Wednesday 11 December 2013

Making Sauerkraut


We have plenty of veg still growing in the garden and I need to be more disciplined about making use of it all.
I am considering reducing the size of our veg garden for next spring, which might mean less work but greater efficiency with the space.



We currently have a great deal of onions in storage that need using. They are strong and I find that I avoid them due to the crying they invoke. 
We have lots of cabbages that need to be used and beetroot and turnip that are coming ready in mass numbers. Little may be more when it come to our veg garden!
It is hard to get around to everything and I hate to see waste, although the pigs enjoy the wheelbarrows coming!



I decided this week to try sauerkraut, to use up some cabbages and in the pursuit of healthy fermented veg to help my family's gut flora.
I got out my bible of health - Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions, and looked up the sauerkraut recipe on page 92.


Ingredients:

1 cabbage
1 tbsp caraway seeds
1 tbsp sea salt
4 tbsp whey


I washed the cabbage and shredded it into a bowl. 
I added the salt, whey from yogurt but omitted the caraway seed as I didn't have them.
I used my hand to massage the cabbage mixture together and help release the juices.
I placed an over turned bowl on top and left it in the warm kitchen to start to ferment.
The recipe says to leave it like this for three days and then place in the fridge for use.

Fingers crossed!


Addition:
I later packed the sauerkraut into a kilner jar and topped it up with whey, as I had it spare from straining yogurt to make Greek yogurt. 




4 comments:

  1. I absolutely LOVE saurkraut! I can eat forkfuls just on its own..hope your recipe comes out ok. I think it is left longer to ferment here. We live in an area settled by lots of Germans in the old days!

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  2. Do you have a recipe from your area? I would love to try it. I have never made or eaten proper sauerkraut so this is very trail and error. I would love to try water kefir and kombucha

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  3. Hello Marie never made Saurkraut have made many things look forward to hearing how you get on. With regard to the onions - I cry when preparing them and I prepare loads of them for pickling each year together with shallots. Just a suggestion but I have found that by pouring boiling water on them at least half an hour before you start preparing them helps with the aroma sparking the tear ducts in fact preparing them this way means you chop off the root last. Hope this helps and look forward to hearing how the Saurkraut goes.

    Pattypan

    x

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  4. I will try that Pattpan :-)
    I should make up large batches of onion marmalade !

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