Sauerkraut Pictures!

Apologies for the absence and intermittent posting. Here are some pictures from a recent run of sauerkraut:

Raw cabbage - juicing up

The good stuff

 Shredded cabbage, beets, and carrots in this batch, maybe a turnip as well. Trying to keep it simple, but there are so many good vegetables to use out there!

Same batch in a Mason jar being tamped down

 As you can see from the photo I got myself a tamping tool. The one I got is actually meant for tamping down the middle of a delicate little pastry tart, but I think my employment of it is better. This is good not only when you're packing a jar but also when you have your initial pile of freshly shredded cabbage. Give it a full salting in a bowl and then set to work with the tamper. It's easier than just punching your knuckles down into the cabbage and it will get more juice coming out faster.

Finished product from an earlier batch - spicy ginger-carrot kraut

This ginger-carrot was really good. Crunchy, spicy, sweet, and sour at once. It makes me want to get back to making simple, small batches.

Sauerkraut Hard Cider

As will happen in fermenting at home, I seem to have accidentally stumbled on a new way to make hard cider - with leftover sauerkraut juice.

I had just finished eating a batch of sauerkraut - laced with beets in my usual style - and there was leftover juice in the jar. Kraut juice is a precious thing, and not to be wasted. I added some cider, towards the end of making a drink out of the whole thing. The cider would hopefully mellow the somewhat harsh kraut juice. So I poured cider into the crock, then this happened:

Fermentation bubbles in the crock

It bubbled up! Alcohol was being created by the sauerkraut bacteria. I'm not sure why I didn't expect this, but it hadn't crossed my mind at all that the kraut organisms would cross over to winemaking activities. Naturally, I became curious and added more cider - topped it up to about a half gallon. Then let the bacteria do their work. It has since gone into an airlocked jug.

Initial tasters were not excited with the results! A round of trials at Thanksgiving yielded no one clamoring for more kraut cider. Too much saltiness and too much sauerkraut smell. I'm standing by my little kraut bacteria, and I have a feeling it will get better. I racked it once into a clean jug, with lots of dead yeast cells left behind. Those go into my special wine dregs container in the fridge. Meanwhile, the cider continues to mellow and hopefully improve with time. Here's to more happy accidents!

Lactobacillus

The kraut. With carrots and cabbage and beets for color. The real magic is in the bacteria. Lactobacillus! Creating lactic acid and thus inhibiting the growth of harmful bacteria. It also provides the tangy, alive flavor I've come to love. Made in the home, consumed there, not for sale.