Sauerkraut

Ingredients

Cabbage

• 3 kgwhite cabbage, outer leaves reserved
• 60 gcoarse non-iodised salt — 2% of the cabbage weight
• 1 tbspcaraway seed
• 6juniper berries, lightly crushed

Equipment

• a scrubbed crock, jar or food-grade bucket
• a weight — a water-filled bag, a scrubbed stone or fermentation weights

Directions

1. Set aside two or three whole outer leaves, then quarter the cabbages, cut out the cores and shred the rest as finely as you can. Fine shredding gives more cut surface, which releases more liquid and gets the ferment going faster.
2. Weigh the shredded cabbage and take exactly 2% of that weight in salt — for 3 kg that is 60 g. This is the only measurement in the recipe that has to be right: too little and it goes soft and spoils, too much and the bacteria you need are held back along with everything else.
3. Toss the cabbage with the salt, caraway and juniper and leave 30 minutes.
4. Now work it hard, squeezing by the handful for ten minutes, until it has collapsed to about half its volume and is sitting in a pool of its own liquid. This is the whole labour of the recipe and there is no shortcut past it.
5. Pack it into the crock a handful at a time, pressing each layer down firmly with a fist so the brine rises above the cabbage.
6. Lay the reserved whole leaves over the top, then the weight, so every shred sits below the liquid. If there is not enough brine after an hour, top up with a 2% salt solution rather than plain water.
7. Cover loosely so gas escapes and ferment at cool room temperature, 16 to 20°C (61 to 68°F), for four to six weeks. Skim off any white film as it appears — that is harmless kahm yeast, but coloured fuzzy mould means something rose above the brine.
8. Taste from week three. When it is sour to your liking, move it somewhere cold. It keeps for months and goes on souring slowly.

Technique

• Two percent by weight, weighed on a scale. Salting by handful is how most failed batches begin.
• Everything below the brine, always. That single rule prevents essentially every problem sauerkraut has.
• Cool and slow. Fermented at 25°C (77°F) it is ready in ten days and comes out soft; at 18°C (64°F) it takes a month and stays crisp.

Substitutions

• Red cabbage, which ferments the same way and turns a deep magenta.
• Grated apple, carrot or a few peppercorns, all common regional additions.
• A splash of brine from a working crock to speed the start.

Variations

• Bayerisches Kraut is cooked with bacon, apple and a little sugar.
• The Czech kysané zelí, Polish kapusta kiszona and Estonian hapukapsas are the same preserve.

History

Fermented cabbage as a preservation technique long predates Germany itself and likely did not originate there at all: similar cabbage-fermenting methods are documented in ancient China, where laborers building the Great Wall are said to have preserved cabbage in rice wine, and the technique is thought to have traveled west along trade routes over centuries, reaching Central Europe well before it became strongly associated with German cooking specifically. Once established in the German-speaking world, sauerkraut became valued as a source of vitamin C through long winters when fresh vegetables were unavailable, and it was famously carried on long sea voyages, including by British Captain James Cook, specifically to prevent scurvy among his crew.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sauerkraut?

Sauerkraut is a fermented & pickled from Germany: fermented white cabbage, sour partner to sausages and pork. Fermented cabbage as a preservation technique long predates Germany itself and likely did not originate there at all: similar cabbage-fermenting methods are documented in ancient China, where laborers building the Great Wall are said to have preserved cabbage in rice wine, and the technique is thought to have traveled west along trade routes over centuries, reaching Central Europe well before it became strongly associated with German cooking specifically. Once established in the German-speaking world, sauerkraut became valued as a source of vitamin C through long winters when fresh vegetables were unavailable, and it was famously carried on long sea voyages, including by British Captain James Cook, specifically to prevent scurvy among his crew.

How long does Sauerkraut take to make?

Sauerkraut takes 40 min plus 4 to 6 weeks fermenting of preparation and no cooking at all. The recipe makes fills a 5-litre crock. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Sauerkraut?

Yes, within limits. Red cabbage, which ferments the same way and turns a deep magenta. Grated apple, carrot or a few peppercorns, all common regional additions. A splash of brine from a working crock to speed the start.

What is the most important thing to get right in Sauerkraut?

Weigh the shredded cabbage and take exactly 2% of that weight in salt — for 3 kg that is 60 g. This is the only measurement in the recipe that has to be right: too little and it goes soft and spoils, too much and the bacteria you need are held back along with everything else.