Sauerkraut Mk1

[Aaron1.0]

This is my Missus first attempt at Sauerkraut. We'll see how it goes, might be spoiled due to a lack of hygiene I suspect, but it is cool to hear it hissing and farting away in the kitchen. It needs a bowl under it because the bubbles that are stuck between the cabbage are displacing the fluid.

 

[TimT]

Heh - with sauerkraut you encourage the lack of hygiene*. It should be cool so long as the cabbage is all under the water.

We had a new sauerkraut started last night, full to the brim with water. In the morning I stumbled out of bed into the kitchen and discovered it had kinda sorta done the same thing - water all over the bench.

*Disclaimer: I am, it seems, fast getting the reputation around here of the weirdo who says and does things no-one else would really recommend.

 

[Aaron1.0]

Thanks TimT she'll be very glad to hear that about the hygiene, suits her way of doing things (jumping in and learning through doing vs. researching everything first - my preferred way).

 

[philmud]

+1 for hygiene not being a big deal in the same way as it is for brewing. Well, sanitisation, it's always nice to be hygienic. The cabbage (or other vegetables) has enough lactobacillus to ensure they'll establish a dominant colony.
I'm very deep into a kraut rabbit hole at the moment, welcome and enjoy!

 

[GalBrew]

I had a go at some kraut myself on the weekend. Some red and white kraut, the red is spiced with caraway seeds. See how we go.......mine is also leaking all over the place, the jars are now sitting in a tray to try and contain the fluid (especially the red).

 

[GalBrew]

Well after 3 weeks of fermenting at room temp, my kraut is good to go. Very tangy, nice and clean like a lacto-sour beer. Very tasty with some brats and sweet German mustard. Well worth the effort.

 

[Lincoln2]

Heh - with sauerkraut you encourage the lack of hygiene*. It should be cool so long as the cabbage is all under the water.

We had a new sauerkraut started last night, full to the brim with water. In the morning I stumbled out of bed into the kitchen and discovered it had kinda sorta done the same thing - water all over the bench.

*Disclaimer: I am, it seems, fast getting the reputation around here of the weirdo who says and does things no-one else would really recommend.

Not sure how long that disclaimer has been up but I've read a lot of your posts and you are a complete wierdo with all your fancy ingredients and what not. It's like a whole other language. But don't stop what you're doing, there is the odd diamond in amongst the rough.

 

[seehuusen]

Hey mate. Care to share a link to the method or putting what you did on here, sourkrout is one of those things I've always wanted to do, but never did...

 

[Not For Horses]

I've been krauting anything that will sit still lately. Did a few batches of cabbage that were quite tasty. Did some kimchi with the same bacteria. Exceedingly tasty. Then I tried some jalapeno kraut. That was so hot it made my anus cry. Did some radish kraut too. That smells a bit like farts. Think I'll try some beetroot next.

 

[philmud]

Horses, I do a beetroot one which is pretty great, the brine is all syrupy and totally delicious. I add garlic to it, which is nice, but very strong. Some recipes advocate grating the beetroot, but I prefer thin slices. Also, I throw some beetroot skin into the mix if I don't have any brine to add to help it along.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

I was thinking of using my fermented tabasco sauce as a start for some kraut. I little bit of chilli should go nicely in it

 

[DeGarre]

+1 for inspiration, Aaron. I now have 2 jars coming along with some carrot and onion in the mix. Just salt, don't like the caraway. Took me 10 minutes to prepare, looking forward to a nice beer snack.

edit: about the hygiene, I was fixing up some roof flashing seams with sika gutter sealant and got it all over my hands...should be all right, I hope.

 

[Aaron1.0]

Update: Of course, TimT was right, that first batch was fine and cleanliness was no issue. Since then we have made several batches - this is really good food and so easy.

 

[seehuusen]

bump: any directions for this amazing Kraut guys?

 

[Not For Horses]

It's really easy to make kraut. Easier than beer. This is how I did it:

Take a cabbage. Or 2. Or 6. You'll progress to 6 when you realise how tasty it is.
Slice thinly, say 1/2 to 1 cm slices.
Sprinkle the sliced cabbage with salt, about 1, maybe 2 tablespoons per cabbage should do.
Massage the salt into the cabbage then find a bowl or a bucket or something and chuck it in.
Put a plate or something on top and weigh it down with a water bottle or something else kinda heavy.
Cover the whole shooting match with a tea towel and let it sit for at least a week but maybe more depending on the level of funk you like.
I like to take mine all the way to the level of Parliament. Strongly suggest you google that band whilst fermenting your kraut.
The salt will draw the moisture out of the cabbage as well as helping to prevent unwanted mould growth.
After a few hours or overnight there should be enough liquid to cover the cabbage completely.
The natural lactobacillus on the cabbage will start to work pretty quickly.
It likes a nice warm room during fermentation then once it's done, into jars and into the fridge.

 

[seehuusen]

awesome! That sounds easy as, thanks!! Will get the missus to buy a couple of heads when she's at the shops
Is the technique the same for the other types of krauting?

 

[Not For Horses]

I believe so but it would depend on the type and amount of lactobacillus present on the vegetable in question.
I've also used bacteria from a previous batch to start other batches but if you do that then The Baron (TimT's wife) will beat you with a phonebook...

 

[Midnight Brew]

It's really easy to make kraut. Easier than beer. This is how I did it:

Take a cabbage. Or 2. Or 6. You'll progress to 6 when you realise how tasty it is.

Or 8... I kind of got carried away. But for a grand total of $23.85 I got 8 cabbages or 25 assorted size jars of kraut. The 20L bucket was about 4/5ths full.

....note to self: get large jars the same size with a good opening.

 

[MartinOC]

The Baron (TimT's wife) will beat you with a phonebook...

Hmm... 'sounds like "Kinky Kim-Chi"

 

[philmud]

The theory behind avoiding starters is that because you introduce the dominant culture right away, you don't allow a more diverse, possibly nuanced ferment. I'm not opposed to using some brine, but it is awesome how unnecessary it is. Also, according to Sandor Katz, almost all veggies have enough bacteria to ferment. He DOES suggest using a starter if you decide not to use salt (or use very little salt).

 

[Not For Horses]

I guess you could compare it to pitching a new brew onto a whole yeast cake. You don't get all the extra tasty bits from the growth phase.

 

[DeGarre]

A question: I had some salted cabbage left over because I ran out of jars. I ate the leftovers and it was very salty. I might've used more than often quoted 3 tbsp per big cabbage. Does the salt taste get mellower as fermenting starts and continues?

Thanks

 

[GalBrew]

A question: I had some salted cabbage left over because I ran out of jars. I ate the leftovers and it was very salty. I might've used more than often quoted 3 tbsp per big cabbage. Does the salt taste get mellower as fermenting starts and continues?

Thanks

Yes it does.

 

[DeGarre]

I may need some guidance here...so I had my jars at room temp around a week, now they have been in the fridge for a few days. I never got any mold, salty taste has decreased but I can't taste much funk ---just taste like raw cabbage in weak salt water. Which is nice but not what I wanted. I topped up the jars a bit to cover the cabbage but this is starting to look like what I had with my sourdough started from scratch --- nothing much doing.

 

[GalBrew]

I may need some guidance here...so I had my jars at room temp around a week, now they have been in the fridge for a few days. I never got any mold, salty taste has decreased but I can't taste much funk ---just taste like raw cabbage in weak salt water. Which is nice but not what I wanted. I topped up the jars a bit to cover the cabbage but this is starting to look like what I had with my sourdough started from scratch --- nothing much doing.

Take them back out of the fridge. I had mine at room temp for 3 weeks to get my desired sourness. I didn't get much funk though, just a clean sourness.

 

[TimT]

almost all veggies have enough bacteria to ferment.

The advice I've been getting about doing a lacto-ferment with malted grain - ie, sauergut - is pretty much leave the grain in water at the right temp and the ferment will happen. Now, thing is: during the kilning all of the bacteria that will have naturally been living on the grain will have been killed. And I wouldn't be surprised if after the kilning some malt makers take reasonable steps to keep the grain clean. So I conclude - often the bacteria that does the magic will introduce itself after it comes out of the bag! I guess many lacto-ferments happen in the same way: a bacteria just comes along, finds an environment it likes, and hey presto! Kraut!

 

[TimT]

A question: I had some salted cabbage left over because I ran out of jars. I ate the leftovers and it was very salty. I might've used more than often quoted 3 tbsp per big cabbage. Does the salt taste get mellower as fermenting starts and continues?

Thanks

Yes it does.

Interesting this. In general the salt seems to be a safety mechanism - you add it to inhibit the growth of some organisms you don't want. But it also changes the flavour in weird ways.

When you add salt to cheese curds that you're going to press and age you add more salt if you want the cheese to taste less salty; you add less salt if you want the cheese to taste more salty. It's because cheese develops its own distinctive salts and the addition of baking salt inhibits these. I'm guessing something analogous happens in the ageing of krauts.

 

[philmud]

almost all veggies have enough bacteria to ferment.

The advice I've been getting about doing a lacto-ferment with malted grain - ie, sauergut - is pretty much leave the grain in water at the right temp and the ferment will happen. Now, thing is: during the kilning all of the bacteria that will have naturally been living on the grain will have been killed. And I wouldn't be surprised if after the kilning some malt makers take reasonable steps to keep the grain clean. So I conclude - often the bacteria that does the magic will introduce itself after it comes out of the bag! I guess many lacto-ferments happen in the same way: a bacteria just comes along, finds an environment it likes, and hey presto! Kraut!

I think a key difference here is that vegetables don't generally undergo a kilning process. Of course some may have been washed in such a way to reduce the numbers of bacteria, but all of what I've read (ok, so that's pretty much just Katz, but the dude knows cabbage) says that lactobacillus are naturally present on the surface of most vegetables. I suppose at some point they established themselves there because the environment was right, but it seems to me that this was before we intervened.

 

[seehuusen]

I got a big yoghurt bucket (cleaned properly) and filled it with cabbage and a table spoon and a half of salt.
It has been covered with the lid sealed for 4 days and it has definitely expanded/bee. fermenting.

I followed not for horses recommendation, which I thought didn't include adding water at all??
There is some liquid in the bottom, but its definitely not covering the cabbage...
Any suggestions?

 

[GalBrew]

You need to 'massage' the salt into the cabbage in order to draw water out of the cabbage and form the brine. I also used 4 tablespoons of salt per cabbage and still had to weigh down the cabbage to keep it under the brine. It the cabbage is exposed to air it won't work and may get infected.