I love yogurt but had little success when I tried to make my own many years ago.

I have never tried sauerkraut, but as I hate the smell when my husband puts vinegar on tomatoes when he has a salad I would find it off-putting.

This is despite the fact that I use vinegar for cleaning and used acetic acid regularly when I was working.

I am determined to have a go at making some sauerkraut soon. Any tips for success welcome.

I’ve just made my first attempt of the purple sauerkraut (with carrot instead of beets) and had to make a big batch because I had a larger jar. I do like sauerkraut but haven’t been adventurous with it before, just had it with sausages so I’ll need to try it with a few other meals or it will go to waste.
I’m going to kefir a go too, can’t find it locally to buy.

All those new to fermenting and Kefir making, I would highly recommend the Facebook group – UK fermenting friends. They are well established and an excellent kefir grains sharing resource. I currently make my own milk kefir, sauerkraut and I’m starting to experiment with more fermented veggies.

Excellent. I would recommend Donna Swenk. Her website is http://www.culturedfoods.com
I learned a lot from it. Info recipes. Has Facebook Twitter YouTube etc as well.
Just ordered a new scoby for making kombucha & milk kefir grains. Make my own yoghurt already. Looking forward to getting back to fermented & cultured foods. Maybe if hadn’t lapsed in making them my gut would be in better order. Time will tell x

Sorry the website address should read..

https://www.culturedfoodlife.com

If you have a slow cooker I highly recommend using it to make your own yoghurt 👍 Cheaper tastier and no additives, just buy whole organic milk and try to save some for the next batch !

Yep I will give it a go. Meant to ages ago. Was on the to do list x

My fermenting jars are 1 litre, so I guess it’s ok to double up the ingredients for the purple sauerkraut?

Aww very interesting, may buy a slow cooker instead of a yogurt maker then… is it as easy to use as a yogurt maker would you say?

Hi, I am also new to fermenting, (although I do make my own sourdough bread). I was wondering if anybody has used a food dehydrator to ferment yoghurt or kefir?

Hi. Can anyone tell me if the sauerkraut recipe uses raw or cooked beetroot?

Hi JSmith, I have only ever seen raw vegies used in sauerkraut recipes.

Thanks Wilko and June1767 – I’m going to check out those recommendations. Unfortunately my first batch of sauerkraut was a disaster. Turns out I like fennel seeds in tea but not in my veg! About to start a batch of plain cabbage and carrot. Kefir was successful though.

Keep going its a learning curve. Steep at times. Lol.
I now have Milk & Water Kefir brewing.
Also Kombucha.
Also lol I decided jump in buy Lakeland yogurt maker off Amazon plus 1 pkt starter culture off ebay. There’s now 1 litre natural cultured yoghurt in my fridge.
When I make next batch I will reserve some of 1st batch to use as culture x

Wish I had kept up making these. Stupidly stopped & gut problems came back with. He’ll on earth. Was sent for endoscopy. Showed stomach inflammation.
Anyway few days on all these good bacteria have seen it calm. No nausea or sickness after eating.
Determined keep all this I’m my normal diet.
Nesd to get back to fermented veg etc
Love sauerkraut. Great hearing everyone’s experiences x
Off to wilko this week to get flip top bottles for kombucha. Cheapest I can find.
Unless anyone has better idea.
http://www.wilko.com/homebrew-accessories+equipment/wilko-swing-top-bottles-500ml-tray-of-6/invt/0318707

*waves* Hi all, hope no one minds me joining in. I’ve just read the Clever Guts book (and I’m halfway through BSD), and ran out to buy Kefir (I found some ready-to-drink kefir in the “Yakult/Actimel” section at my local Sainsbury’s this morning) and sauerkraut ingredients.

Just a heads up, I found a Kefir making kit in Lakeland (yay!), and forgot size of preserving jar needed for purple sauerkraut recipe, so bought a 2L Kilner one (oops)!! Doubled/tripled up on the sauerkraut recipe so it fits the jar. I’ll keep you guys posted on how both these go 🙂

Hi
I’d just like to say that I bought some milk kefir grains a couple of months ago from E bay for less than £3 and have been fermenting them ever since in any old glass containers covered with a kitchen towel and drinking the kefir every day and sharing extra grains with my family & friends. I have twice successfully taken them on holiday in 100mm bottles where they have thrived in the warmer weather & allowed us to maintain our new healthy habit.
Both my husband and I have experienced a huge improvement in our digestive health. I try to eat healthily but felt unable to digest several foods that gave me sleepless nights of indigestion. Now, after the kefir I find to my delight that I can eat garlic, onions, coleslaw, beans and pulses for dinner and sleep like a baby with no stomach pains at all. My husband has also enjoyed a huge improvement with the hemorrhoid problem that has dogged him for several years and sleeps much better than prior to drinking daily kefir.
I find it incredibly easy to ferment kefir and feel more healthy and happy than I have done for years.

I’ve just made the purple sauerkraut. Am I being thick? Am I supposed to put in spring water and salt straightaway? There are not enough juices to completely cover the mixture in the jar, but the whole thing looks very damp!

Hi mcoppel

I’ve made 2-3 batches of this now, love it but I now educe the fennel seeds by half as I found them a bit overpowering.
You may need to massage it a little more to get some more juice, I’ve not had to add any water to mine but I do give it a good working over (like kneading bread). Once packed into a jar (really ram it it) I usually end up with a good 2cm of liquid over the top of the cabbage.
Hope that helps

Hi everyone!

I’m a fermenting newbie and am half way through the book (loving it so far). This morning I made the Tumeric Latte (YUM) and have my second batch of home made yoghurt in the fridge. I just used glass jars and the oven to incubate overnight- worked really well! I hav strained the whey from the yoghurt and am using that in my first attempt at Sauerkraut as I came accross a recipe that suggested a use of whey as a ‘starter’ for Sauerkraut- we’ll see how it goes.

Anyone going to get their mircobiome sequenced?

I made some red cabbage sauerkraut last week (from a recipe off the net) which said to wait 3 days then put it in the fridge. I then was looking at another recipe which said not to put it in the fridge!! So I took it out… I now have a watery purple mess which is bubbling slightly. Any ideas folks?

I’ve not made sauerkraut but I regularly make kimchi which I do not refrigerate as that slows down the fermentation process. I am a follower of Dr David Perlmutter, a leading American neurologist and author of a number of excellent books (Grain Brain), and he says that you must make the fermented food with sea salt not vinegar as vinegar will kill the good bacteria.
Also, my kimchi is not totally authentic as I leave out the floury paste as prefer to avoid flour. I have also seen recipes on the net for Kimchi made my way.

I have made my own yogurt for years. I just bought little jars with lids from Lakeland & I use just ordinary full fat milk and a jar of yogurt from the previous batch.
I heat the milk (in two batches) to 180 degrees and then let it cool to finger hot, in two large jugs, one for each batch. Then I add the starter yogurt to one jug an whisk to mix and the pour one jug into the other and back again 4or 5 times until the starter is mixed throughout all the milk. Finally, I pour all the milk into my little jars, lid them and leave them on a tray usually just on my work top in my kitchen overnight & they are perfect every time. No additives, no flavours, no sugar & delicious! It costs me precisely £1 for the 2lts of full fat milk and it makes 14 yogurts! What’s not to like!

Traditional (German/Polish/French) sauerkraut has NO vinegar. The cabbage is pickled in a brine made from salt and its own juices, which are drawn out of the cabbage by the salt.

Don’t know where you are, Catananche, but if in the UK, Tesco stocks it

My yoghurt maker produces very watery, sour yoghurt. I much prefer the Greek-style, which is milder-flavoured as well as having a better texture. I know one can buy greek yoghurt mix in a packet from H&B (just add water), but does anybody here know how to make it ‘properly’, ie with milk and starter?

My understanding is that Greek-style, Icelandic-style and some Middle Eastern-style yoghurts are strained through muslin cloth after fermenting/ setting.This removes excess watery whey whilst retaining the more solid curds.

The result is sometimes described as ‘yoghurt-cheese’ or even ‘fresh cheese’. No idea where the dividing line between yoghurt and cheese is; hopefully someone more knowledgeable will chime in!