Comments by "Xyz Same" (@xyzsame4081) on "Townsends"
channel.
-
EASY and QUICK Sauerkraut: Wash a head of cabbage (only on the outside), remove coarse outer leaves - you can use the stem/core. Hack cabbage (white or red) in the food processor, or cut it finely by hand, add water (if the cabbage comes from the fridge you can add warm not hot ! water, don't kill the bacteria necessary for fermentation).
Nothing else is added. Or done.
It must be covered by water (quantitiy will depend on the form of your container, and the volume of the cabbage which depends on how you cut it ), small bits may swim on top, that's fine. Just enough to have it covered and not more - the fluid is supposed to get sour, that will keep the mold away, so you do not want to unnecessarily dilute it.
Let it sit in a closed container (I have a plastics container, glass or ceramics is fine as well, just nothing with metal in it). After 1 day it should become bubbly, after 2 or 3 days it becomes more sauerkrauty. Then transfer to the fridge. You can start eating it at any point after if became at least a little bit bubbly.
DO NOT EAT MUCH for the first time, - drink 1/3 of a cup of the fluid or a small portion of sauerkraut - test your tolerance, best on a weekend when your are at home. - Your digestive system may have to adapt, or else you will spend a lot of emergency sessions on the toilet. And that applies to eating it raw but if your are sensitive even after you cooked it. - Many people are fine with it from the beginning even when eating it raw or drinking the fluid - just be warned - lol.
If no fermentation happened after maximum 3 days, it was too cold, or your cabbage was too old, or whatever. Check for mold to be sure - you can use it as is, but no fermentation is going to happen. That happened to me once when the room was too cold, and I just used it up the same day.
The fermentation will start on its own, since cabbage naturally has a lot of good lactobacteria on it. (Grass too, this is how the lactobacteria come into milk products).
It will become bubbly, when it tastes sour you should tranfer it to the fridge (after 2 - maximum 3 days if you have a slow batch) - fermentation will continue in the fridge (although it will be slowed down), it will become stronger, more sour and will resemble more and more traditional Sauerkraut (except that the pieces are more crumb like from the food processor - if Sauerkraut is not totally your thing but you want to eat it for your health, that is good - the small parts become also soft from the higher volume of water, and are nice too eat. (No crunching down of too salty, too acidic Sauerkraut).
In the fridge and when it is always covered by fluid, the good bacteria and the acid will protect it from becoming mouldy. That is why you can keep it at room temperature in the beginning * and it will not rot - the good quickly multiplying bacteria keep the bad cultures in check (like mold or bacteria that promote fouling = putrefactive bacteria). And that works without salt.
* I am not sure if it would work like that in India or in other very hot regions. It may be that under such conditions the bad bacteria are more prevalent on the vegetable and in the air and could win the race with the good bacteria - having the fermenting cabbage in a cool storage room should work though . Proceed with caution. And if your batch is a success you will know it by the distinct taste and smell - It definitely works in the temperate climate zone, even on a hot summer day.
Advantage: very little work with a food processor, no working or pressing of the cabbage. You prepare it without salt (good if you are on a low sodium diet)
Yyou add salt and herbs and spices later as you like (especially when you cook it, spice like curry, or other pricesfrom the Indian cuisine, caraway is always nice, dill, laurel, all bitter tasting herbs or intense tasting oils like pumpkin seed or lensseed oil).
I do not like it to be too strong/mature. You can eat it when hardly any acid has developed, when it is just a little bit bubbly - first signs of fermentation, lots of Acedophilus bacteria. (Then I eat it usually raw)
It is a good idea to not throw the fluid away (you have more than with the traditional method), a lot of minerals and vitamin C will have dissolved in it. I usually mix it with the same quantity of water (that helps when it is from the fridge and it is not as sour too) and gulp it down when thirsty. - There are better tasting drinks our there, but hardly any healthier. - When you take out some fluid and it is sour enough you can replenish with some water, so that the surface is always covered with water.
1) yes, you let it ferment on the shelf at room temperature. It should not be too cold either, think of a sourdough or yeast cultures.
2) No, your Sauerkraut will not get moldy or dangerous in any way
3) cabbage naturally has a lot of lactobacteria, including the short-lived acedophilus bacteria (a subgroup) - whereas in all traditionally made Pickles like Sauerkaut the most beneficial bacteria will die off over time). the acid conserves the pickles
Now, according to a book of a naturopath Robert Gray (The Colon Health handbook) the short lived lactobacteria are very good for our gut health.
They are selling these overpriced yoghurts with acedophilus. Robert Gray objected that these bacteria (a subgroup of lactobacteria) are sensitive and will die off after a few days in considerable numbers - before the yoghurt will be eaten by the consumers.
Thus he came up with this homemade drink based on cabbage which was meant to be used up quickly (the drink is based on an old ? Yugoslavian recipe - he calls if Rejuvelac). Well, I was not willing to throw out the good organic cabbage - so I used both - the drink and the cabbage. And detected that the cabbage almost tastes like Sauerkraut (a little milder) especially when you let it ferment longer. Of course then a lot of the most beneficial lacto bacteria will have gone (as is usual with fermented food)
I simplified the recipe of Robert Gray and have been preparing cabbage like that ever since.
4) you can use a little bit of liquid or Sauerkraut as starter to speed up the production of a new batch. 2 teaspoons of liquid will be sufficient - they multiply like crazy.
So if your goal is gut health you will make a small portion, let it sit for 2 - 3 days, and then use it up within one day. When you start from scratch calculate a preparation time of 2 or 3 days - or with a starter from the last batch the next one will be ready after 24 hours .
If you just go for the taste of Sauerkraut (which is still healthy food, with a lot of B vitamins that you usually only get with meat) you can make larger batches with or without a starter and let it ferment longer.
After you transferred it to the fridge it should keep for 5 days (maybe longer). As long as it is sour, tastes like Sauerkraut THERE WILL BE NO MOLD or FOULING. It will have the distinctive taste and smell and is safe to eat. And you certainly could freeze it - for instance a little bit to be used as starter, or surplus (I never did that, but it should work, the bacteria do not die off because of the freeze).
5) It has a funny smell - like all Sauerkraut. Thus keep the container tightly closed. And I cover transparent containers to protect the the vitamin C from light. I am not sure if the fermentation needs oxygen or not (more likely not). So I compromised by using a wide container with a lot of airroom. And do use a well closing lid. - I open it at the window once a day, give it a quick airing and then close it again. The lid can come off when the gas pressure builds up inside . So if you have a funny smell in your kitchen, check the Sauerkraut / Acedophilus culture.
The smell does not mean it is rotten, Sauerkraut smells like that. It gets better after a few days and if you cook it. (you can eat it raw or cook it).
Traditional method with "crushing" the cabbage plus salt: here you do not add water so the salt and pressure is meant to bring out the fluid of the cabbage. The cabbage will release enough fluid to cover and protect the fermented product. Back in the day they could store that fermened stuff (prepared without added water !) for months in a cool room even without fridge.
My variety has to be eaten within some days and uses the fridge, but is very uncomplicated.
I use the cabbage in fine pieces /slices - I guess that helps with fermentation - a lot of surface. If you do not have a food processor you could do a test run with a small batch where you have slightly coarser slices - like for a regular salad. It still should work.
6
-
1