Trivial food: Bacteria at work: Sauerkraut and sauer turnips

My grandparents were farmers and each year they would make a large vat of sauerkraut, and a somewhat smaller but still large quantity of sour turnips. Sour turnips, in particular, were needed for bujta repa, a traditional dish that is not nearly as fatty as Wikipedia claims, that we always made when we would slaughter a pig.

Bujta repa, translated as "killed turnips". Maybe one should try to modernize it...

When we lived in Waterloo, Ontario, we were always able to buy decent sauerkraut from local Mennonites, so making it yourself seemed like a waste of effort. In California, however, the story changed. For the longest time, the only place where we knew to find sauerkraut was Dittmer's, a local mostly German deli. Sadly, the only sauerkraut we could get was canned in jars. It was OK, but a motivation for trying our hand at fermentation of some cabbage grew stronger.

Remnants of braised sourkrout

Once we made our first batch of sauerkraut, there was no going back. Making it is really trivial in the most basic sense, and the results are even better than what I remember from Slovenia. In fact, today we eat a good amount of sauerkraut and sauer turnips straight, maybe we wash it a bit, and on a splurgy day we add a touch of pumpkin seed oil. Yum! Besides, now I can make fun of our Korean friends that we make European-style kimchi. Of course, the good old fashioned braised sauerkraut with its fair share of smoked pork is a dish that tends to mellow out even the toughest of days. Let us leave that one for later, first we need to make some sauerkraut.

The process for making sauer turnips is the same as the process for sauerkraut so let me just tackle the cabbage, and highlight the one and only difference in the beginning: Cabbage is sliced thinly, and turnips are grated. For both I use my food processor - this is where a wide feeding tube comes in play. Just the attachments are different, a slicer for sauerkraut, set to the smallest thickness. For turnips, I use the grater attachment on the coarser side. If I used the fine side, fermentation would pretty much dissolve the turnip shreds.

The process is really simple - basically one shreds the cabbage, mixes it with salt, packes in a crock, and waits until the fermentation has done its deed. More precisely:

Buy green cabbage: For my 2 gallon fermentation crock I go with 6 to 8 cabbage heads, 2-3lb each.

I am not fond of red sauerkraut, but you may be.

Remove outer leaves and the core, and slice the cabbage thinly
Mix sliced cabbage with salt, 2.5 to 3 TBS per 5 lb of cabbage

I slice some cabbage and mix it with salt in a large bowl before transferring to the crock

Pack the cabbage into a clean vessel, preferably a fermentation crock
Press the cabbage down, it will release water
Weigh the cabbage down with a plate, and put some weight on the top

I procured "proper" weights, Before, I would use a plastic container filled with water, and sometimes I would put in an additional heavy object such as a stone.

If the cabbage is not completely submerged in water, add filtered water to submerge cabbage
I seal the crock with plastic wrap because I am not too fond of the fermentation smell, and top it with a spiffy lid for the crock.

I found an in-depth discussion and experimentation report about the jars one can use for fermentation and how one should close them.

Move the crock/jar to a warm place and leave it there. The length of fermentation depends on the temperature:

6 weeks for 60F-65F
3-4 weeks for 70-75F
above 80F the cabbage will spoil

About once a week check to make sure the cabbage is still covered with water. After 3-4 weeks also start checking whether the cabbage has fermented to your taste.
Transfer sauerkraut to plastic containers and keep it in the fridge. This way fermentation will stop or seriously slow down, and you will be able to enjoy sauerkraut for some time.
Share the result of your work and patience with friends. They will appreciate it.

Remember that you are letting bacteria eat away sugars in your cabbage. I found the process quite robust, so have no fear. At the same time, it is good to be careful. Make sure your cabbage ferments for long enough at a high enough temperature, make sure you keep the cabbage away from oxygen, and if any molds develop, or anything odd happens, such as your cabbage turns brown, throw it away and start from scratch.

Here are the cabbage and turnips in my crocks before the final packing.