IN THIS CHAPTER, learn how simple it is to make a jar of effervescent and crunchy kraut at home. That’s how we started—in our kitchens at home. Making jar after jar after jar of kraut, hundreds of jars. And since then, at Firefly Kitchens, we’ve processed sixty tons of vegetables, a lot of it with our own hands.
As we’ve learned, fermenting vegetables is a journey of both science and art, a journey that follows time-honored traditions. The science is fermentation, and it takes care of itself. The art is in nurturing the fermentation to achieve the best results possible—every time.
You don’t need much to get going—a few very basic tools, some fresh vegetables, pure sea salt, and spices. What follows are detailed how-to instructions and lessons learned—everything from how much salt to use to how long to let the cabbage ferment and what to do when things go wrong.
As you practice making kraut, we encourage you to keep notes on each batch—maybe in the form of a fermentation journal like the ones we’ve always kept. Each time you make it, take note of what happened when you changed the salt level or fermentation time, fermented at a different temperature, or added a new spice. You’ll learn from what you observed and tasted, and discover how you might alter what you do next time.
We encourage you to experiment with other vegetables and spices or adjust the quantities of those we specify. It doesn’t take much effort to double the recipes, so you can make the standard recipe and brew a unique batch alongside it. Through practice, documentation, and experimentation, you’ll create your own tradition of fermentation.
BOWL. It should be big enough to comfortably hold 12 cups (3 quarts) of shredded cabbage and have enough room to mix the cabbage vigorously with your hands.
LARGE KNIFE OR FOOD PROCESSOR WITH SLICING BLADES.
JAR. A quart jar with a wide mouth, like a Mason or Ball jar, is easiest to pack cabbage into—you can get your fingers in there—but you can use any quart-size jar you have around, like recycled mayonnaise, peanut butter, or pickle jars. You’ll also need a lid that fits the jar; plastic lids are less likely to corrode than metal, but either will work.
WIDE-MOUTH FUNNEL (OPTIONAL). This helps you get the cabbage into the jar without making a big mess, but it’s not required. (You can always wipe up the mess!)
WEIGHTS (OPTIONAL). When you make kraut, you’ll need some way to keep the cabbage submerged in brine; a weight is one way to do this. Anything small enough to fit in the mouth of the jar and heavy enough to weigh cabbage down will work: a glass coaster, votive candle holder, small glass jar filled with something to make it heavier, or a rock (Julie’s favorite). The core of the cabbage works well too.
CABBAGE (AND OTHER VEGETABLES). We prefer organic vegetables, which are grown without pesticides and often have more vivid flavors, but you can make great kraut with conventionally grown vegetables too. Whatever you decide, get the freshest vegetables you can for the best flavor.
We prefer green cabbage. When we were developing our kimchi recipe, we experimented with napa cabbage and didn’t get the same crunchy results. It’s also been our experience that red cabbage works differently than green cabbage—for example, it doesn’t seem to break down as much or as easily when you work in the salt. But go ahead and experiment with these and any variety of cabbage that appeals to you.
SEA SALT. Salt triggers the magic of fermentation, so you want to use the right one. Salt comes either from the sea or salt mines (the source of most of today’s salt), which are salt deposits from ancient seas.
Table salt isn’t good for fermentation. It’s usually highly refined—bleached, stripped of its natural magnesium salts and trace minerals, diluted with anticaking chemicals, and supplemented with iodine. Iodine has bacteria-killing properties, and fermentation relies on bacteria to work. Also, iodized salt can darken the color of kraut, and while it’s perfectly edible, you might not like the way it looks.
At Firefly, we always use the Celtic Sea Salt brand, which is far from typical table salt. It’s unrefined, full of its natural minerals, and has no additives. If you use another sea salt, make sure it’s not iodized, and look for an unrefined salt with its natural color intact—pink, off-white, or gray, for example. The colors are indicators of the minerals present in the salt.
SPICES. Classic Kraut uses no spices, but all of the other Firefly krauts do—for example, caraway seeds, dried dill, and ground coriander.
Use only fresh, dried spices. Smell yours. Do you smell a distinctive fragrance? If so, they’re probably okay; if not, it’s time to go shopping. The best way to buy spices is in bulk. That way you can buy small amounts—as little as an ounce at a time—so you use them up before they get stale. It’s cheaper that way too!
Classic Kraut is our most basic sauerkraut recipe, our original kraut, and still one of our best sellers. It’s kraut plain and simple without any additions like onion, garlic, or hot pepper, so anyone can eat it, including those on healing journeys who’ve been directed to eat fermented foods. It’s the basis for all the other Firefly ferments, which you will learn to make in the next chapter.
Basically, you’ll be adding salt to cabbage, massaging and pounding the cabbage to break down its cell walls, packing it into a jar, and then submerging the cabbage in its own brine. While you wait for a week or more, the friendly bacteria that live on the cabbage transform it into vibrant, tangy sauerkraut.
As you embark on your kraut-making journey, follow the directions carefully, like a scientist. But remember that making kraut is also an art, so attend to your senses—touch, sight, smell, taste—and let them guide you as you proceed.
Clean everything
Cleanliness is important when you make kraut, so start with a clean work space and wash tools and jars in hot, soapy water or put them through the dishwasher. However, keep in mind that folks making kraut a hundred years ago weren’t bleaching down their kitchens.
IN A NUTSHELL: STEPS FOR MAKING KRAUT
Once you have made your first batch of kraut, you will be thrilled with the simplicity of the process. Let this serve as your “kraut-making at a glance.”
• Clean everything
• Make the brine
• Get the cabbage ready
• Work the cabbage
• Taste for salt
• Pack the cabbage into the jar
• Cover the jar, set it aside … and wait
• Taste the kraut and store it
• Preserve the kraut
When you make kraut, always taste it before you jar it. Like the three bears’ porridge, it should not have too much salt or too little, but a salt level that’s just right. It’s a challenge to describe for those just starting out how salty is “just right,” so the brine recipe below will serve as your baseline.
Mix up some brine and taste it. This is how properly salted cabbage should taste. (As you get some experience, you will begin to develop your palate to taste perfectly salted cabbage without comparing it to brine.)
Also, you will likely need extra brine. Maybe the cabbage is dry (carrots too) from having been in storage at the grocery store or in your fridge a while. Maybe you got tired of massaging the cabbage before there was enough of the salty liquid. Or, during the fermentation process, you might need to top off the jar with brine. Whatever the reason, brine is super easy to make.
You need to remove the chlorine from tap water because chlorine inhibits the growth of bacteria—the very reason it’s added to our water supply. If you don’t filter your water, you can boil it in an uncovered pot to evaporate the chlorine. Just make sure to cool it to room temperature before you use it so you don’t kill the bacteria on the cabbage.
| Makes 1 cup brine
1 cup water at room temperature 1¼ teaspoons sea salt |
• To make the brine, stir the salt into the water until it dissolves. |
Get the cabbage ready
|
1 head green cabbage (about 2 pounds) 1 tablespoon sea salt |
• Peel off any older, discolored outer leaves (don’t throw them out!), and rinse the head in cold water. • Quarter the cabbage and remove the core. (Don’t throw the core out either. You may use it and the outer leaves later to help keep the compressed cabbage below the brine when you pack the kraut into the jar.) |
• Slice the cabbage into long, thin strips, about ⅛ inch to ¼ inch wide. Make the slices as uniform as possible so the cabbage will ferment evenly. (The thinner the strips, the quicker the cabbage will ferment.) You should have about 12 cups of shredded cabbage. (It’s hard to believe that all this cabbage will fit into a quart jar, but it usually does.)
• Put the cabbage into a large bowl and sprinkle it with the salt. You can let the salted cabbage sit for 20 minutes so the salt starts to pull the water from the cabbage, reducing the time you need to work it.
TIP: If your bowl isn’t large enough to hold all the cabbage at once, add as much cabbage as it can comfortably hold and a portion of the salt. As you work it, the cabbage will shrink, and you can gradually add the rest of the cabbage and salt.
Work the cabbage
The idea here is to thoroughly mix the salt with the cabbage, which helps to draw the water out, creating a brine. You are also trying to distribute the salt evenly—otherwise, the resulting kraut might be mushy or a dark color. It may still be edible, but you might not like the texture or color.
We like to use our hands to work the salt into the cabbage. Work it hard—massaging, whacking, tossing, turning, mashing, squeezing, beating, and pounding it. Some people like to use a (nonmetallic) pounder, such as a rock or the bottom of a Mason jar. It’s a great workout! There’s something therapeutic about doing this by hand. (If you’ve ever kneaded bread, you’ll know what we mean.)
It can take 5 to 10 minutes of vigorous massaging and pounding to get a mixture of cabbage and brine. Notice that, as you work the cabbage, it will shrink in volume, and in most cases, the brine will increase in volume. Don’t be alarmed if the cabbage mixture has a foamy top layer; that’s just a sign of good mixing.
FERMENTATION: BEHIND THE SCENES
That cabbage that you’ve been working on is covered with bacteria (even after you wash it). And that’s a good thing, because it’s those bacteria—lactic acid bacteria—that are going to ferment the cabbage and turn it into kraut.
The addition of salt and the massaging helps to break down the cell walls and draw the water out of the cabbage, which creates the brine and starts the fermentation process. This enables the lactic acid bacteria to feed on the starches and sugars released, creating a by-product, lactic acid, the fermenting juice. (Carbon dioxide is also released as a gas.) When you pack the cabbage tightly into the jar and submerge it in brine, this creates the ideal oxygen-free environment that sustains lactic acid bacteria.
When the cabbage has shrunk to about half its original volume, and there’s a briny, watery base, you know it’s time to taste it!
• Taste the cabbage from the bottom of the bowl. It should taste really salty, like you completely oversalted your food or got a mouthful of an ocean wave when you were swimming. Now, taste the saltwater brine you made, and compare. The salt level should taste similar.
• If your cabbage isn’t salty enough, add ½ teaspoon of salt to the cabbage, mix it in well, and then taste it again. If it’s too salty, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of nonchlorinated water, mix it in well, and then taste. In both cases, add salt or water in these increments until the cabbage is as salty as the brine you made.
Tasting is part of your kraut education, and after making just a few quarts you’ll begin to develop a good sense of whether or not the salt level is just right without having to compare it to the saltwater brine you made.
We cannot emphasize enough the importance of using the right amount of salt. Too much salt, and you’ll slow the fermentation process to a crawl; too little, and the vegetables might get mushy or moldy. We try to use the least amount required, so we suggest a starting point of 1 tablespoon of salt for every 12 cups of shredded cabbage. However, because the saltiness of the cabbage can vary depending on what kind of salt you use, how carefully or loosely you measure, and other variables, you may need to adjust it using the taste test.
Pack the cabbage into the jar
Your goal here is to protect the compressed cabbage from exposure to air. (The oxygen in the air is what harmful bacteria need to grow.)
• Press the cabbage down into the jar until it’s about 2 inches below the rim. Pack it tightly so there are no air pockets. If all of the cabbage won’t fit, that’s okay. (Sauté up the extra or throw it into a stir-fry.)
• To fill the space between the compressed cabbage and the lid and hold the cabbage under the brine, wedge in the outer leaves and core of the cabbage, or use a weight (see Basic Tools). (It’s likely that you’ll have to throw out this top layer of cabbage that’s been exposed to the air, but everything tucked in below the brine will be fine.)
• Make sure the brine completely covers the compressed cabbage by about 1 inch, and that it’s about 1 inch below the rim of the jar. This provides some buffer space if the gas (carbon dioxide) that the fermentation generates pushes up the cabbage and the brine bubbles out. If there’s not enough liquid to cover the cabbage, add as much brine (see Make the brine) as you need.
Cover the jar, set it aside … and wait
Air and light are the enemies of multiplying lactic acid bacteria.
• Screw on the lid until it’s just tight, but not screwed down hard. (We call this finger tight.) The lid tightened in this way will allow the carbon dioxide to escape; if you screw the lid on too tightly, the gas can’t get out, and when you open the jar, the brine and gas will burst out.
• Set the jar out of direct sunlight, but also somewhere you can have the fun of watching it ferment—your kitchen counter might be a good spot. Put the jar on a plate or in a shallow bowl in case the brine leaks out. (This is normal because the brine level can increase as more water is pulled from the cabbage.)
Now it’s time for the bacteria to do their work, and for you to watch what happens.
Let the jar sit at room temperature, roughly 64 to 70 degrees F, the optimal temperature for these bacteria. If the temperature is too low, the fermentation will take longer; if it’s too warm, the cabbage will ferment faster, but the resulting kraut may be softer.
Watch the brine level. If it drops below the cabbage, press down the cabbage, and top it off with more brine (see Make the brine). If the lid is bulging even just a little, unscrew it slightly to let the carbon dioxide escape so it doesn’t burst out of the jar when you open it.
Taste the kraut and store it
After one week the kraut may be ready to eat, so start tasting. It should taste good to you—tart and crunchy. We prefer to wait 3 to 4 weeks.
• If you taste it and decide it’s not ready, let it ferment longer to let the flavors mature. Taste the fermenting kraut weekly until it’s as tangy as you want, and make sure the cabbage is completely submerged and has no contact with air before you re-cover the jar.
• If you like the flavor and texture, it’s ready to eat. Store it in the fridge to slow the fermentation; the flavors will continue to mature.
There’s no hard-and-fast rule about how long you can store kraut. It will continue to ferment slowly in the refrigerator, and the flavors will deepen and mature like a ripening cheese or fine wine (although over time, it may soften, losing its crisp texture). Firefly Kitchens’ products, from the time of jarring, have a six-month “Best By” date as a guide to the buyer. But we’ve opened jars that are more than a year old and they’ve been perfectly fine.
Preserve the kraut
• Keep the brine level at or above the level of the veggies. Every time you take some out of the jar, push the vegetables back under the brine, keeping them covered as much as possible.
• Be careful not to introduce new bacteria into the kraut because it may cause the ferment to spoil. We always recommend using a clean utensil every time you extract kraut or brine from the jar. No double dipping or eating straight out of the jar!
• Use your senses. If you’re skeptical about the jar of kraut you find in the back of fridge, look, smell, and then taste. It will be obvious if something’s wrong. (Hopefully you won’t have this predicament because you’ll be eating your ferments as fast as you can make them.)
• When you use kraut, drain the extra brine back into the jar to protect the kraut that is left inside.
• Bacteria will die if they’re heated over 110 degrees F. In some of the recipes in this book, we call for kraut before cooking. In those cases, the kraut contributes its texture and flavor, but to get a good dose of probiotics, we almost always add raw kraut to the dish before serving. In your own cooking, when you serve ferments with hot food, we recommend that you wait until it has cooled slightly before you add the kraut so you keep its probiotic benefits.
KITCHEN EFFICIENCY: BLEND A JAR OF KRAUT IN ADVANCE
Some of the recipes in this book, particularly the desserts, call for mincing small amounts of classic Kraut—sometimes just a couple of tablespoons. It can be difficult to blend such small amounts and get a smooth, even texture.
Make it easy on yourself. Whirl a couple of cups of kraut in a food processor or blender until it’s the consistency of applesauce; stash it in the fridge for instant use later. Some recipes will call for squeezing out any extra brine so it doesn’t effect the outcome of the final product as in some breakfasts, dips, and desserts.
What to Do When Things Go Wrong
Here are some problems you may encounter, some explanation of what might have gone wrong, and what you can do about it. But trust your senses here—if a batch of kraut just seems “wrong,” throw it out and start over.
| The problem | Why it might have happened | What to do about it |
| White scum on top | The kraut may have been exposed to air. | Skim off the scum, then add more brine or weight the kraut to completely submerge it. |
| Moldy kraut (Mold is the top reason for bad-smelling sauerkraut.) |
Mold is common on the surface of the brine, or on the cabbage or the weight, especially if it’s been fermenting for a few weeks. This can occur when the fermentation temperature is too high or the cabbage is exposed to air. It’s usually only on the surface. |
Scrape the mold off so there is no remaining moldy smell or taste, and make sure to submerge the cabbage in brine. Then you can continue to let it ferment. In our years of fermenting, there have been just a handful of times where mold tainted the whole batch. If that happens to you, just throw it out—and try again. |
| Soft and mushy kraut | This could result from not using enough salt, salting the cabbage unevenly, a fermentation temperature that was too high, or air pockets because the cabbage wasn’t packed tightly enough. | It’s perfectly safe to eat—in fact some people like it better. |
| Slimy kraut, maybe with a thick viscous brine | This can occur when the fermentation temperature was too high or there was not enough salt. | Try letting the kraut ferment longer, and the viscosity might dissipate. If it doesn’t, throw it out. |
| Dark kraut | This could result from using iodized salt, salting the cabbage unevenly, a fermentation temperature that was too high, or the cabbage not being trimmed or washed properly. This can also happen if you store the kraut at too high a temperature or for too long. | Throw it out. |
| Pink kraut | Yeast is growing on the kraut. It may be caused by too much salt (in which yeast thrive), an uneven distribution of salt, or kraut that was improperly weighted or covered. | Throw it out. |
Many recipes in this book use Classic Kraut, but you can also think of it as a basic ingredient, as you would lemon juice or vinegar—a tart, acidic, health-giving alternative with its own unique flavor. So when you read a recipe that calls for vinegar (rice wine, sherry, champagne, balsamic) or lemon, consider Classic Kraut and its brine as an alternative or addition.
Classic Kraut is tangy and crunchy, but with a neutral flavor—even people who say they don’t like sauerkraut like it. It’s tasty on any kind of sausage, hot dog, or burger, and adds zing to grilled veggies and tofu. Or blend it, for example, with fresh dill and sour cream and serve it over grilled fish.
HERE ARE SOME OF OUR FAVORITE RECIPES TO GET YOU STARTED:
KRAUT WON’T MAKE YOU SICK
If you’re concerned that someone might get sick from the kraut you make, you can stop worrying. Fred Breidt, a microbiologist who specializes in vegetable fermentation at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), doesn’t know of a single documented case of food-borne illness from fermented vegetables. “Risky isn’t a word I would use to describe vegetable fermentation,” he shared with Sandor Ellix Katz. “It’s one of the oldest and safest technologies we have.” The FDA apparently agrees, because it has rated fermented foods as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS).
Fermentation protects against harmful bacteria in two ways. During the first few days, when the lactic acid bacteria are beginning to proliferate, the concentration of salt prevents any harmful bacteria present on fresh produce from growing. Then, as the lactic acid bacteria multiply, they break down the starches and sugars in the food, releasing increasing amounts of lactic acid. This creates an acidic environment that inhibits the growth of harmful bacteria but nourishes lactic acid bacteria, so they multiply vigorously and simply crowd out the pathogens.
