Sauerkraut: Getting Ready to Start GAPS Introduction Diet

     Sauerkraut is a fermented vegetable, and it is as far as the Goshert family reaches in to the realms of fermented foods.  My husband and I agreed to do the diet, but we also both adamantly declared that we would not be eating vegetables that had sat in a jar fermenting for any length of time, besides sauerkraut that is.  (See, I told you I wasn't Super Woman.)

     The reason I am starting with sauerkraut is because the first lesson I learned on GAPS (the hard way) was sauerkraut takes five to seven days to finish fermenting.  The first time we started the diet I basically turned to the section describing each step of the diet and read down the list, making a shopping list and to do list, THE DAY WE STARTED THE DIET.  If you have done GAPS Intro diet, you know this is a costly mistake.  It cost us five extra days of nothing but soup.

     The process of making sauerkraut was quite daunting to me, in fact, when I have gone long stretches with out making it I will find myself feeling daunted once again.  But every time I suck it up and make it, I think to myself, afterwards, "Now that was not that hard, was it now?"

     I got the recipe from the GAPS Diet book by Dr. Campbell-McBride, but I have learned a few tricks as well.  Here is the process, in it's entirety.

Homemade Sauerkraut

Things you will need:
-large bowl
-knife
-cutting board
-food processor (optional)
-cabbage (any amount, in my pictures I used 1/3 of a head, because that is what I had)
-natural sea salt (we use Redmond Real Salt)
-filtered water

Directions:

1. Cut up the cabbage in to smaller sized pieces, if you plan to use a food processor.  I use the 2MM blade because it makes thinner slices and is easier and quicker to turn into sauerkraut.

2. Shred the cabbage with the food processor.  If you do not have a food processor you can use a knife.  Make sure to slice the cabbage as thin as possible.

3. Once all the cabbage is sliced, place it in a bowl.  (Make sure you use a nice big bowl to give yourself ample room to "knead" the cabbage into submission.)  Add  3 table spoons of salt for every medium sized cabbage.  I did a third of a cabbage, so I added 1 table spoon of salt.  I also added a third cup of filtered water.

4. Once you have everything in the bowl start to "knead" it and squeeze it.  Depending on how much cabbage you are doing at one time, you might even want to give yourself some leverage.  I frequently will stand on a stool when I do an entire large cabbage.  When I first started making sauerkraut it would take me a half hour of kneading to get it done.  Now, I do not mess around.  In the next picture you can see me squeezing the cabbage with all  my might.  When I first started I also did not really know what I was aiming for.  Now I know the texture, and it only took me seven minutes to make this batch (and that was with taking pictures added in).

The picture above is in the beginning, and the one below is after a few minutes of squeezing and kneading.

It becomes really juicy.  You can feel the cabbage start to give.  It is no longer ridged but more spongy.  I have found that adding as much water as I do does not hurt the process at all, but it helps the cabbage get to the spongy texture more quickly.

5. After it is nice and spongy and juicy put it into a jar (or a few jars).  Make sure to push the cabbage down to the bottom, making all the air come to the top.  After you have it all in, and pushed down, add more filtered water, leaving almost an inch of air at the top.  DO NOT OVER FILL, I have made this mistake.  As the cabbage ferments it will bubble and leak out of the jar.

6. Make sure to wipe the rim of the jar clean and put a lid on it.  Set it out of the way in a darker corner of your kitchen.  It will take 5 to 7 days to finish fermenting.  When it is done it will smell like sauerkraut.  Place it in the fridge to use as needed.

     See, I told you it would be easy.  Of course your first time may be daunting, just like mine.  I strongly suggest making sauerkraut BEFORE you start the diet.  Having it ready and on hand will help alleviate stress.  GAPS Diet calls for fermented juices in soups and broths.  It is very healthy and has lots of good bacteria, minerals and vitamins.  It is tasty with meats (particularly bratwurst and sausages).

UPDATE: I should have mentioned that air pressure will build up, and every other day or so you should open the lid to let out some of the pressure.  Also, I forgot to mention that all the cabbage needs to be submerged under liquid, otherwise it will rot, not ferment.  I just checked on this today, my batch I made, and it was ready.  I put it in the fridge today.