How to make your first sauerkraut (and keep it crunchy in summer)

HOME MADE. MADE EASY. Sauerkraut is the friendliest first ferment there is. Two ingredients, a jar and a bit of patience give you a tangy, crunchy, living side that lifts a boerie roll, a braai plate or a simple toasted sarmie. This guide walks you through your first jar step by step, with tips for keeping it crisp when the summer heat kicks in.

What you need

• 1 medium green or red cabbage (roughly 1 kg)
• Non-iodised salt, about 2% of the cabbage weight (20 g salt for 1 kg cabbage)
• A clean 1 litre jar with a lid that lets gas out, plus a weight to keep everything under the brine. Our Vegetable Fermentation Kit includes the glass vessel, fermentation lid, glass weight and fermentation salt in one box.
• Optional: caraway seeds, grated carrot, garlic, chilli or a little ginger

Step 1: Slice and salt

Remove one or two outer leaves and set them aside. Quarter the cabbage, cut out the core and slice it thinly. Weigh the sliced cabbage and work out 2% of that weight in salt. Toss the salt through the cabbage in a large bowl.

Step 2: Massage or pound until it is wet

Squeeze and scrunch the cabbage with clean hands for 5 to 10 minutes. It will soften and release its own juice; that juice is your brine. A Wooden Kraut Pounder makes this quicker and saves your wrists, especially with bigger batches.

Step 3: Pack it tight

Pack the cabbage into the jar a handful at a time, pressing down firmly so the brine rises above it. Leave about 3 to 4 cm of space at the top. Fold one of the saved outer leaves over the surface to hold small shreds down.

Step 4: Weigh it down

This is the one rule that matters most: everything stays under the brine. Anything poking up into the air is where mould starts. Set a glass fermentation weight on top. If there is not enough brine to cover, top up with a little brine made from 1 cup water and 1 teaspoon salt.

Step 5: Close it up and wait

Fit a lid that lets fermentation gas escape without letting air in, such as the kit lid or a fermentation airlock with bung. Put the jar on a plate (it can bubble over in the first few days) somewhere out of direct sun.

Start tasting from about day 5 with a clean fork. Most people love it somewhere between one and three weeks. When it tastes right to you, swap to a normal lid and move it to the fridge, which slows fermentation right down.

Keeping it crunchy in summer

Warm kitchens speed fermentation up, and kraut that ferments too fast can go soft. A few easy fixes:

• Find the coolest spot in the house, like a pantry floor or an inside cupboard, away from the stove and sunny windows. Around 18 to 22 °C is ideal.
• Stick a temperature strip on the jar so you can see how warm it really is.
• In a heatwave, taste earlier (from day 3) and refrigerate sooner.
• Do not cut back on salt. It is what keeps the texture firm and the ferment safe.

What is normal and what is not

• Bubbles, cloudy brine and a sour smell: all normal. That is the good bacteria at work.
• A thin white film on the surface: usually kahm yeast. It is harmless but can affect flavour; skim it off and make sure everything is under the brine.
• Fuzzy mould in blue, green, black or pink, or a rotten smell: throw it out and start again. Next time, check that the cabbage stays fully submerged.
• Brine level dropped: press the weight down or top up with salt brine.

Going bigger

Once your first jar disappears (it will), a 3 litre fermenting crockpot lets you make a family-sized batch in one go. Ready to branch out? Try our kimchi recipe, and if you are using wooden tools, read how to care for your wooden fermenting equipment.

New to fermenting altogether? Start with The Ultimate Guide to Fermentation for Beginners.

Happy fermenting — enjoy the crunch!

HOME MADE. MADE EASY.