Posted in Homestead Kitchen
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I started making sauerkraut last summer after reading the book Nourishing Traditions. I read of all the benefits of eating fermented foods and wanted to try this. It was a great learning experience. I had successes but I also had failures. I started reading other books on fermenting foods and started to work to develop a method that worked for me. I just kept trying and eventually had more successes than failures.
I don’t have large crocks to ferment food in; you don’t really need these to have success with fermenting. I tried the quart jars as suggested by Sally Fallon of Nourishing Traditions and found that sometimes, for some things, they worked great, but for other things they failed miserably for me. After reading more on the subject I tried using 2 quart jars and gallon size glass jars. These have worked great. I highly recommend the gallon size jars for making sauerkraut. I get most of my gallon jars from buying foods in them from Costco. If you don’t buy large quantities like this then you can also purchase gallon size glass canning jars.
I read and learned of the benefits of lacto fermented food. Basically fermentation is taking the carbohydrates of the vegetables and turning them into lactic acid. Lactic acid breaks food down making it easier to digest. The resulting product is full of digestive enzymes and beneficial bacteria. Lactic acid stimulates your digestive system to make it function as it should.
In order to make lacto fermented foods you will need some whey. When I started making lacto fermented food I had goats in milk and I was making a lot of feta cheese and cream cheese. This gave me a large supply of whey. If you are not ready to start making cheese in order to get whey, don’t despair there is another option for you. You can buy good quality yogurt and drain this through cheese cloth or an old pillow case (that has been washed and bleached first) to extract the whey. What is left in the bag is yogurt cheese and can be used similarly to cream cheese.
You can achieve the same results without the whey by using salt only. It just takes longer to get the finished product. By using whey, which is lactic acid, and only a little salt you have an edible product in about 3 days. The little bit of salt added is for the benefit of preserving the veggies in the first days, until the lactic acid takes over. This prevents decay. Fermented vegetables are not a dead, decayed food. They are very much an alive food that is FULL of beneficial health promoting properties.
I have read that fermented foods can help cure everything from arthritis to diabetes to indigestion to cancer. It also is supposed to boost metabolism. I am not sure about all these claims but I do know that it has done a lot for me (I had health problems earlier in the year) and how easy it is to make and have as a part of your daily diet.
Sauerkraut is not the only lacto fermented food you can make, but it is the easiest to make and so tasty. I have fermented carrots, salsa, garlic, and ginger ale. I hope to make some fermented ginger (helps with digestion), onions, and more.
Next time I will be sharing the recipe and procedure on how to make sauerkraut. In the mean time if you are interested in making sauerkraut you can begin to collect the supplies you will need to do this.
Gather together this list of items:
1- 1 gallon glass jar, with lid
1 zip lock type bag, gallon size
Large wooden spoon
A potato masher
And purchase some good quality yogurt (Nancy’s or Brown Cow are two good brands that have active live cultures)
A washed an bleached piece of cloth to drain your yogurt
You can also go ahead and drain your yogurt and store the whey in a small canning jar in your refrigerator so it will be ready to use. If you are unsure how to go about draining the yogurt they you can wait. I will be explaining this next time and have pictures to show you also. You will need about ½ cup of whey. I find I can easily get this amount, and more, of whey from 16 oz. of yogurt.
To Be Continued!
Crystal and her husband Tobin, along with 6 of their 8 homeschooled children make their home on 18 acres in SW Washington State. Crystal enjoys caring for her home and family and her farm. You can visit Crystal’s website: The Family Homestead or Crystal’s Country Store where she sells her own goat milk soap, ebooks and more!
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