sauerkraut quetions

[Rosendula]

I decided to make sauerkraut for the first time, but now it's all done and in the airing cupboard I have a few questions as not only have I never made it before, I've never even tried it. So,

what does it taste like?

how/when/with what do you serve it?

does it smell bad while it's fermenting?

I made it with a red cabbage. Does it matter?

[Alice Abbott]

It tastes lovely, sort of sour, fresh and tart (hard to describe, basically!) I suspect it's an acquired taste though. Yes, it does smell while it's fermenting, it should take a few weeks to be ready - it depends on how warm the place you are storing/fermenting it in is. Just be careful not to let it ferment in anywhere too warm as it can go bad. And red cabbage is fine, you can also mix red and white cabbage for a pink sauerkraut too. Eat it with meat, especially fatty meat like pork (or hot with cheese and pastrami if you want to try a Reuben sandwich, they are good but messy!)

[Green Aura]

Well done Rosey!

OK in order of question

- tastes fabulous, very mild cabbage flavour with a bit of something I can't describe but definitely yummy
- it's brilliant with sausages - particularly bratwurst or similar, or pork chops and spuds. You can eat it hot or cold - we usually warm it through in a frying pan with a drizzle of oil and some caraway seeds (it is cabbage after all )
- it does smell, but shouldn't smell bad
- yes you can make it with any cabbage - or in fact any other veg (not sure about starchy veg). It's not then sauerkraut of course but yummy nonetheless.

See if you can get hold of a copy of Sandor Ellis's book Wild Fermentation. Fantastic. Although a lot of the recipes are in Nourishing Traditions too (although possibly made slightly differently - they use whey).

Happy eating

[Rosendula]

Thanks Alice
Now my problem is where to put it to ferment. I'm not sure the airing cupboard in the bedroom is a good place if it's smelly.

[Rosendula]

And thanks Maggie
I'll keep it in the airing cupboard and see how it goes.
I'm really pleased you mentioned Nourishing Traditions because I put that on my Christmas wish-list

[dragonoak]

Nice one Rosey! The catterpillers got my cabbages this year- just as i managed to "borrow" a pot to ferment it in *grr* definatly jealous! Will have to wait till next year yet again. I'm told it's nice added to mixed salads, used as a grnish for burgers/sausages and all of the previous suggestions. I didn't even think to make it with red cabbage- so I might do it like that myself next year. Please tell us how it turns out!

Just throwing this out as an idea... but do you have a loft? maybe just inside there? I suppose it depends on how accessable it is if you have one?

[Rosendula]

I don't grow cabbages because I'm the only one in our house that likes them - and I only like a bit now and then. I was given this one by a plot neighbour and it was either try something different, give it away or give it to the chickens. So I thought I'd try something different

I do have a loft but it's really well insulated and so gets quite cold up there now. Also, it's filthy and everything is absolutely covered in dead wasps. It's very accessible, but I aren't going up there until someone else has been up with the vacuum cleaner

[ina]

What kind of recipe did you use for making it? From what I remember my parents told me (after all, I come from the country of Sauerkraut...), it was kept cool (in the cellar, but then British houses don't usually run to cellars); it had to be weighed down with a stone of a tight fitting plate, and it was never made in small quantities, as you simply don't get the quality. After all, it's just silage for humans...

I would never dream of making it myself. I like it, but as I said, you need large quantities for making it, and I don't like it that much! Cabbages keep well enough as it is; I'd rather keep them fresh, and buy the odd tin or jar.

[Rosendula]

Hi Ina,
I had 3lbs of cabbage which I shredded it finely and put in a bowl with 1.5oz of salt sprinkled between layers. I found that recipe in John Seymour's Complete Guide, and also Piers Warren's How to Store Your Garden Produce. I've put a cloth over it and a large plate that fits just inside the bowl. The best 'weight' I could find was a big glass jug which weighed about 1lb. I feel like I should have added water, but neither recipe said to.

[gregorach]

Does anybody know what the optimum temperature range for lacto-fermentation is, in numbers? "Not too warm" or "cool" are pretty subjective...

I've got a couple of cabbages sitting in the allotment that are the size of footballs - I'll never get through them fresh by myself - and I keep meaning to have a crack at making kraut. I already make beer and wine, so this is the next fermentation technique I need to master!

[ina]

Hi Ina,
I had 3lbs of cabbage which I shredded it finely and put in a bowl with 1.5oz of salt sprinkled between layers. I found that recipe in John Seymour's Complete Guide, and also Piers Warren's How to Store Your Garden Produce. I've put a cloth over it and a large plate that fits just inside the bowl. The best 'weight' I could find was a big glass jug which weighed about 1lb. I feel like I should have added water, but neither recipe said to.

Definitely don't add water! Cabbage is mostly (probably 80%, at a guess) water anyway... It sounds far too small an amount to me to make anything with. But hey, I'm willing to learn that it works!

For proper Sauerkraut (i.e. German style) you ought to add juniper berries, btw. I'm off to check German websites - get it from the horse's mouth, as they say!

Right, here's a few tips from German websites:

Make sure you press it in properly - there should be no air left in the container. Do it bit by bit; fill in a layer, press down ( there's a wooden kind of masher that's used for it). While you are pressing it in, you'll notice the water coming out of the cabbage. (One recipe recommends kneading it, like dough, to help that process - actually, there's a kind of coleslaw I make like that, too.)

Temperature - 17 - 20 degree Celsius for the first 7-14 days; after that, cooler. So airing cupboard seems a bit warm to me - even a normal kitchen in most houses that I've been in would be rather warm for the purpose (although these days, with more people saving on energy, they might be too cold like mine!)

The smallest amount I found a recipe for was 5kg...

[Rosendula]

Thank you for taking the time to look that up Ina. I think I'll take it out and make sure the air's squashed out. It didn't mention that in my recipes. I'll get a thermometer out as well. It might be better in the cupboard under the stairs at that temperature.

Thanks once again everyone :)

[Alice Abbott]

I have some "making" at the moment and I solved the weight problem with two largish plastic bags, one inside the other. Fill the inner one with water and knot the top tightly. The outer one is to stop leaks. Then place the bags on the top of the fermenting sauerkraut so that the edges of your pot contain the water bags inside it. This keeps anything from getting into the pot, lets any air from the fermentation out and keeps the whole thing pressed down.

We have red and green cabbages and I'm still working out to do with them. We have them frozen and pickled at the moment.

[123sologne]

Hum, I will have to try this sauerkraut making business as soon as I put my hands on some cabbages as I do not grow them. I just love the stuff with different bits of pig's meat, especially sausages. The Alsatians call it Choucroute and it is simply to die for in my book!! The Germans have their own recipe and the Austrians have a variation from what I have heard, but I bet they are all nice. I hope it turns ourt great and you have some great dinner out of it

[ina]

The Alsatians call it Choucroute and it is simply to die for in my book!!

Would be interesting to hear if they have a different way of making it?