SAUERKRAUT

All About Cabbage

Cabbage has been fermented in many areas of the world. Cabbage in all of its forms has always been popular in Europe and we find cabbage soup, stuffed cabbage with meat and rice, or sauerkraut with meat and potatoes. It tastes great when served with a grilled sausage and you can find street carts that serve hotdogs with sauerkraut in the USA as well. Early German immigrants introduced cabbage and traditional sauerkraut recipes into the United States. As a result German soldiers and people of German descent were often referred to as "krauts." Cabbage belongs to the food family traditionally known as cruciferous vegetables and is related to kale, broccoli, collards and Brussel sprouts.

There are five major cabbage varieties:

1. Western cabbage white, scientific name: Brassica oleracea (Capitata Group), this variety is used for making German or Eastern European sauerkraut. Western white cabbage is also called green cabbage or Dutch White. The color of green cabbage ranges from pale to dark green. Both green and red cabbage have smooth-textured leaves. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact origin of the headed cabbage that we know today, but we know that the cultivation of cabbage spread across northern Europe into Germany, Poland and Russia, where it became a very popular vegetable.

2. Western cabbage red, scientific name: Brassica oleracea (Capitata Group), has leaves that are either crimson or purple with white veins running through it. Red cabbage tastes just like green cabbage, so your choice between them depends largely on which color you prefer. The product of red cabbage fermentation is known as red kraut or blue kraut after preparation. Keep in mind that red cabbage tends to bleed and discolor surrounding foods. Red cabbage is sweeter and contains more nutrients than other cabbage types. Red and green cabbage have a stronger flavor and crunchy texture as compared to Savoy and napa cabbages.

3. Savoy cabbage, scientific name: Brassica oleracea (Capitata Group), a flavorful crinkled leaf cabbage, is one of the best varieties for cooking. Its head consists of loose leaves, which vary in colour from dark green to light green containing lacy patterned veins. It goes well with red wine, apples, spices, horseradish and meat. Savoy cabbage is like ordinary cabbage, but with a milder flavor. The leaves of Savoy cabbage are more ruffled and yellowish-green in colour.A variety of the savoy cabbage is the January King Cabbage. The January King was a favorite variety in Victorian times and is still considered in England to be the finest cabbage of them all. January King is not quite a savoy, and not quite as smooth as Western cabbage; not quite red and not quite green; it combines the most attractive features of all those cabbages. This is a hardy winter cabbage, not even severe frost seems to bother it. The heads are crisp and crunchy and with good flavor, the leaf is a conifer-blue colour.

4. Chinese cabbage, has a milder flavor, more delicate texture and contains more water. This cabbage comes in two distinct varieties, both related to the Western cabbage:

A. Chinese cabbage, (pe-tsai), scientific name: Brassica rapa (Pekinensis Group), also known as Napa cabbage, have broad green leaves with white petioles, tightly wrapped in a cylindrical formation and usually forming a compact head. Napa cabbage is lighter in color than bok choy, which is also sometimes called Chinese cabbage. Napa cabbage is widely used in China, Japan, and Korea and is also readily found in many North American, European and Australian cities. The flavor of napa cabbage is described as delicate compared to bok choy or Western cabbage, and it can be used in stir-fry with other ingredients.

B. Chinese bok choy cabbage, (pak-choi), scientific name: Brassisa rapa (Chinensis Group), Chinensis varieties do not form heads; instead, they have smooth, dark green leaf blades forming a cluster reminiscent of mustard or celery. Bok-choy has a mild flavor and a higher concentration of vitamin A. Both Chinese cabbage varieties are great to use in salads.

Sturdy, abundant, and inexpensive to grow, cabbage is a dietary staple widely cultivated all over the world. It stores so well that it is available throughout the year. However, it is at its best during the late fall and winter months when it is in season. Cabbage is a winter vegetable and the peak season for most cabbages runs from November through April. Fresh whole cabbage will keep in the refrigerator for one to six weeks depending on the type and variety. Hard green, white or red cabbages will keep the longest while the more delicate Savoy and Chinese varieties should be used more quickly. Fermented cabbage will easily last 6 months when kept in a cool room. The inner leaves of the head cabbage are protected from the sunlight by the surrounding leaves and they are lighter in colour. Packaged freshly shredded cabbage and carrots are available in every supermarket and need no introduction, this is a coleslaw salad. The recipe can be elaborated on and shredded red and green cabbage can be combined with fresh lemon juice, olive oil, turmeric, cumin, coriander, and black pepper to make coleslaw in Indian style.

Cabbage is the physician of the poor. Dr. Blanc, 1881

Cabbage is one of the best vegetables there is. It is credited with providing the following benefits:

Cholesterol reduction, raw, fermented or steamed cabbage only.

Better functioning of digestive tract.

Rich supply of vitamins and minerals.

In the past fresh and fermented cabbage were used for medicinal purposes. Fresh cabbage leaves were applied externally to wounds and infections and sauerkraut and sauerkraut juice were taken internally. It was a well known fact that drinking sauerkraut juice was an effective remedy to remove all kinds of worms (roundworms, tapeworms and others) from the system for good. Cabbage and sauerkraut are rediscovered again and there is an abundance of information on the Internet about the great benefits of a diet that includes this vegetable.

Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut is the German word for fermented, salted, shredded cabbage. In Poland it is known as kapusta kiszona, in Ukraine it is called kysla kapusta and in Russian kyslya kapusta. The sauerkraut manufacturing process is very simple and requires only salt, cabbage and time. The fermenting temperature will affect the quality of the product. In addition to salt other ingredients are sometimes added, for example apples, juniper berries or caraway seeds. In Asian countries such as China, Japan and Korea making fermented cabbage products is an art in itself. There, fermented cabbage is mixed with other vegetables, as well as with pickled shrimp and oysters.

Hot peppers are always added, a procedure that is usually not practiced in Europe. Sauerkraut was the most important vegetable in the Roman Empire and was thought to have medicinal values. Originally it was made by soaking cabbage leaves in vinegar or sour wine. In medieval times in Germany and Poland cabbage was fermented with salt, seasonings and berries. Sauerkraut made with quartered apples or sliced apples turns out particularly nice. Regardless of how it is made or called, all fermented cabbages share one factor together: they are very healthy. Sauerkraut is rich in vitamin C, an important fact that was known in the past. Barrels of sauerkraut were kept on ships to provide a supply of vitamin C and to prevent a nasty disease known as scurvy. Scurvy infected gums which resulted in a loss of teeth and eventual death. Between 1500 and 1800, it has been estimated that scurvy killed at least two million sailors. According to Jonathan Lamb, "In 1499, Vasco da Gama lost 116 of his crew of 170; In 1520, Magellan lost 208 out of 230; all mainly to scurvy." It has been recorded that when Captain Cook secured barrels with sauerkraut for his voyages, he did not lose one sailor to the disease. However, it was not until 1747 that James Lind formally proved that scurvy could be treated and prevented by supplementing the diet with citrus fruit such as limes or lemons.

In older times in Europe young children were walking barefoot on sauerkraut in huge oak barrels and that helped to release more juice. This should not come as a surprise because wine was made the same way. In large wooden casks, the children and young ladies were dancing on wine grapes in order to release juice from the grapes.

Fermented sauerkraut is considered a probiotic, a natural ingredient that is beneficial to one's health. Probiotics contain live microorganisms thought to be healthy for the host organism. Lactic acid bacteria are present in our intestines and are responsible for digesting food. They break down food by fermentation. Homemade sauerkraut is loaded with lactic acid bacteria, so is yogurt, which is another probiotic. A fermented cabbage contains living bacteria from the Lactobacillus family, the same bacteria are present in our digestive tract. Whenever we ingest sauerkraut we supply an additional army of bacteria which lends a helping hand to bacteria which are already present in our stomach.

Now our body gets a little break and can work less hard. Take for example a person that was very sick and accepted a heavy dose of antibiotics, or a person that has been under chemotherapy treatment. Those treatments kill all kinds of bacteria in our body, both the bad and the good ones. In such a case eating sauerkraut will speed up the rebuilding of the bacterial flora that was damaged by the medical treatments. In many German households a child had to eat sauerkraut on a weekly basis as it "was good for him."

A very important distinction must be made here, between a naturally fermented cabbage made at home and its commercially produced version. Only fermented and uncooked sauerkraut exhibits those beneficial characteristics. Cans of commercially manufactured sauerkraut are usually pasteurized (heat treated) in order to increase storage life. This process kills Lactobacillus beneficial bacteria and destroys some of the vitamin C, therefore such a product does not offer the same health benefits as homemade sauerkraut. The product becomes a sauerkraut flavored cabbage, but cannot be considered the probiotic anymore. What is left is just a can of fermented cabbage. Much of the commercial sauerkraut cabbage is not even fermented but only soaked in salt and vinegar to mimic the flavor of traditional sauerkraut.

Cabbage in all of its forms was and still is very popular in Europe and we find cabbage soup, stuffed cabbage with meat and rice or sauerkraut with meat and potatoes. It tastes great when served with a grilled sausage and you can find street carts that serve hotdogs with sauerkraut in the USA as well. It was the most important vegetable in the Roman Empire and was thought to have medicinal values. Originally it was made by soaking cabbage leaves in vinegar or sour wine. In medieval times in Germany and Poland cabbage was fermented with salt, seasonings and berries. Sauerkraut made with quartered apples or sliced apples turns out particularly nice. Today most sauerkraut is made with salt only and the manufacturing process is very simple.

Sauerkraut Fermentation

Sauerkraut fermentation requires almost no work on the part of the operator. Cabbage contains enough lactic acid bacteria in order to ferment and produce sauerkraut with salt alone. In order to obtain product of the highest quality all those bacteria strains must ferment in a certain sequence. This happens naturally as long as sauerkraut is fermented around 65° F (18° C).

Leuconostoc mesenteroides - they are the smallest and start the fermentation first producing around 0.25 to 0.3% lactic acid. They are heterofermenters, this means that they produce different compounds such as lactic acid, acetic acid (vinegar), ethyl alcohol, carbon dioxide (soda gas) and mannitol. The last one is a bitter flavored compound which is metabolized later by Lactobacillus plantarum. All those acids, in combination with alcohol from aromatic esters, contribute to the characteristic flavor of the high quality sauerkraut. If the temperature is higher than 72° F (22° C) they might not grow and that would be detrimental to the flavor of sauerkraut. In about 2 days Leuconostoc mesenteroides will produce 0.3% lactic acid and this increased acidity will restrict its growth. Nevertheless, the enzymes it produced will continue to develop flavor.

Lactobacillus plantarum - this strain takes over the production of lactic acid from Leuconostoc mesenteroides and continues fermenting until an acidity level of 1.5 to 2% is achieved. L. plantarum will ferment at temperatures higher than 72° F (22° C) and it can grow at higher acidity levels. It will ferment at lower temperatures as well, albeit at much slower rate. Lactobacillus plantarum is the most popular lactic acid bacteria strain and it ferments sauerkraut, pickles, cheese and even meat. This bacteria is a homofermenter what means that it produces one compound only. It consumes sugar and produces lactic acid which imparts acidic taste to fermented food. At the end of this stage sauerkraut has an acceptable quality and can be served or canned. If there is enough sugar left, the fermentation will continue until all sugar supply is exhausted.

Lactobacillus pentoaceticus ( L.brevis) - continue fermenting until an acidity level of 2.5 - 3% is obtained. As there is no more sugar left in the cabbage the fermentation comes to the end.

Any change to the above cycles of lactic acid production will alter the taste and quality of sauerkraut. As long as the proper amount of salt is added and the recommended temperatures are observed, the three bacteria strains will ferment cabbage in the proper sequence.

Effect of Fermentation Temperature

The best quality sauerkraut is produced at 65-72° F (18-22° C) temperatures. Temperatures 45.5° F (7.5° C) to 65° F (18° C) favor the growth and metabolism of L.mesenteroides. Temperatures higher than 72° F (22° C) favor the growth of Lactobacillus species. Generally, lower temperatures produce higher quality sauerkraut, although at 45.5° F (7.5° C) bacteria are growing so slow that the cabbage might need 6 months to complete fermentation. Higher temperatures produce sauerkraut in 7-10 days but of the lesser quality. This creates such a fast fermentation that some types of lactic acid bacteria don't grow at all and less reaction take place inside what results in a less complex flavor.

Below 45.5° F (7.5° C) fermentation time is up to 6 months.

At 65° F (18° C) fermentation time is 20 days.

At 90-96° F (32-36° C) fermentation time is 10 days.

Bacteria Control

Sauerkraut is made by lactic acid bacteria that break sugar into lactic acid, carbon dioxide (CO2, soda gas) and a little amount of alcohol. Because cabbage contains water, sugar and many nutrients it is a perfect media for all types of bacteria to grow, some of them we try to avoid. Heat treatment will surely kill undesirable bacteria, but it also will kill lactic acid bacteria that we need, so this method does not apply here.

pH acidity of fresh cabbage is at around pH 7.0 which is at neutral point of acidity scale. This makes cabbage an ideal food for microorganisms as it contains water, sugar, proteins, minerals and all nutrients.

We control bacterial growth using the following steps:

Washing.

Applying salt.

Elimination of oxygen.

Washing. Cabbage is in a direct contact with soil which is loaded with all types of microorganisms. Most microorganisms are present on outside green leaves which are usually discarded. One gram of fresh cabbage may contain 250,000 bacteria and this number may grow to 1,000,000 during storage. So, the first step is to wash the cabbage well as this action removes plenty of microorganisms. If ingredients such as apples or carrots will be added, thy must be thoroughly washed as well.

Salt. Salt is needed for two reasons:

To remove the cabbage juice and nutrients from each cell and make it available as food to lactic acid bacteria. Bacteria will not eat dry cabbage leaves, however, they will absorb filled with nutrients juice. Bacteria are like sponge, they don’t pick up the dry matter but will suck up anything wet.

To keep other bacteria away. A moderate amount of salt does not bother sauerkraut bacteria (lactic acid), however, other bacteria types find such conditions intolerable.

As lactic acid bacteria start to produce slowly lactic acid, this becomes even worse for other bacteria types, as generally bacteria hate acid. Of course lactic acid bacteria are not bothered by moderate amounts of acid at all. This combination of salt and increasing amount of acid inhibits growth of other bacteria and makes sauerkraut more stable as the fermentation advances

To make high quality sauerkraut salt is applied at 2 – 2.5% in relation to the weight of the sliced cabbage. Decreasing salt levels will create quality problems, going below 1.5% will rot the cabbage. Spoilage bacteria will survive such a low salt level and will take over the process and will spoil the product.

Absence of Oxygen. When container as packed with cabbage all microorganisms start to compete for food. Salt inhibits some of them, but many others need oxygen to survive, for example molds. Eliminating oxygen is accomplished by a few methods:

Packing container hard with shredded cabbage.

Slicing cabbage thinner, this allows to pack more cabbage and disperse more air.

Keeping cabbage submerged in brine (using weights).

Using water channel fermented crocks or air lock glass jars.

Eliminating oxygen preserves vitamin C from oxidizing and losing its strength.

Fermented sauerkraut exhibits pH at around 3.5 and will keep in cool conditions for a very long time, as long as this pH level is maintained.

Tips

Cabbage should contain up to 3.5% sugar. The sweeter raw cabbage is the better sauerkraut will be obtained.

Adding less than 2% salt might produce soft or even slimy sauerkraut. Adding less than 1% will produce sauerkraut that would be soft and unacceptable commercially. Adding more than 3.5% salt might inhibit growth of lactic acid bacteria.

The more lactic acid is produced the more acidic sauerkraut becomes. There is a limit how much lactic acid can be produced. Once the sugar supply is exhausted, lactic acid bacteria stop growing. White scum on the surface of the sauerkraut is due to yeasts and should be removed daily. There is no reason to discard the sauerkraut.

It is possible to use the brine from the previous sauerkraut fermentation as a starter culture for a new production. This is a common method used in production of bread or even salami (back slopping), where a part of fermented product is saved for a new production. In theory at least, it should produce a new batch with the same characteristics as the old one.

If more sugar were added the fermentation will continue longer and more lactic acid will be produced. That would result in increased acidity and very sour cabbage which is not desirable. Eventually the acidity level will be so high that lactic acid bacteria will not survive.

During fermentation glucose (sugar) is converted to about 50% lactic acid, 25% acetic acid and ethyl alcohol, and 25% carbon dioxide.

Keep the fermentation temperature below 80° F (27° C). For best quality sauerktaut maintain fermentation temperature at around 65° F (18° C).

Bubbles are the sign of ongoing fermentation. In a glass jar they can be seen raising to the top.

Fermented Whole Cabbage Heads

Whole or half cabbage heads may be fermented in a large crock. They should be covered with finely shredded cabbage and packed tight. The process is the same as for a regular sauerkraut. The main disadvantage of open containers for making sauerkraut lies in the fact that the top surface of sauerkraut is in contact with air. We may have cabbage leaves on top and the sauerkraut may be submerged in brine, yet molds will find a way to grow on top in time. The only fix was to periodically scoop up the scum from the surface, wash out the leaves, cover and weights, and reinstall everything the way it was. If that was not performed on a regular basis, there was a danger of losing the production. German and Polish fermented crocks elininated the problem of slime build up.

Sauerkraut Juice

Save the fermented sauerkraut juice as this is a wonderful drink. Some claim, it is a great hangover cure. It can be used as an excellent starter culture for the next production. Strain the juice and pour it into dark bottles all the way to the top to eliminate as much air as possible. This juice contains all minerals, vitamins and nutrients that lactic acid producing bacteria need to start a successful fermentation. When making next batch of sauerkraut add a bottle of sauerkraut juice to shredded cabbage. The natural sauerkraut juice has little in common with commercial sauerkraut which in most cases contains added vinegar. This explains its unpleasant and acidic taste.