Old-Fashioned Food Preservation Techniques: Fermentation

If your garden has blessed you with an abundance of cabbage, you can make sauerkraut. This old-fashioned method for making sauerkraut gives you kraut that contains live cultures and good-for-you things that make it so much better than the commercially made stuff. The heat processing of commercial kraut kills the beneficial digestive enzymes and the lactic acid bacteria that provide the fermentation process, and the heat destroys the high level of Vitamin C sauerkraut contains. Raw kraut is such a good source of Vitamin C that it was used by 18^th century sailors to prevent scurvy. A dose of kraut juice is recommended by alternative health practitioners as a digestive aid and for the Vitamin C content. The fermentation process increases levels of isothiocyanates, which are natural chemical compounds used in cancer treatment and prevention.

Old fashioned "raw" sauerkraut is fermented in large crocks for several days. The process is lacto-fermentation, which uses various lacto-bacillus strains in a natural fermentation process. Finished raw kraut does not need to be refrigerated or pasteurized for storage. It will keep in a crock at a temperature of 59 degrees F or lower for several months without spoiling.

To make kraut the old fashioned way, begin by preparing your crock. You can also use a large plastic container that is food approved. Check at a restaurant supply store for a food grade plastic bucket or tub. Scrub your container well, washing with hot soapy water. Rinse with more very hot water. I like to have a large pot of water boiling and I use it on the entire inside of the crock as a final rinse. Cover the crock with a clean dishtowel until you are ready to use it.

Trim and clean your heads of cabbage. Shred the cabbage into rather fine pieces. You can use green cabbage, red cabbage, or mix them together for pinkish kraut. Some people add shredded turnips, carrots, parsnips, or similar solid vegetables that will not turn mushy. Once you know the method, it's fun to experiment with fermenting different kinds of cabbage and vegetable blends.

Sprinkle salt over the cabbage at a rate of about 1/2 cup of salt per 5 pounds of cabbage. Mix the cabbage and salt together very well. The exact amount of salt and cabbage can be estimated, but you MUST use enough salt. It draws water out of the cabbage cells and makes the brine that is the agent that keeps the cabbage from rotting. The salt works against undesirable enzymes that soften the cabbage, so it also gives your kraut a good texture. And the salt keeps harmful micro-organisms from growing in the cabbage as it ferments.

Pack the cabbage/salt mixture into the crock. This must be very firmly packed, no wimpy tapping allowed. Start with a layer that is 2-3 inches deep, and press it down very firmly. You can use your hands or fists to punch it, or if you have a flat-bottomed wooden bowl or something similar, you can use that to press it down with. I have a round wooden top from an old Lazy Susan that fits in my crock perfectly. I can just put it over the layer of cabbage and lean on it hard to get a nice even pack. If you make a creative search around your kitchen, you'll come up with something to help you with this step. The object is to pack the cabbage as firmly as you can, and to press out the water. Pack a layer at a time until all of the cabbage is in the crock.

Use a clean plate or glass pie pan to hold the cabbage down in the crock while it ferments. Use something that fits inside the crock with an inch or so open around the edges. After you have packed the cabbage, place the plate over it inside the crock, and place a glass gallon jar or jug filled with water on the plate as a weight to hold it down. Cover the whole thing with a clean dishtowel, put it in a cool place where it will not be disturbed, and wait. (Sources for a glass jug are apple cider or wine.)

You want the water/salt brine to cover the cabbage. The water will seep out slowly as the salt works on the cabbage cells. I like to start a batch of kraut early in the morning, and then every hour or so I press out more water, pushing the cabbage further down into the crock. Always keep the plate and jug clean and replace them along with the towel after each press. After 10-12 hours of pressing out the water, the cabbage should be about covered with brine. If the brine level is not high enough you can mix some salt and water (1 teaspoon salt per one cup of water) and pour it into the crock to cover the cabbage. This initial process of drawing out water can take anywhere from 12 - 24 hours, so you can wait until the next morning before adding any extra brine. I don't usually need to add extra brine because I use fresh cabbage cut right from the garden. It has higher water content than cabbage that has been stored for a while, so it contains plenty of water to make its own brine.

Keep your crock of kraut someplace out of the way while it ferments. Every day or two, lift the towel and check the progress. As the cabbage ferments it will decrease in volume, and the plate and jug will sink lower in the brine. Sometimes there will be an aerobic bloom on the surface of the brine. It appears as bubbles or foam. You can simply skim it off, and rinse the plate and jug and replace them. The cabbage is fermenting in an anaerobic environment under the brine, and is not affected by the surface bloom.

After 5-7 days your cabbage will begin to have a tangy, sauerkraut taste. Once this begins, taste-test it every day until it reaches the stage of flavor you want. Usually after 7-10 days it is about right for my taste. Just skim off any floating foam on the top of the brine, and spoon out the amount of kraut you want to use. After you remove some, you will need to pack the remaining kraut so it is tight under the plate and jug again. It will keep for weeks if you keep it cool and keep the brine level above the kraut.

It is not necessary to heat-process kraut to preserve it. Some people don't feel right about eating food that hasn't been sterilized and processed in jars, and it's fine to do this if you want to. But the heat will kill the beneficial properties of the kraut, which is part of the reason for making your own in the first place. I think processing it makes the kraut kind of soft and tasteless.

If you worry about kraut going bad in the crock, don't. The chances are slim if it is properly fermented. Watch for a slimy texture, mushy cabbage, or an odor that is not the fresh tangy aroma of kraut. Those are signals that your kraut is no longer edible.

Source: Personal experience, Great-Grandma's guidelines