Comments on: Sauerkraut, Breakaway Style

By: Ed Ward

Ed Ward — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:15:02 +0000

Uh, I don’t see how you can warm up sauerkraut without cooking it, actually. And they do eat it warm here.

The sauerkraut I always saw in America came out of cans, and was packed in liquid. This has to be drained and the sauerkraut rinsed or it’s way too salty. The exception to this is the stuff packed in sterile bags, vom Fass (from the barrel) as they say here. This is ready to go. Your homemade is, by definition, vom Fass!

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:57:33 +0000

Hmm, I neither rinsed nor cooked mine. Unless it’s dried really well afterward, it seems like the added water wouldn’t bode well for the brine, since there’s plenty of liquid already (just from the salt drawing out the huge amount of water that lives in the cabbage). I don’t think cooking it will help it either! Please say some more about this curious technique. The addition of carrots, on the other hand, sounds like a wonderful idea.

By: Ed Ward

Ed Ward — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:02:06 +0000

One reason American sauerkraut is so awful is because people never rinse it before they cook it. I had to move to Germany to learn that!

And the best sauerkraut I’ve had here had shredded carrot in it. Imagine the sweet-sour balance going on there!

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:18:03 +0000

Sounds great Brian! I went to radishboy, which looks like a great resource, but couldn’t find anything about sauerkraut or pickles. It looks like she’s caught the Sandor Katz bug though!

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:12:27 +0000

Hey Eric – Becky has been blogging about food at radishboy.blogspot.com and is has done a ton of experiments with sauerkraut, also pickles – though 20 liters in one shot is impressive!

By: helen

helen — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:54:42 +0000

Damn! My boyfriend was just in the Bay Area. It’s too late now to get him to fetch me some…

Lovely colour!