Sauerkraut

Isothiocyanates...

Kraut is the second ferment that Anna and I experimented with. Last spring we stumbled through our first batch. Kraut is easy to make but it takes some patience and a little bit of faith that it will in fact work. 

Basic sauerkraut involves just two ingredients; cabbage and salt. 

Sauerkraut not only tastes really good it also contains phytochemicals called isothiocyanates. That is a mouth full and what the heck does it mean. Well isothiocyanates are sulphur containing compounds that have been proven to combat carcinogens. So they are cancer fighting compounds. Isothiocyanates are found in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, kale, turnips, collards, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, radishes and watercress. Isothiocynates are responsible for that particular flavor all of these vegetables posses. 

Making sauerkraut is really simple. We used about three medium heads of cabbage. You may choose either red or white. We used two heads of red and one white. This creates an amazing magenta hue in the final product. If you prefer the look of traditional(boring) sauerkraut you can just use white cabbage. 

Here is the recipe we used and a description of the process

• 3 medium heads of cabbage, your choice of color
• ample sea salt
• caraway seeds(optional)
• a large crock or glass container (about a gallon size for this amount of cabbage)
• a wooden spoon

Using my food processor with the shredding blade attached we made quick work of the three heads of cabbage. It seems like a whole heck of a lot of cabbage but it will get compressed. Layer a few cups of cabbage in the crock and sprinkle with about a tablespoon of salt and some caraway seeds. Then comes the fun part. Take the wooden spoon and smash the cabbage. The natural juices in the cabbage(which contain those isothiocynates and the bacteria that cause the fermentation) will be drawn out by the salt and by you smashing the cabbage. Keep adding layers of cabbage, salt and caraway seeds and keep smashing it. This can take a bit of work but you should see the juices being released from the cabbage. Some recipes also call for adding water but we have never had to add additional water to our kraut at this step in the process. Fill up the crock. The fermentation is an anaerobic one (no air please). In order to keep the cabbage from rotting it needs to be sealed off from the air by water(juices). I take a large plastic yogurt lid place it on top of the cabbage with a weight to keep the cabbage submerged and compressed. I put a cloth over all of this to keep the dust out and put it in a COOL spot in my kitchen for a couple of weeks. Every few days check it to make sure the cabbage is still covered with water, add salted water as needed. Also some foamy stuff may appear on top. This should be skimmed off but do not be alarmed this is normal. After a few weeks the kraut will lose it's yeasty vinegar sent at which point it's ready for eating. Store it in the fridge and it will last for months. If something goes wrong and your kraut goes bad you'll know it. It will smell and taste off. Kraut does better in the cool weather. We have always made it in the early spring so that we have ample sauerkraut for the summer grilling season.