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.
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