6 steps to quick counter ‘kraut

Everybody can benefit from getting extra probiotics into their diet. The best way to do this is through unpasteurized, fermented foods like salt-brined pickles (not vinegar pickles), raw-milk cheese, kombucha, fresh yogurt and sour cream, and our personal favorite: sauerkraut.

Here’s our super-basic method for homemade sauerkraut.


Step 1 – ChoppingCut a cabbage into quarters and cut out the core. Peel off the outer cabbage leaves (and any leaves with black spots), and save 1 or 2 whole, unblemished leaves. Finely shred the remaining cabbage.


Step 2 – SaltingPut the shredded cabbage into a large bowl or pot and add 1 to 2 tablespoons of sea salt, depending on the size of your cabbage. An average size cabbage will need about 2 tablespoons, but if it’s your first time, start with 1 tablespoon (you can add more in Step 3, after you give it a taste). One note: Don’t use iodized salt. Iodine will kill your fermentation. Our favorite salt to use is (obviously) our buddy Steve Cook’s.


http://vimeo.com/60709579

http://vimeo.com/60709579

Step 3 – MassagingAfter you add the salt, start breaking up the cabbage by “massaging” it, meaning: grab fistfuls of it and squeeze it, punch it, and just basically manhandle it. What you’re doing is causing the cell walls break apart while the salt helps pull water from inside the cabbage. If your wrists and forearms start to ache, don’t worry, you’re doing it right. In a couple minutes, your cabbage will start to produce liquid. After 5 or 10 minutes, your cabbage will look wilty, reduce in size, and there should be quite a lot of water in the bottom of your bowl (this is your “brine” oh, and the more of it the better, as you’ll see in Step 4).

Once your cabbage is all mushy, take a small pinch or get a clean fork to taste it for saltiness. (Make sure to avoid putting your fingers in your mouth or putting a dirty fork in your cabbage—sauerkraut is a super-forgiving fermentation, but still, you want to keep as much foreign bacteria out as you can.) If the kraut tastes just a little too salty for your normal taste, then it’s perfect. You want the kraut to be saltier than a normal meal should be, but not so salty that it’s inedible.


Step 4 – FermentingOnce your cabbage is ready, you’ll put it in a bowl or jar that’s small enough that you can pack it tightly with your fist and deep enough that the liquid can rise up an inch or so above the surface of the shredded cabbage. A wide-mouth Mason jar is perfect for this. Now, you’ll use the whole, unblemished cabbage leaves that you saved in Step 1 to lay across the top of the chopped cabbage to hold down stray pieces under the liquid. Then fill a smaller jar with water and cap it (so the water doesn’t spill into your brine) and use the second jar to weigh down the cabbage. The whole point here is to keep the cabbage submerged under the brine. This is an anaerobic fermentation, meaning it only happens where it’s not exposed to oxygen.


Step 5 – WaitingNow set your counter kraut aside for a few days. How long is really a question of taste. It’ll be slightly fermented in as few as 3 days. But if you want to be really hardcore you can leave it for 2 or 3 weeks. Although—take it from us—it’ll start stinking up your house by that point. One thing to note: it is possible to get some mold on the surface of your brine if you’re leaving it for a couple weeks. Just skim it off the top. Not a big deal at all. Like we said, sauerkraut is pretty much foolproof.


Step 6 – Eating!Now the best part! When you’re ready, just take out the weighing jar and the cabbage leaves (skim off any mold), and put a lid on your kraut. It’ll store in the fridge for a really long time if you make sure to only scoop it out with clean utensils. Not that you’ll need to store it very long. Trust us, you’ll be putting this stuff on everything. It’s even amazing by itself as a simple little side salad. It’s crazy how many uses you’ll find for it.

If you really get into doing your own sauerkraut and want to try new stuff, there are a million variations—one of our favorites is to add shredded carrot and daikon radish into the mix. But there’s also brine pickles and kim chee and all sorts of other incredible lacto-ferments you can do. Your next steps should be here: http://www.wildfermentation.com/wild-fermentationAnd here: http://www.pickl-it.com/


http://www.pickl-it.com/

http://www.wildfermentation.com/wild-fermentation

6 steps to quick counter ‘kraut

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