For a long time, I thought a good brand of store-bought sauerkraut is as healthy and as good as it gets. I was wrong. Most sauerkraut you buy in a store is made with vinegar as opposed to naturally fermented. It does not come close to homemade sauerkraut in taste or nutritional value. On top of that: homemade sauerkraut is super simple to make and you need very little equipment.
We started making our own sauerkraut in January 2022. Now I’m wondering: what took us so long?
Where to start?
There is a plethora of advice out there on the internet (as usual). But who to trust? Joshua Weissman explains it best, I think. Watch his video here. Why does he remind me of Alton Brown???
Equipment etc.
Strictly speaking, you don’t need any special equipment. But there are a few things that make my life easier. Glass pebbles, for one. You need to keep the cabbage fully submerged in liquid. The plastic wrap trick with some water on top is a little cumbersome. You can buy metal spirals designed to keep the cabbage down, but who wants metal in their ferment? So, the glass pebbles are perfect. There is a nice set that also includes silicone covers with a valve and a nice wooden tamper. And then jars, of course. I use quart-size wide-mouth Ball mason jars. One jar takes 800g of cabbage. Speaking of cabbage: we only use organic because we eat so much.
Salt
I settled on the 2% that Joshua Weissman recommends. It’s just right.
Any other Add-ons?
Caraway seeds go very well with sauerkraut, but I prefer adding those after the fact, just like some grated apple or finely minced onion.
The one thing I definitely recommend adding to the ferment is garlic. Whole garlic cloves. Lots of them!
Temperature and Fermentation Time
We don’t have a temperature in our motorhome as stable as those of you who live in a real house. With a widely fluctuating temperature, you cannot “dial-in” your process and you won’t know when the sauerkraut will be done. If you think “and what’s the problem with that?”, you probably have never eaten homemade sauerkraut and you can certainly not appreciate my problem of having to keep up with production. I don’t have too much space for inventory either, so this needs to be a JIT operation.
I’m currently using a little lab incubator, set to 68F for the fermentation. After 2 weeks the sauerkraut tastes very good, but another week or two improve the flavor profile. Longer fermentation also provides more health benefits, as I’m reading. Even after 4 weeks at 68F it’s still crunchy and not yet overly sour. Problem solved.
The most important parameter to control is obviously the temperature. The required fermentation time may also depend on how finely you cut the cabbage ( I cut mine very fine). And perhaps on the type of cabbage. Haven’t experimented with that yet.
How do we eat it?
I used to cook store-bought sauerkraut as a side dish. Nowadays we eat it raw with (preferably very robust) EVOO, some freshly ground pepper, and sometimes with minced onion. Goes very well with sardines.
Drawbacks?
- It’s addicting.
- You will never want to eat store-bought sauerkraut again.
- Keeping up with production requires some planning if you don’t have much space for inventory.
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