Hi all, I just got the book yesterday and am trying the Sauerkraut recipe.

I see on the second page it mentions water. However I cannot see any reference to water in the recipe.

What is the water for?

Thanks

Supplementary question. I have now spent an hour or more with the rolling pin trying to get enough juice to cover. But whilst I can get it to an inch or less from the top I cannot get enough juice to cover.

Perhaps I can use water to top up the juice a little to cover? Otherwise I just don’t seem to be able to make enough.

I can see that a weight might help but having scoured the house for something that will work I cannot find anything. We don’t normally keep rocks lying around sadly.

Cheers

Hi PeterCr

You could add water but add salt to it. (from the recipe: ‘add a half-teaspoon salt to 100ml filtered or spring water, and use this to top up until the kraut is fully submerged’)
You will probably find more juice is created as the ferment gets going (mine often overflow as I overfill the jars….) but if you don’t cover the kraut with liquid it will discolour.

There is a video somewhere (YouTube?) of someone (Dr Mosley’s wife?) making Clever Guts purple sauerkraut.

Different microbes need a very varied conditions to grow. Always water, but different temperatures, different access to oxygen, different pH (acid/alkaline), different ‘food’.

So soft fruit can can get mouldy, or turn into wine or cider! Milk can go sour and taste disgusting, or become yoghurt or kefir or cheese.

Submerging the vegetable in an appropriate liquid (pH, salt content etc.) reduces the chance of undesirable microbes growing, and increases the chance of desirable microbes growing. With the right recipe and ingredients the fermented food tastes ‘right’ and – critically – is safe to eat.

Never randomly add water to a food, drink, household product or cosmetic product you intend to store. That alters the conditions, potentially allowing undesirables to grow.

Oh idiot me, I completely missed the bit in the recipe about adding water. Note to self, read recipes better!!

Thanks for the help all, cheers