Sauerkraut

Crunchy and tangy, rich in probiotics and prebiotics. 

I like to eat a little bit of something fermented every day. Sauerkraut makes a great addition to a savory breakfast.

Eating fermented foods is a great way to give your gut some love. They are the perfect package of prebiotics and probiotics. 

Most Americans are familiar with vinegar pickles. You take a vegetable or fruit, in the case of the cucumber, and soak it in a salty, vinegary brine, usually with spices. And in a few minutes to a few days, you have vinegar pickles. Easy, quick, and delicious. But lacking in all the beneficial probiotic bacteria.

Shredded cabbage in various stages of salting: dry and just sprinkled with salt, slightly wet but still crisp after the first massage, and wet and flexible after an hour and a couple of massages.

Finished sauerkraut: vibrant in color and flavor.

What is similar but imho way better, is fermented food. This process has been used forever (an exaggeration, but pretty close to the truth) to preserve foods that spoil quickly. Think dairy turned into yogurt and cheese, meat turned into ham and salami, and vegetables turned into sauerkraut, kimchi, and olives. Fermented food is in a state somewhere between fresh and decomposed that allows it to be preserved and eaten for longer periods of time. You take whatever vegetable or fruit you like and put it in a salty environment to encourage bacteria to grow. These bacteria, usually from the lactobacillus genus, feed off of the vegetable, the prebiotic, breaking the sugars down and making vitamins and minerals more bioavailable for humans. They also create lactic acid, which prevents the growth of harmful bacteria and fungus in the salty, acidic environment. The salt and acidity are what give fermented foods their longevity: this environment stop the growth of harmful things and slows the decomposition of the vegetable, giving us a longer window to eat the food. This food, when eaten by humans, gives us a good dose of those helpful bacteria, called probiotics. Those are the good guys in our gut who help us digest our food. In addition, we get vitamins and minerals that have been broken down by the bacteria into more bioavailable forms. This boost of probiotics can help balance the good and bad bacteria in our digestive systems, maintaining healthy digestion. Plus, cabbage itself is a prebiotic: it contains fiber that our healthy gut bacteria like to eat. Feeding those bacteria is an easy way to ensure good digestion and nutrient absorption. Eat fiber, prebiotic food, at every meal.

Isn’t nature beautiful?

Pressing the sauerkraut to remove air bubbles. You can use your clean hand and fist or a wooden tamper specifically designed for the process.

An intact cabbage leaf helps to keep all of the shredded cabbage submerged during the long fermentation time.

Sometimes I need a much larger pickle pipe for a big batch, so I sandwich a smaller one between two layers of plastic wrap and secure it with a rubber band, then poke a hole through the two layers and I’m good to go!

The best part is, fermented foods are super easy to make. The hardest part is the wait. It takes at least a week to ferment, depending on some factors. (See note below the recipe.) My sauerkraut takes about three to four weeks. Because it takes so long, I usually have at least one jar of something fermenting in the kitchen so that I never run out. Currently, I have a couple fermented hot sauce tests as well as a huge batch of sauerkraut. I’m making my own corned beef this year and am getting ready to make lots and lots of Reuben sandwiches topped with my homemade sauerkraut.

I prefer to make my sauerkraut with red cabbage because of the vibrant color. Not only is it visually appealing, it’s also packed with antioxidants and phytonutrients. We’re often told to eat dark, leafy greens, but other deeply colored fruits and vegetables in all colors are also important. Each color is associated with a different phytonutrient and that’s why we’ve always been told to eat the rainbow. Generally speaking, the deeper the color on your fruits and vegetables, the more healthy vitamins, minerals, and compounds they contain.

Sauerkraut

Multiple servings

1 cabbage, red or green

Kosher or sea salt; do not use iodized salt

Cutting board

Knife

2 large bowls

1 large jar or several medium or small ones

Pickle pipe and weights; here, here, here, and here, these sites have options for regular and wide mouth jars

Tea towel and rubber band, if not using an official fermentation lid

Carefully trim the cut end of the cabbage. Save for Scrap Stock.

Remove the two outer leaves and save for later in the process.

Carefully cut the cabbage in half, pole to pole. Remove the core using a v-shaped cut around it. Slice and save for cooking later or save whole for Scrap Stock.

Cut the cabbage halves into quarters, pole to pole. As thinly as possible, slice one quarter.

Add sliced cabbage to the bowl and sprinkle with 1-2 teaspoons of salt. Repeat the slicing and salting with the remaining quarters. Evenly divide the sliced and salted cabbage between the bowls.

With clean hands, scrunch and squeeze the cabbage. Use strong motions like you are trying to get water out of a sponge. Knead each bowl of cabbage for 1-2 minutes. Set aside for 30 minutes to an hour while you clean up or do other kitchen prep.

Repeat kneading process for each bowl. There should be pools of liquid on the bottom of each bowl, that’s exactly what you’re looking for.

Pack the cabbage into the jar, pausing every few handfuls to pack the cabbage down as tightly as possible. The goal is to remove any air bubbles and encourage liquid to come out of the cabbage. Fill and pack the jar, leaving at least one inch of space at the top.

Use the outer cabbage leaves to cover the sliced cabbage, pressing down as much as you can and tucking it in around the sides of the jar. You can tear the outer leaves into smaller pieces if you are using more than one jar. The goal is to use the outer leaf to keep all of the cut cabbage submerged. Use a skewer, fork, or small knife to poke small holes in the leaf, especially around the edges. This will allow any fermentation gasses to pass through instead of creating a cabbage leaf balloon.

Put fermentation weight on top of the cabbage and press down again. If the weight is not covered in liquid, add a small amount of water* until the weight is covered. There should be ¾-1 inch of space at the top of the jar. *The cabbage will continue to release liquid as it sits, so you can cap the jars for now and come back to them tomorrow to press again, then add water until the liquid level covers the weight. If you add more than one ounce of water, also add a small sprinkle of salt.

Cap the jar with a pickle pipe. The pickle pipe works really well for letting the fermentation gasses out and not letting any air back in. Perfect for hands off fermenting. If you don’t have a pickle pipe, you have a couple options. First is to cap the jar with a regular lid. The big thing to remember with this method is that as things ferment, they create gasses. You will have to “burp” the jar every day to release those gasses. Otherwise, the pressure will build up and your jar will explode, at worst injuring someone or at best making a really big mess in your kitchen. Believe me, I’ve been there, and I’m still finding glass two years later. Your second option is to add an extra sprinkle of salt and water, up to ¼ inch from the top of the jar. Cover the jar with a tea towel or other cloth, being careful not to get it wet, and secure it to the lid with a rubber band. This is less hassle but will probably smell a bit more as it ferments. Not necessarily a bad thing, but just be warned. The only thing to watch for with this method is that your sauerkraut doesn’t dry out. Top it off with more water every time the water gets low, keeping it at least as high as the top of the weight. Do not add more salt.

Put the sauerkraut jar somewhere where it can ferment for 1 to 4 weeks. I put mine behind my dish rack so that I can keep an eye on it. Keep the jar away from heat and direct sunlight. 

Every few days, check that the sauerkraut is still submerged. If parts of the sauerkraut are exposed to air, they can start to decompose rather than ferment. If some part is not submerged, use clean hands to press it down until it is. The fermentation gasses can get caught in the layers and create air pockets and expansion. This is normal. Just keep checking it and submerging when necessary. 

In one to three days, the liquid will begin to get cloudy. This is normal and a sign that fermentation is happening. Every few days after the liquid begins to cloud, taste a piece of shredded cabbage to check the progress. Expect the fermentation process to take anywhere from one to six weeks. I like my sauerkraut a little more sour so I let it go as long as I can wait, which usually is four weeks. That’s about the time it takes me to consume my last batch of sauerkraut and be ready for the next. You can adjust your batch size to the length of ferment you like: smaller batches for less sour, larger batches for more sour. When the sauerkraut tastes tangy enough for you, it’s done! You can now remove the weight and use a regular lid and store the sauerkraut in the refrigerator. The cold will slow the fermentation but not stop it completely.

Eat your fermented food cold or room temperature to keep the good bacteria alive. Heating up the sauerkraut will kill the bacteria, but will still leave you with more bioavailable nutrients than unfermented cabbage.

Note: Fermentation times will vary for each batch. Factors that will speed up fermentation: warmer temperature, less salty environment. Factors that will slow fermentation: cooler temperature, saltier environment. Currently, I prefer my sauerkraut fermented for about four weeks. As spring turns into summer, I expect that to drop to about two weeks. As the ambient temperature in my apartment changes, I will adjust my fermentation time by taste.