I have wanted to enter the dark and mysterious world of fermented food. I briefly considered the idea of making my own kombucha. I really like the kombucha I can buy at the grocery store. It's pretty tasty and a lot like a soury soda pop...well, maybe not exactly like that. If you haven't tried one, you should.
I looked at a few YouTube videos on making your own kombucha. I'm sorry to admit it scared me off. Never say never...I may re-visit it someday. Still...that whole "mother" thing is a bit overwhelming to me. The whole "mother" birthing babies thing is completely out of my comfort zone. I tried to picture it all in my mind and I just wasn't sure how I would handle all those babies! Anyway...back to the sauerkraut. Please don't hate me...I really just don't care for fermented cabbage. I want to like it. I really do! I plan on learning to like it...someday...but...Hubs LOVES living cabbage!
We planted eight cabbage plants in our squarefoot garden this year. Four purple cabbages and four traditional green cabbages. Oddly, we didn't get any actual purple cabbage from our purple plants. I was pretty bummed about this. Oddly, we got EIGHT traditional cabbages from our 4 green plants. Go figure!
Nature is always really good at surprising me and giving me things to think about...
The first cabbage that came along ended up in a spicy sausage and cabbage soup! It was really yummy.
Then I went out one morning and was greeted by two more green cabbages. They were quite large. It was a bit of a battle twisting them off the stalk. It's an added bonus that our chickens like the cabbage plant leaves. Two cabbages is a lot to have hanging around the kitchen and I didn't want to waste them...
Now was the time to jump into the fermentation pot with both feet...so to speak...
I read several sauerkraut recipes and realized it may not be an exact science. There seem to be several different methods for making this stuff.
I settled on the method used by Sandor Katz. This Sandor Katz is a pretty cool "cat". He is a fermentation guru and has a really interesting story. I highly recommend reading about him and his ideas. Here is a link to his recipe for sauerkraut...
http://www.wildfermentation.com/making-sauerkraut-2/
I purchased a large pickling crock last summer with the intention of making pickles. That has yet to happen...you know..."the road to hell is paved with good intentions"! I'm well on my way...
I've been dying to use this amazing crock and figured now would be a good time.
I washed the two cabbages and took off the outer leaves. I was visited by a couple of earwigs that had taken up residence inside these cabbages. I'm always a bit shocked and surprised by some of the critters living in an organic garden. Please don't let this deter you!
I took a large sharp knife and finely shredded the cabbages. It seemed like a lot of cabbage. I added the recommended salt and started to massage it through the shreds. Sauerkraut is basically a two ingredient dish...cabbage and salt!
As per instructions you work the salt through the cabbage quite roughly until it starts weeping and making brine.
I used a potato masher as well as my hands. The idea is to get enough liquid brine to cover the cabbage.
Then I transferred it to my HUGE crock. In reality the crock was much larger than I needed for this amount of cabbage. Still...I really wanted to try it out.
I tossed it all in the crock and added a ceramic plate on top of the cabbage. Then, I weighed it down with a jar of jam!
Every time I walked passed the crock I pressed down on the jam jar to release more and more briney liquid. It took about 24 hours until there was enough brine to cover the cabbage. I had covered the crock with a clean dish towel as per Mr. Katz...
I continued the occasional plate pressing for 10 days. There was a bit of bubbling happening around the edges. Several recipes I read indicated it could be ready in 10 days. I rounded up Hubs for a tasting...
I put a small amount of the sauerkraut on a fork and helped it into his mouth. I was excited and expectant for the oohs and ahhs...sadly, instead he grimaced!!! What??? I was so bummed! He said it was VERY salty! Ugh...So, I referred back to my research and found that if it tastes salty it isn't fermented enough yet and to leave it for several more days....I crossed my fingers that all was not lost.
Each day I continued to press on the plate as I passed the crock and hoped for the best.
On day 16 I talked Hubs into another tasting...he was very brave...This time there was no grimace! He looked kind of surprised...he said, "it's pretty good"! I was soooo relieved...we decided to let it ferment for a few more days. I realized that as I walked passed the crock it was started to have kind of a "beer like" smell! Not a bad smell, but sort of yeasty and well...fermented smelling! On day 19 I rounded up Hubs for another tasting. This time he felt it was just right...
This is what it looked like in the bottom depths of the giant crock pot on day 19. I stirred it all up and bottled it in a bale jar....
It is residing nicely in my refrigerator and can stay there for several weeks. I have since gifted a few half pints to sauerkraut loving friends...
All in all I think it was a success...fermentation does fascinate me. With the fine line between being alive and healthy and gross and moldy! Sorry...but that's the reality folks...
I'm planning on more fermentation adventures in the future...Wild yeast? Kimchi? I'll keep you posted...
