Saukraut

i just yesterday made a batch of saukraut, in a 5 gallon food-grade plastic container (used to ferment alcohol) using 5 green cabbages and sea salt. i dont know wether its gonna work though, there are so many ways of making it and ferment times. im going to leave the batch at room temperature (66F by my thermometer) for 1 week and then take a look at it. i dont know wether the tap water here in the uk is suitable for making saukraut either, there are lots of different variables i think this might be a long process of trial and error. brett, what do your store bought fermented vegetables taste like? sour? ive havent eaten it before, so ive got no idea what it should look/taste like :)


I hope the water doesn't contain too much clorid.
Do they really not sell any starter culture or ready-made sauerkraut in healthfood shops or Waitrose?
I used to live in England. Coming from a much smaller country, i always had the impression everything could be bought in England!

If the salt is not well enough mixed with the water, or there is not enough salt, a negative bacteria such as C. Eureus (sp?) might grow. You will feel a bit sickish if you eat it, but it is not really dangerous. You can also mix the water with some vinegar to make the cabbagemix start out sour, and only bacteria that tolerate sourness will grow.

Hope it turns out succesful! My four first batches were unsuccesful, but since then I hardly ever make it unsuccesful.


hi, im a little bit worried about the chloride, i think ill use a bottled water from now on, just to be on the safe side. there are yoghurt starter cultures available here, but as im aware no vegetable cultures, ill have to do some more research on that because that sounds ideal. as this is my first batch, i think ive got alot wrong, such as not measuring the exact amount of salt i used.


If you boil the water, a lot of the cloride will disappear.
I mix starter and salt with the water before adding it to the cabbage. And a weight is important too. I use a glass filled with water.

I have been really lazy and had to buy a bought sauerkraut, but it has less effect than my homemade one. Need to pull myself together!


Hey, I have tried three different brands of saurkraut and each one is a little different. Have you ever had saurkraut from a grocery store? Fermented kraut does taste similar to the mass produced stuff. Kind of hard to describe. One brand I buy tastes a little bit like fermented apples. I think you will be able to tell if it's gone bad.


yeah ive had some of the supermarket saukraut, but its in whitewine vinegar, i dont think its as 'alive', although i really dont know to be honest. i think i might have screwed this batch up, it smells a bit funny lol