more salt. I don’t know how much longer it takes.
Here is the pounder, it does need to be narrowed at the top, but it works very well. It was carved, sanded, and oiled a few minutes before using.
The liquid really gets released after a good ten minutes of mashing around, breaking up the shredded cabbage. Adding the liquid whey also helped to get the moisture going.
The pounder also helps to mash the worked cabbage tightly into the jar. The liquid squeezes up and covers the kraut.
Very wet.
In all our culturing and fermenting it is necessary to label to identify what you have in the jar and when you put it in (and, if necessary, when it will be ready). This recipe says it is ready to eat in three days, which it was- but it only gets better with more time.
Day three and lots of activity! It was an audible foaminess. Also very tasty. We called it done and put it in the fridge.
A bit of culture with every meal is great for health and digestion. This includes cultured dairy, fermented veggies (like kraut), kombucha tea, pickled fruits and veggies, sourdough breads. With pro-biotics becoming more popular food processors are pushing their pro-biotic rich products or supplements. – are not separate from whole and active food and if you play it right you don’t need to be buying more processed goods to get these healthy organisms. Read more here for benefits and the types of foods that deliver these necessary gut-bugs.
2 Comments
Hey, congratulations on your success! I’m new to your blog and enjoyed reading about your krauting experience.
I’ve used a more hands-off kraut recipe, from a pickling cookbook. I mix the cabbage and salt in a big bowl then let it sit around for ~30 minutes. The salt wilts the cabbage and gets the brine flowing, so you don’t have to pound it (that part looks like fun, though).
Did you use regular table salt? There’s something about using non-iodized salt or “pickling” salt in well, pickles, supposed to keep a better color. It also makes a difference if you use Kosher salt vs. fine granular because the same weight of salt will have a different volume.
FYI the scum that grew on my kraut looked a lot like yours. I didn’t document the whole process but you can read a bit about it here (sorry for the long address, I haven’t figured out how to embed HTML into text yet!): http://neighborhood-dish.blogspot.com/2008/12/canning-in-off-season.html
Karen,
Thanks for reading! I use Celtic sea salt (I use this in all my cooking). I’ve been meaning to get a grinder, but for now I use a mortar and pestle to get it down to a finer size. The Nourishing Traditions recipe calls for 1 Tbs salt to one medium sized cabbage. Since medium is pretty relative I don’t know how exact that proportion needs to be. Twice as much salt if no whey is used.
That’s a great hands-off technique. I can see the pounding getting old, esp if you do a larger batch. I know some people starting their kraut by the gallon!
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