Is it necessary to sterilise everything when making sauerkraut? If so, how? If not, what stops undesirable bacteria from growing in competition with or in place of the good bacteria.
(I had intended to post this on a food and drink group, but the UK ones seemed pretty inactive, so I thought I'd try here)
No sterilization necessary, just reasonable* cleanliness. The cabbage is raw and not sterile, after all, and old. Some recipes call for a shot of cultured buttermilk or joghurt, to get the desirable bacteria started.
Too much oxygen and you get yeasts. So a) board and (limestone-free) rock to keep the cabbage submerged, and/or b) the posh fermentation seal on the special pot -- very like the bubbler on cider.
Many less elaborate ways of keeping oxygen displaced by the carbon dioxide from fermentation will work. Video below has a sacrificial layer of cabbage leaves on the cut cabbage.
Thomas Prufer
*) FSVO reasonable, here making 1500 kg of sauerkraut the traditional way:
I hate cabbage. In fact I hate all brassicas and all peppers, chiles, etc.
I love sauerkraut, and I'm afraid that I get it from Waitrose. This one:
Do, please, let us know how you get on.
I'm sure that the OP values your comment. Whether he values it highly is another matter. :)
I only hate brassicas, and then not all.
quite happy with the Solanaceae
-- “It is not the truth of Marxism that explains the willingness of intellectuals to believe it, but the power that it confers on intellectuals, in their attempts to control the world. And since...it is futile to reason someone out of a thing that he was not reasoned into, we can conclude that Marxism owes its remarkable power to survive every criticism to the fact that it is not a truth-directed but a power-directed system of thought.” Sir Roger Scruton
Thanks Thomas, I knew someone here would have the answer!
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