How I Made My First Batch of Sauerkraut
with Probiotic Starter

Dear Isidora;

Years ago, I tried to make sauerkraut the old-fashioned way — using an open crock, a large plate, a heavy weight and a cloth — and the result was both inedible and disgusting!

Today I finished my first batch of sauerkraut using your Fermenting Vessel, and I can’t believe the difference! Just as you’d said, using the Vessel was the easiest thing in the world — there was no mess, no offensive odor, and no need to do anything until the sauerkraut was ready to eat. But what impresses me the most is how wonderful it tastes — store-bought sauerkraut doesn’t even come close!

Before trying to use your Fermenting Vessel, I spent some time researching the websites you had recommended. Since my sauerkraut came out beautifully, I’d like to pass on what I’ve learned, if it can be of any help to you or your clients.

Many websites recommend using a probiotic ‘starter’, to both speed up the fermenting process and obtain good results, and I decided to try that advice. Those same sites advocate using a food processor to prepare the cabbage, but since I wanted a sauerkraut with the long, thin strands one usually finds, I chose to simply shred the cabbage with a good chef’s knife. I’d loved to try a ‘mandolin’, but they’re hard to find, out here.

Here’s how I made my sauerkraut:

Ingredients

Two medium-sized, organic, green cabbages
Four caps of Swiss Natural Sources “Lactobacillus Acidophilus”
Sturdy, steel pot
Blunt, sturdy object, for ‘pounding’ the freshly cut cabbage
An Isidora Spielmann Fermenting Vessel

Method

Remove and rinse a number of good, unbruised large leaves from the cabbages, and put these aside for later use.
Use a chef’s knife to shred all the cabbage.
Place 4 cups of shredded cabbage at at time into a sturdy steel pot (use any kind of pot or container that won’t break when pounded), and ‘pound’ the cabbage for approximately 3 minutes.
Some sites recommend using a potato masher for this, but I found a masher to be too light to do much ‘damage’ to the cabbage. A suitable piece of wood should do, or even a baseball bat — please clean it thoroughly, first!

It’s possible that using a food processor for step 2 might remove the need for pounding, as the processor will break the cabbage down on its own — but I’ve never tried this, myself.

Put all the pounded cabbage in a clean, large bowl.
Empty the powder from four capsules of Swiss Natural Sources “Lactobacillus Acidophilus” into 1 cup of lukewarm water, and gently stir.
Most websites that promote the use of probiotic ‘starters’ advertise their own blend of probiotic bacteria. From what I have read, the choice of bacteria doesn’t make that much difference, as long as those starters are a different beneficial bacteria than those contained in the cabbage itself.
(see http://www.fao.org/docrep/x0560e/x0560e10.htm, section 5.6.2 > “The fermentation process”, and “Use of starter cultures”)

Add the ‘probiotic water’ to the bowl containing all the pounded cabbage, and gently mix.
Wash and clean the Fermenting Vessel.
Carefully place all the pounded cabbage into the Fermenting Vessel, using some gentle, downward force — you can use your fist — to compact the cabbage. If shredding and pounding has extracted some liquid from the cabbage (it may not), compacting the shreds down into the vessel will allow that liquid to rise and – hopefully – cover the cabbage.
If there is no natural liquid, some websites advocate adding some mildly salted water — at least enough to cover the compacted cabbage. The principle is that cabbage that is not covered will be exposed to air, and therefore rot, rather than ferment. I am told that the traditional method of making sauerkraut, that uses salt rather than probiotic starters as a way of initiating fermentation, naturally draws liquid out of the cabbage. I’ve also deduced that the use of a food processor, which is advocated by many ‘probiotic starter’ websites, will naturally produce more liquid than the method I used. Since I was making sauerkraut the saltless way, though, I simply added a cup or two of normal water — enough to just cover the cabbage.

Once all the cabbage has been added to the Fermenting Vessel, and compacted, take a few of the large cabbage leaves (that you had put aside — see above), and carefully place them on top of the shredded, compressed cabbage, in a way that covers as much of the surface area as possible.
These leaves are important: they – along with the Fermenting Vessel’s ‘stones’ – will prevent stray shreds from floating to the surface, where they could become exposed to the air, and rot.

Carefully place the stoneware ‘stones’ (that came with the Fermenting Vessel ) on top of the large cabbage leaves, so that they cover those leaves in the same manner that the leaves cover the shredded cabbage. Once placed, all the stones should form one surface, with none overlapping the others. You can gently exert some downward pressure on the stones, as well, once they’re in place.
Place the Fermenting Vessel lid on, so that it sits comfortably in its ‘groove’.
Fill that groove with ordinary tap water — enough so that the water rises almost to the top of the Vessel’s sides.
If you have very hard water, you’ll find that subsequent evaporation will leave calcium deposits on the lid and groove. To avoid this, use softened water, if you have access to some.

Fermenting: different websites advocate different fermenting temperatures. Those that describe traditional (salted) sauerkraut generally state that the rate and degree of fermentation depend on two factors — the degree of salinity (saltiness), and the fermentation temperature. The less salt, the faster the fermentation. Likewise, the higher the temperature, the faster the fermentation. Advocates of the traditional methods often favour a long fermentation period (4-6 weeks), at relatively low temperatures (15 – 18 degrees C).
The situation is different when it comes to the use of probiotic starters: websites advocate anything from 1 to 7 days fermenting time, and a fermenting temperature of ‘room temperature’ or slightly higher (18 – 25 degrees C).

As many of these websites recommend the higher end of that temperature range, I placed my Fermenting Vessel a foot or so to the side of my woodstove, which resulted in an average external temperature of approximately 25 degrees C. But room temperature should work, too.

Regardless of fermenting temperature and duration, it is essential to keep the water in the lid-and-groove system topped up — if it completely evaporates, undesirable bacteria will enter the vessel, and possibly compromise the final product.
As I had my Fermenting Vessel beside my woodstove, I found that I had to top it up about twice a day.

When is the sauerkraut ready? Because I was perhaps a bit skeptical, I waited six days before opening the Fermenting Vessel. The result was beautiful: a light golden colour, beautiful, crunchy texture, and a gently tart taste. (One taste-tester — someone with experience in homemade fermenting — claimed it was “to die for!”)
I think that I could have opened the Vessel earlier, for a less tart taste, or allowed it to ferment even longer. As all websites say, ripeness comes down to being a matter of individual taste.

Once you’ve decided that your sauerkraut is ready, simply place it in clean containers, and refrigerate it. (Traditional – salted – sauerkraut can be kept in its brine, unrefrigerated, for quite a length of time.)

Well, that’s it. I’m certainly no expert, but those are the steps that produced a beautiful batch of homemade sauerkraut for me.

Thank-you, Isidora! Your Fermenting Vessel not only functions beautifully — it is beautiful!

- Michael, from Lanark, Ontario.