Kraut, Sauerkraut, Choucroute and other such briny ferments

[WadePatton]

Another one of those things that i just found out how stupid easy it is to make at home.

I'm headed to the grocery to buy a couple more heads of cabbage and a few more veggies. Kimchi is next. I have the fish sauce--been scared of it. Hoooo boy it's pungent!

The kraut i made by chopping cabbage, sprinkling with salt, and packing into a jar. Then repacking and packing some more until the brine makes itself and rises above the cabbage. The cabbage shrinks as well. It's now smelling and tasting like kraut at less than 24 hours. Also reduced to 3/4 or less of original volume.

Avoiding the canning process keeps more beneficials alive in the kraut. and why bother, just keep a batch going. Refrigerate to slow the process and compost with it when it gets soft.


so easy a honey badger could do it.


I'm sure several of you folks are quite familiar with the process. What are your favorite recipes for home-made kraut and similar? If you haven't tried it, all you have to lose is salt and cabbage and a few minutes of your time. I'll never buy another can or bag of kraut.

I'm also going "complicate" plain kraut with other veggies/spices.

[maunahaole]

the fish sauce is an odd bird, like angostura bitters. on its own, it is disgusting and you really want nothing to do with it. in the correct application, it is magical in its ability to enhance what it touches.

hint: cucumbers do well with kimchi treatment as well.

[Dorman]

That is really all there is to it? How much salt are you using for a head of cabbage? What do you think about hot pepper flakes or the like in the krout? I think I would like spicy krout.

[WadePatton]

The store happened to have turnips...so Sauerruben begins tonight. i've never liked anything done with turnips, maybe this is the thing. love the greens not the roots, yet.

cukes noted.

[zetroc]

wade - you need this book.



amazon

[WadePatton]

That is really all there is to it? How much salt are you using for a head of cabbage? What do you think about hot pepper flakes or the like in the krout? I think I would like spicy krout.

the recipe calls for approximately 3T to 5#. i used about 1.5T to half a 3# head-a bit much, but i'm not scared of salt, my bp stays on the low side with or without it.

kraut can be made w/o salt at all. but it won't be crrrisp. here's the only saltless recipe i'd try (and i'd probably ad a touch of salt anyway):

Savory Seed Sauerkraut
paraphrased from: (Wild Fermentation, Katz p.43)

5# cabbage
1T each caraway, celery, and dill seeds-ground fine (m/p of course).

chop, sprinkle, pack as with salt, but here you add some water to cover the cabbage-as the moisture won't be drawn out so quickly by the seed mix.



absolutely add the pepper and spices to suit yourself--that's where it gets interesting. another variation is made with apples added.

i'm off to the chopping block.

[WadePatton]

wade - you need this book.
amazon

noted, thanks.




and not implicating that publication, but i have seen this over and over in modern texts:

the "food safety" recommendations about _boiling_(for like 30 minutes!) whatever it is you canned before eating it. that's just ridiculous and is found in most all "modern" texts. if it needs boiling your canning was an EPIC FAIL and you have no sense of sight or smell.

yeah, there are some "sneaky pete" pathogens that might poison me, but sometimes you gots to take a risk. otherwise you'll always eat mush. i've researched it yo.

[end rant] cabbage and turnips are calling.

[maunahaole]

I bet the turnip will be good. I am working on some pickled daikon that I picked up at the farmer's market. The pickling juice is pretty sweet. Mrs. Haole is horrified when I eat it, as she says it smells like dirty socks. I think it is pretty tasty. Daikon should be on your list if you can find it - it can stand up to the pickling and has a good dose of spice to it on its own.

[maxdog]

noted, thanks.




and not implicating that publication, but i have seen this over and over in modern texts:

the "food safety" recommendations about _boiling_(for like 30 minutes!) whatever it is you canned before eating it. that's just ridiculous and is found in most all "modern" texts. if it needs boiling your canning was an EPIC FAIL and you have no sense of sight or smell.

yeah, there are some "sneaky pete" pathogens that might poison me, but sometimes you gots to take a risk. otherwise you'll always eat mush. i've researched it yo.

[end rant] cabbage and turnips are calling.

Canning is unnecessary if your refrigerating. Good kraut should take weeks of fermenting, not days. Starting with good locally grown organic cabbage is best.

[Derek Raymond]

Canning is unnecessary if your refrigerating. Good kraut should take weeks of fermenting, not days. Starting with good locally grown organic cabbage is best.

That's the truth for kraut. There is going to be more organic bacteria (as opposed to man made pesticides) on cabbage that hasn't been crop dusted. More organic bacteria, better beneficial fermentation. That's what the hippy books told me.

[rydesteel]

Wade,

Fish Sauce varies from Brand to Brand, my Vietnamese friends recommend the Three Crab Brand and a couple other that are more obscure.

We are fortunate to have several Asian markets close, a couple are more Vietnamese, but one has a lot of different ethnic foods.

Sorta fun to shop and be the only native English speaker in the store. We've been rockin Curries the past month or so.

If you need any supplies let me know and I'll get a care package in the mail.

Enjoy the day, look forward to fermentation updates ;>).

Frank

[Hardlyrob]

that [/I]publication, but i have seen this over and over in modern texts:

the "food safety" recommendations about _boiling_(for like 30 minutes!) whatever it is you canned before eating it. that's just ridiculous and is found in most all "modern" texts. if it needs boiling your canning was an EPIC FAIL and you have no sense of sight or smell.

yeah, there are some "sneaky pete" pathogens that might poison me, but sometimes you gots to take a risk. otherwise you'll always eat mush. i've researched it yo.

[end rant] cabbage and turnips are calling.

You are correct that if you need to boil it, your canning sucks. However, the reason they suggest it is that the botulism toxin is not stable at temps above 160°F. So boiling before you eat it means you won't die (And botulism is a bad way to die - loss of motor function until your heart stops working). I worked in product development at Campbell's for a number of years, and have put just about anything in a can / jar / pouch and retorted it. That said, I wouldn't can low acid foods at home - no real benefit, and too much that can go wrong. I do high acid (tomatoes, fruits) all summer long.
Cheers!

Rob

[WadePatton]

Mixed feelings on the turnips. Must try again but not be so "experimental" in my cuttings. I varied from julienne, to slices thick and thin, etc and think that the textural variance didn't help my overall picture.

For sure, the turnips don't have the crispness of the cabbage.

First batch of kraut went too quickly, second batch got funky. so easy and cheap-no biggie.

i have mead fermenting on the counter now. currently drinking hard cider made by just letting it ferment. simplify, ferment, eat bugs, play in the mud...

[tlagosh]

Because of some dietary sensitivities my four year old daughter has, we have been using the GAPS diet.
Home Page
Its heavy on fermented food and everything is made at home. Organic cabbage that is grown without pesticides is key. Also, we have been putting some whey left over from our home made yogurt into the sauerkraut and it is the best I have ever had. The whey adds a lot of probiotics to the mix as well as helping the fermentation. The yogurt is the bomb, too. You need to start with raw unpasteurized milk, preferably from pastured grass fed cows. This diet is loosely based on the Paleo diet and eliminates sugar, grains and all the other stuff that adds little to no nutrition and is focused on getting one's gut working correctly to digest the food you give it, detoxifying one's system and eliminating bad bacteria in the gut that is fed by sugars and starches. In three weeks, my daughte rstopped complaining her legs hurt and has become the most energetic I have ever seen her ever. We are all sleeping better and feel amazing. I lost ten pound so fast it kind of scared me at first but i feel great and have more energy so no problem.
Home made sauerkraut and pickles, etc are so much better than anything I have ever purchased and so simple to make I don't think i will ever buy prepared again.

[rowdyhillrambler]

OK, i am going to begin by describing the process i did today.. I need to know if i am going to kill alyone, so i will know how to divvy it up. I pulled alot of radish and onions. I cut them up and put in a couple of mason jars. I had room in top of the jars, so i filled with some cabbage i had remaining in the fridge.. I had boiled some vinegar, salt, sugar and pepper flakes. I poured the vinegar in the jars and capped them off.. Well, then i started reading the interweb on canning cabbage, and it seems to be a big no-no.. I basically did my pickled radish recipe, but added cabbage. Did i efff up the entire batch? Botulism surprise? I need to know.. I have a little girl, maybe i will start by feeding it to my wife.

[WadePatton]

the innerweb is scared to can cabbage? sounds like ignorance runneth amok.

one of the biggest misunderstandings is that we build immunity to our local exposures, that sanitary is all about safety for susceptible and foreign folks. over cleanliness allows our immune systems to become weak and crappy--like not riding your bike makes your legs crappy.

don't be crappy.

Sandy has another fermentation book out. I recommend it w/o seeing. I trust him-he's eating all this open-fermented stuff and has had aids for years. He credits his sustained health, in large part, to home fermentations.

The Art of Fermentation

[rowdyhillrambler]

Man i just got goosebumps.. I had no idea you knew sandy!! My wife still recalls him leaving cryptic messages on my answering machine, I love that guy. We used to travel alot together, and i still think about him.. This has nothing to do with saurkraut, but lets just say i was very active in earth first! and sandy and some of the other "guys' from short mountain were a big part of that. I used to live at flat rock cedar glade, and some of the other communities around. I am glad to see the webstie with the information he has. I am going to get in touch with him.. WOW, lots of memories of a youth i am so proud of.

[rowdyhillrambler]

Sadly, 15 years ago i remember he was in fairly poor health. I guess i just thought that maybe something had happened to him.. A poor friend for sure to not and try to contact him. He seems healthy, at least in his photos. I hope he lives the longest life, a truly golden guy.

...
Sandy has another fermentation book out. I recommend it w/o seeing. I trust him-he's eating all this open-fermented stuff and has had aids for years. He credits his sustained health, in large part, to home fermentations.

The Art of Fermentation

[WadePatton]

Man i just got goosebumps.. I had no idea you knew sandy!!

smalls world as they say yo. but then we've not met in person. i've only had a few email contacts with him back when i was looking for his first book. we have some friends in common, of birdsong hollow, plus i met and worked with several of his friends at the timberframe workshops-some in the workshop and others "just" for the raising. funny, i forgot all about flat rock-pretty sure i heard "tales" back when i lived in the 'boro.

give him a shout fer sher.

cheers.

[lavi]

This book has been talked about before, but Nourishing Traditions contains all this...with amusing anecdotes to boot.

We do Kraut with lacto-fermentation. In short, beat the shit out of some cabbage (and whatever else you want to through in), put in a jar with whey (from a good source) and water. It sits on your counter top for 3 days. Then, done.

OT...speaking of whey. I brined my own corned beef (I guess that doesn't really make sense as corning is used as the term for "brining". Raw beef (organic, grass fed and expensive [we bought a 1/4 cow earlier in the year $5.80/lb]) sitting on my counter in a whey solution for three days. You eat it "raw" when it's done. Sort of like ceviche. In the aforementioned book too.

No salt/vinegar in the pickling process. Use whey for a healthy gut.