How to Make Lacto Fermented Sauerkraut

Homemade Lacto Fermented Sauerkraut is tangy and delicious; full of gut healthy probiotics that help restore our bodies natural gut microbiome.

Fermented vegetables are such an inexpensive way to incorporated natural probiotics into your every day meals that can help keep you and your family healthier without having to spend money on pills that are questionable whether they are actually strong enough.

Why make Fermented Foods?

The process of fermenting foods is not a new process. It is an age old process once used to enhance flavors, prolong shelf life, and preserve foods during a time where refrigeration had not yet been invented. Interestingly, Fermentation for food preservation is still used in remote areas where refrigeration is still not available.

However, it was not known, at that time, that the process of fermenting foods held incredible benefits to restore our bodies to good health. But, that is what fermented foods have the capability of doing.

The bacteria doing the fermenting makes nutrients more available. It can synthesizes vitamins and minerals, lower blood pressure, has anti-microbial, antioxidant, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-diabetic qualities.

The benefits of fermented foods goes on and on and the fact that we now have scientific proof that these foods aid in healthier lives should be enough to make all of us seek out recipes for these raw food fermentations.

How to serve Sauerkraut

• Enjoy this probiotic rich food as a side on any dinner or lunch plate.
• Top your next cold cut with Sauerkraut to bring it up a notch.
• We have enjoyed Fermented Sauerkraut on burgers to add a bit of tang.
• Mostly I love to eat it as a healthy snack in between meals

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Tools needed for Lacto Fermenting Sauerkraut

Large Mason Jar, I use the half gallon jars by ball

Fermentation kit with lids and weights, like this kit

Large bowl

Knife

Cutting Board

Measuring Spoon and Cups

Ingredients for Lacto Fermented Sauerkraut

• 2 Whole heads of Cabbage
• Real Salt, (do not use table salt, or iodized salt)
• distilled water, if necessary to cover the cabbage

Tips and Notes

• It is important to use an adequate amount of salt but not too much. The right amount of salt will inhibit the growth of molds, and bad bacterias. Too much salt can kill the good bacteria.
• We are using the Dry salt Method by adding salt to the vegetable itself instead of creating a brine then pouring that over the vegetable. For this method, you will need 1 Tablespoon sea salt per 680 grams of vegetable, cabbage in this case.
• It is important for the cabbage to stay submerged under the brine to prevent mold growth or spoilage.
• Use a large plate or casserole dish to put your jars of fermenting sauerkraut in. The brine tends to bubble over during fermentation and this saves you from a mess all over your counter

How to make Lacto Fermented Sauerkraut

Begin by pealing the outer layers off of your heads of cabbage. Reserve these leaves for later, we will use them at the end.

Slice your cabbage into fourths.

Shred your cabbage. I prefer to sliver my cabbage into about 2 to 3 inch slices that are only 1/4 of an inch in thickness, similar to how you would slice cabbage for slaw.

Add slivered cabbage to a very large bowl.

Weigh your Cabbage in grams and divide by 680. That will give you a good idea of approximately how many tablespoons or real sea salt you will need.

Sprinkle the salt over your cabbage and mix with your hands.

Knead to release water

Once the sea salt is evenly distributed throughout your cabbage, its now time to kneed your cabbage.

Kneed your cabbage by grabbing big handfuls of it and squeezing it between your fingers. Repeat until the cabbage softens and releases its own liquids.

Pack your Sauerkraut

Lastly pack the cabbage into a large mason jar, pushing down each time you add another handful of cabbage to continue releasing the juices. These juices are your brine.

Fill the jar just to the neck and pack it down once more. The sauerkraut should be covered with its own juices.

Take one of the cabbage leaves that we set aside and fold it to a size just bigger than the jar.

Push the cabbage leaf into the jar and down on the shredded cabbage. This will help the finer pieces of cabbage stay submerged below the brine. Add your fermentation weight to the top.

If the cabbage leaves are not submerged under the brine, use a 3% brine solution with distilled water to top the sauerkraut off.

Place your fermentation lid on top and secure the mason jar band on it. Place jars in your casserole dish.

Fermentation is complete anywhere from 5-7 days. It just depends on how sour you like it.

Enjoy!

Other Fermented Recipes from our kitchen

Probiotic Honey Fermented Garlic

Easy Sourdough Stater

Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar from Scraps