May 21, 20214 min read

The Why and How of Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut is a fermented cabbage food that is known for its gut supportive qualities. Not all sauerkraut is created equal though so but making your own you can guarantee that yours is full of live microbes to support your microbiome.

Cabbage is a fabulous food for your tummy regardless of the fermenting. Cabbage is high in L-glutamine, an amino acid that is known for its gut healing properties. Glutamine helps maintain the tight junctions between your intestinal epithelial cells and reduces intestinal permeability (also known as leaky gut). Glutamine is also used by the body to produce our master antioxidant, glutathione. Our bodies make a certain amount of glutathione each day but we need more in times of stress, anxiety or heavy training. Since our bodies cannot always keep up with demand is it a good idea to consume foods that are a good source of glutamine. Raw cabbage is a better source than cooked and is delicious shredded into salads, added to buddha bowls or as a topping on soups and stews. To add even more bang for your buck why not ferment it and support a healthy microbiome as well?

The more we are learning about the microbiome the more we understand its importance for physical and mental health. Eating fermented foods on a regular basis is a great way to support your microbiome and making your own is a cheap and easy way to have them on hand. Making your own is also a great way to ensure the level of fermentation is to your liking (and to your gut’s liking).

When you start to introduce fermented foods you may get a bit of back talk from your gut. It is best to go slow with these introductions and stick with little and often rather than eating a bowlful of sauerkraut for lunch. Once your belly gets accustomed to fermented foods you can be more liberal but all you need is a little each day to support a healthy microbiome.

Sauerkraut

1 cabbage, preferably organic (red cabbage is higher in glutamine and other beneficial phytonutrients)
Salt (20-30g per kg of cabbage)

That’s it!

Directions:

Sterilise a jar large enough to fit your cabbage in once it is cut up.
Remove the outer leaves of your cabbage and set them aside for later.
Remove the core and shred the cabbage to the thickness of your preference, a thicker cut will mean a crunchier sauerkraut. I prefer mine very thinly sliced and use a mandolin to create uniformity.
Weigh your cabbage and add salt to taste.
Not for the fun part! Massage your cabbage mixing the salt thoroughly throughout. The massaging and the salt should start to draw water from the leaves — this is what you want. You can also pound the cabbage using a wooden pounder but I love getting my hands in there.
Put your massaged cabbage into your sterilised jar, pushing it down into it so there are no air bubbles and all of the cabbage is completely covered by liquid.
Push your outer cabbage leaves, that you set aside earlier, onto the top to hold everything down into the liquid. It is very important that all of the cabbage stays under the brine so that it will not rot. There is enough salt in the brine to ensure mould and other unwanted microbes don’t grow as long as everything remains covered.

That's it! Put your jar somewhere dark and warm for a few weeks. Do not tighten the lid on the jar as the fermentation process with cause gas to be made and it will need to breath, a fermentation cork is great but not necessary, I use a kilner jar with a hinged glass lid and just rest it closed without clipping it and it works great.

When your sauerkraut is ready to your liking you can decant it into smaller sterilised jars, seal them up and pop them in the fridge or keep it in the jar you used to make it. The refrigeration process stops further fermentation but preserves the microbes that are already in there. Just make sure you transfer liquid to each of your small jars too so the cabbage is still submerged.

Your sauerkraut will keep in the fridge for a long time -- 6 months to a year. You will know if it has gone off as the smell will keep you from wanting to eat it!

Perfected the Process?

Once you are confident with your sauerkraut skills why not have a go at adding additional ingredients to create new flavours?

Add any of the following to a batch: