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- We now make homemade bone broth several times a week and enjoy at least one cup every single day. Bone broth is arguably one of the best healing foods we’ve since made a staple in our lives and it’s definitely one of our faves!
- We started boosting our smoothies, soups, and even salad dressings with healing medicinal mushrooms like lion’s mane and reishi.
- We began to include fermented foods like kombucha and sauerkraut with our meals every day. We never had fermented foods until about three years ago.
Fermented foods play an important role in our healing diet because they are loaded with probiotics: good bacteria that help promote and maintain good gut health. The bacteria in your gut plays a role in digestion, nutrient absorption, and your immune system. By consuming a variety of naturally fermented foods, you can help to diversify the population of good bacteria found in your gut.
One of our favourite probiotic-rich foods? Sauerkraut.
Sauerkraut is the result of lacto-fermentation, a fermenting process that occurs in the presence of the bacteria known as Lactobacillus. Strains of Lactobacillus are found on the surface of all plants and this bacteria converts the plant sugars into lactic acid, a natural preservative – this is why fermentation is one of the oldest preservation methods! Not only is sauerkraut preserved naturally without the need for traditional heat canning, it is also packed with tons of healthy bacteria. Millions or even trillions of beneficial bacteria can be present in a jar of homemade sauerkraut.
In addition to being a probiotic powerhouse, sauerkraut is also loaded with vitamin C. If you’re sick or feel a cold coming on, add an extra tablespoon or two of this delicious fermented food to your dinner plate to help combat those unwanted germs.
So, how do you make sauerkraut?
It’s actually pretty darn easy. And in kind of a nerdy way, we find it pretty fascinating. The transformation that occurs after combining just two simple ingredients (cabbage and salt) is incredible.
Finely-shredded cabbage is massaged with salt to release the water in the cabbage. This salty water creates the brine that is used to ferment the cabbage (sauerkraut is a “self-brining” ferment). The cabbage is then packed into glass jars or a fermenting crock and submerged under the brine, creating the perfect environment for fermentation to take place.
How much salt do you need?
We have the best success using a 2% brine to make our homemade sauerkraut. We like to use a kitchen scale to determine how much salt is needed based on the weight of the cabbage we’re working with. For example, when creating this post, the shredded cabbage weighed 1500g, so we used 30g of pink Himalayan sea salt to create a 2% brine (1500 x 0.02=30).
How long does the cabbage need to ferment for?
It varies.
For optimal bacteria development in your homemade ‘kraut, three weeks is best and this is what we aim for. There are various strains of bacteria present when making sauerkraut and they flourish during different stages of fermentation. After about 20 days, the different types of bacteria have played an important role in your magical jar of sauerkraut. When you open the jar, you’ll see the magic we’re talking about!
The length of time you ferment the cabbage also impacts the flavour of the sauerkraut. The shortest we’ve fermented the cabbage was five days but the resulting flavour was quite pungent, with almost a mustardy taste. We find that the longer the ‘kraut is able to ferment, the more mild the flavour tends to be. Feel free to test different sauerkraut batches at varying lengths of fermenting to determine which flavour you like best.
Is there special equipment required?
- Electronic kitchen scale – we like to be precise when we’re making our sauerkraut. It can be very frustrating to spend time and money making this amazing food only to have it spoil because the brine wasn’t just right. We always weigh both the cabbage and the salt.
- Fermenting weights – we bought these glass fermenting weights to help ensure that the cabbage would stay below the brine. They’re meant for small batch mason jar fermenting, but we also use them when we ferment batches in larger jars.
- Fido jar – Because we enjoy our homemade ‘kraut so much, we’ve started making it in larger quantities. We pack the cabbage into a 3L Fido jar along with three or four fermenting weights. If you are doing smaller scale fermenting, mason jars work great! For small batches we use wide mouth 700ml jars with one fermenting weight.
If you’re not ready to make your own sauerkraut at home but want to take advantage of the health benefits it offers, you can buy traditionally fermented ‘kraut at most grocery stores. Look for it in the refrigerator section and be sure the ingredient list does not include vinegar – this will mean it’s not “lacto-fermented” and there will be no probiotics present. Also be sure the sauerkraut hasn’t been heat processed to preserve it (such as canning) as heat would have killed any beneficial bacteria.
Do you consume fermented foods regularly? What’s your favourite fermented food or beverage?
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Tina is successfully optimizing health and healing illness (and helping others do the same) with the help of her husband, Curt. Read Curt & Tina’s inspiring story, “From on our heels to On Our Heals”. Feel free to send them a message.