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Fermentation Atlas

Vegetables from Germany, Austria, Central and Eastern Europe, Alsace, Netherlands, USA

Sauerkraut

Finely shredded white cabbage is mixed with about 2 % salt and pressed down until its own juice covers it. Lactic bacteria sour it over three to six weeks, Leuconostoc first and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum last. The finished kraut is refrigerated or canned. Made in 6 steps over 28 days – 49 days. The longest step, homolactic finish, takes 21–42 days (National Center for Home Food Preservation (U…) and runs at 16–24 °C (National Center for Home Food Preservation (U…). Salt is 2–2.3 % (Johanningsmeier S 2007). Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Weissella do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step21–42 daysSet[nchfp-kraut]Homolactic finish
Temperature16–24 °CSet[nchfp-kraut]Homolactic finish
Salt2–2.3 %Set[johanningsmeier2007]Salt the shreds
AciditypH 3.4–3.5Measured[johanningsmeier2007]Homolactic finish

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) tested recipe. 25 lb of cabbage makes about 9 quarts, salted 5 lb at a time. Commercial kraut uses 2.0–2.25 % salt by weight, the level Pederson and Albury found best.
25 lb (about 11 kg)Cabbage · Firm, fresh heads, shredded 24–48 hours after harvest[nchfp-kraut]
¾ cupCanning or pickling salt · 3 Tbsp for each 5 lb batch of shredded cabbage[nchfp-kraut]
1½ Tbsp per quart of waterExtra brine, only if the juice does not cover the cabbage · Boiled and cooled before use[nchfp-kraut]
Starterspontaneous

Total time across the recorded steps: 28 days – 49 days

Start
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What changes: A cut line slices the cored heads into shreds about as thick as a coin

Step 1 of 6
Trim, core and shred the cabbage
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
L. mesenteroides
Weissella
Levilactobacillus brevis
Pediococcus pentosaceus
Weissella make

Discard the outer leaves, rinse and drain the heads, quarter them and cut out the cores. Output: shreds about as thick as a quarter.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Sauerkraut uses dry salt alone on finely shredded cabbage and ferments in the juice the salt draws out, at cellar-to-room temperature. Kimchi is brined, rinsed and seasoned with a chilli paste and ripens cold.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Choucroute d'AlsaceAlsatian sauerkraut, protected as an EU PGI since 2018.
  • Ogulinski kiseli kupusCroatian sauerkraut from the Ogulin area, protected as an EU PDO since 2015.
  • Low-salt starter krautA Leuconostoc mesenteroides starter lets the salt drop by half, to 1 %, with firm texture kept.

Safety

Follow the NCHFP salt amounts and ferment at 70–75 °F; below 60 °F kraut may not ferment. A steady fall in pH below 4.6 holds back Clostridium botulinum and kills E. coli O157:H7 (Snyder et al.). Store the finished kraut covered in the refrigerator, or can it in a boiling-water canner; these are the only two ways NCHFP gives to keep it.

Hazards the sources name: Escherichia coli O157:H7, killed as the pH falls; Clostridium botulinum, held back once the pH is below 4.6.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Roman writers such as Cato and Columella describe salting cabbage. The story that sauerkraut came west with the Golden Horde has no support. Captain Cook carried sauerkraut on his voyages against scurvy.

  1. [nchfp-kraut] National Center for Home Food Preservation (USDA and University of Georgia), Sauerkrautgov
  2. [johanningsmeier2007] Johanningsmeier S., McFeeters R.F., Fleming H.P. and Thompson R.L. 2007, Effects of Leuconostoc mesenteroides starter culture on fermentation of cabbage with reduced salt concentrations, Journal of Food Science 72(5), M166–M172 (USDA-ARS)paper
  3. [yoon2002] Yoon S.S., Barrangou-Poueys R., Breidt F., Klaenhammer T.R. and Fleming H.P. 2002, Isolation and characterization of bacteriophages from fermenting sauerkraut, Applied and Environmental Microbiology 68(2), 973–976 (USDA-ARS)paper
  4. [snyder2020] Snyder A., Breidt F., Andress E.L. and Ingham B.H. 2020, Manufacture of traditionally fermented vegetable products, best practice for small businesses and retail food establishments, Food Protection Trends 40(4), 251–263paper
  5. [eu-alsace] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/938 entering Choucroute d'Alsace (PGI) in the registerspec
  6. [eu-ogulin] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1413 entering Ogulinski kiseli kupus (PDO) in the registerspec
  7. [wp] Wikipedia, Sauerkraut (history only)wiki