Fermentation 101 & Garden Beet Sauerkraut
This post contains affiliate links.
If you follow along our homestead journey over on Instagram you’ve probably picked up the theme this week is fermentation. It didn’t happen on purpose, I just finally purchased the book Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz and haven’t been able to contain myself!
Fermentation is a natural transformation that happens in our foods caused by wild microorganisms under ideal conditions.
Our society is somehow simultaneously obsessed with antibacterial everything and kombucha. One thing that kills microorganisms and another that is made by them & contains a whole lot of them.
Bacteria and other microorganisms lives in our digestive tracts and helps break down food so that our bodies can digest and absorb its nutrients. Our microbiomes help us to regulate our immune responses among many other physiological benefits. Microorganisms are what balance our soils and keep them fertile. Our individual biological microbiomes (collection of microorganisms living in our “guts”) is influenced by many factors, such as diet and genetics, but also our physical environment and interaction with plants and soil (you can read more about this here).
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the biological complexities of fermentation but as long as we create or support the ideal conditions, nature handles the rest!
The transformation that occurs during the fermentation of our food and drink takes time.
I wonder if what we are really caught up in is trying to manipulate time as opposed to trying to understand and master the science of things.
I have been fighting for my time during this season of life. As a mom I am simultaneously fighting for more and more time with my daughter and more time to myself. As an employee I am fighting my passions against my paycheck. As someone who is trying to step outside of self-doubt and fear, I am fighting for the side hustle (Ahem, this. Thank you for being here!).
I have been more intentional about slowing down, about preaching a slow life but also finding ways to actually live it and feel it. I squeeze a lot into a day and I am constantly finding myself in a multi-tasking knot of half-done tasks pulling me in different directions. The more I try to get out of this situation, the more the tasks pull and the tighter the knot becomes. So I have been slowing down. Doing one thing in the kitchen instead of 5. Getting to a certain checkpoint with a task before allowing myself to start another. And you know what? I’ve found a new reverence for these tasks.
I found reverence for my aching wrist as I spent 30 minutes massaging my cabbage and beets to draw out moisture. I found reverence for the three small homegrown beets as I grated them, where I was once disappointed in them.
Fermentation takes time. It takes intention. It takes attention. It creates reverence.
I’m sharing my variation on a simple sauerkraut recipe below. But before we get into that, let’s talk about the equipment you need! Like any trade, you can get all sorts of fancy equipment but the beauty of fermentation is that you don’t need any of that! Traditionally fermentation took place in crocks or even in holes buried in the ground. For sauerkraut you need a large glass jar - the one pictured is 1/2 gallon but you could use two quart jars. If you use a wide mouth jar you can use a smaller jar as your weight instead of running out and purchasing fermentation weights. The weights are essential for preventing the growth of “bad” bacterias that will spoil your ferment. If your food rises above the liquid it is susceptible to the formation of bad bacteria! I’ve put together a collection of the basics here.
Garden Beet Sauerkraut
prep time: 30 minutes
total time: 3 days to 1 month
yield: ~1 quart
Ingredients:
- 1 head of cabbage
- 1/4 cup grated beets, about 2-3 depending on size
- 1 tablespoon of salt
- 4 cloves of garlic, optional, or adjust quantity to taste
Instructions:
- Wash all of your veggies and equipment!
- Use a coarse cheese grater to grate the beets into a bowl. You can leave the skin on as long as you've washed them! Set aside one whole cabbage leaf to use later. Use a knife to shred or finely chop the cabbage. Mince the garlic or use a press. Combine all of these ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well & add the salt.
- Use youre hands to massage and massage and massage. You can grab something like a big wooden spoon and beat the mixture as well. You want to break down cell walls and draw out the moisture in the veggies. Most fermentation of veggies happens with the addition of water or other liquid , but for sauerkraut you use the liquid in the vegetable itself!
- Once you can squeeze liquid out of the cabbage mixture it is time to jar it up. Pack it tightly into the cleaned and sanitized jar. Take that whole cabbage leaf and put it on top, as a cover or lid of sorts. This will help you to keep the shredded mixture below the liquid. Add a weight or small jar that fits in as added assurance that you'll keep the shredded mixture below the liquid.
5.Cover your jar with a clean towel and secure it with a rubber band. This will allow airflow but keep bugs out! Store this somewhere out of direct sunlight, but somewhere you will see it. Check it every couple of days. Depending on your taste preferences it could be ready in a day (milder and crunchy) or a month (stronger fermentation/funk and less crunchy). Once your sauerkraut has fermented to your liking, place a tight fitting lid on it and refrigerate!
The most beautiful sauerkraut, dyed red by the addition of grated beets from the garden!
