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I’ve made sauerkraut before (as seen in my Lactofermenting for Dummies post), but that was not sauerkraut. Not compared to this stuff. Wowzers, this stuff is amazing.
After making sauerkraut the first time, I heard somewhere that in order to get the full probiotic benefits, the kraut has to ferment for a full thirty days. That sounded just gross enough to be intriguing.
So I tried it, not really believing it would come out without totally spoiling. But it did. And it is so zingy and flavorful and fresh and amazing! So much better than the two-week stuff, so much better than store-bought or canned. This is real sauerkraut, and it’s really easy. And cheap. And it’s super healthy for you (check out this post for an explanation of probiotic benefits).
How do you make this stuff? It’s very simple: shred cabbage, either by cutting it thinly like I did…or take a shortcut and just pulse a couple times in a food processor. Put it in a bowl. Add salt and pepper (embarrassingly enough, I can’t find the note I wrote to myself about how much I used. I probably used like a teaspoon or two of salt and about half that of pepper. I don’t like my sauerkraut to be super-salty, and you can always add salt when you eat it.). Let the cabbage and spices set for a couple minutes to start sweating the juices out, then massage it with your hands to get the juices really flowing. Stuff this cabbage mixture into a quart-sized canning jar, using the handle of a wooden spoon to sort of mash it down and pack it so you can fit more in. Fill the jar to about an inch from the top. Add 2-3 tablespoons of whey left from Greek yogurt making and then fill the jar up with pure water so that it covers the cabbage but there’s still about an inch of room at the top of your jar for expansion. Screw a lid on your jar and set it in a cool dark place like a basement. Let it do its work for 30 days, but unscrew the lid every day to let the pressure from the gasses escape. If you don’t do this, your jar could explode. Yes, the fermenting sauerkraut will stink like crazy when you unscrew the lid, but that’s normal. Once the sauerkraut has fermented the full 30 days, put it in the fridge and start eating! It’ll keep for a good long while. Don’t heat it or you’ll kill the probiotics.
For Trim Healthy Mamas, this is a Fuel Pull.
You can find this recipe in my cookbook, Necessary Food.
Adena Foster says
I am on day 5 of my first t ry of making this. It seems the cabbage portion is coming to the top and the liquid settling in the bottom. Should I push the cabbage down each time I release the gas or shake it?
Briana Thomas Burkholder says
Hmm…it’s been a long time since I made this so I can’t remember what I did, but if I were you I would try to pack the cabbage really tightly into the jar under the liquid.
Emily says
I made mine without whey since we’re dairy free. Our recipe said to quarter an onion and place that on top. Hopefully that will help. It’s not stinky though so we’ll fine out tonight!
Christine Heylen says
Hi Briana,
I’ve made your home-made Greek style yoghurt, and it was amazing! I don’t think I’ll be buying again any time soon! My question is this, I saved all the whey from making the yoghurt, and I’d like to try my hand at sauerkraut but this was about a week ago already. I’ve kept the whey in the fridge all this time. Is it still usable? Do you know how long it will keep?
Briana Thomas says
I don’t know how long it will keep, but I’m guessing quite a while. 🙂 I’ve used it after a week.
Christine Heylen says
Perfect! Thanks!
Sandra says
Briana,
Do you think I could use the whey from my homemade kefir to add to the cabbage? How much do you use? Thank you for your great recipes.
Sandra
Briana Thomas says
Hi Sandra, I don’t really know anything about kefir making, so I don’t know if that would work or not. If you’re getting a yellowish syrupy liquid from it, I would assume that would be the same whey that I’m getting off my Greek yogurt. As I said in the post, I used 2-3 T of whey for a quart jar of shredded cabbage.
Courtney says
Sorry that was confusing – the comment on the sour cream was meant to provide yet another source of getting whey. 🙂
Courtney says
I live in Kenya and make sour cream from buttermilk (mostly because the store bought sour cream there is runny and not good). Just by stretching a tea towel over a mixing bowl, pouring the buttermilk on top of the tea towel and letting the whey strain through. But my question is this: you said you can’t heat it up? Does that mean I’d have to eat it cold? I like saurkraut but I’ve only ever had it hot with meat.
Briana Thomas says
I’m just saying that heating the sauerkraut would destroy most of the probiotic benefits because the live cultures would be killed. You can gladly heat it up if that doesn’t matter to you. 🙂
Marsha says
What can you substitute for leftover whey from making greek yogurt. I don’t do that! 🙂
Thanks.
Marsha
Briana Thomas says
That’s actually a very necessary ingredient. It prevents bad bacteria from growing in your sauerkraut.
If you don’t make your own yogurt, perhaps you could buy some plain, unsweetened yogurt from the grocery store and strain it for several hours and use the whey from that. I assume that would work, but I’ve never tried it.
Marsha says
Thank you Briana. I might give it a try. I will let you know if I do and how it turns out.
Thanks.
Marsha
Briana Thomas says
Sounds good!