Simple Sauerkraut : A Guide For Beginners

Many fermentation journeys begin with sauerkraut. It’s a versatile, forgiving ferment making it perfect for beginners to experiment with.

INGREDIENTS

• 1x head white cabbage

• Salt 2-2.5% by weight of cabbage (we use Himalayan pink salt, but sea salt works just as well - just steer clear of table salt!)

• 1 TBS Caraway Seeds

METHOD

• Remove and reserve the outer leaves of the cabbage

• Core the cabbage and finely slice/shread

• Add salt to the shredded cabbage and massage and turn until the cabbage releases it’s water and a bribe is formed (this stage can take 10-15 minutes)

• Add caraway seeds and mix through

• Add the cabbage layer by layer into a clean glass jar (we like weck, Kilner and Fowlers Vacola) compress each layer, to ensure that all air bubbles are pushed out

• When all the cabbage is in the jar, top up with brine and firmly press down so that the brine rises above all the level of the leaves, place an outer leaf on top of the cabbage with a weight on top of it to keep everything submerged (we use ceramic fermentation weights, but a small jar works just as well) Place the jar out of direct sunlight, ideally in an area where the temperature will stay between 15-20 degrees.

• Leave the jar to ferment for between 2-4 weeks until the desired amount of tangy-ness is reached

• If you’re using an air tight jar without an airlock you’ll need to ‘burp’ the jar in the first couple of weeks to release any gas build up

• Be sure to check on your kraut while it’s fermenting, and fish out any cabbage that has floated to the surface to avoid mound growth.