(Originally published September 12, 2013)

Certified organic gardener Dan Kuebler shows me how to make fermented sauerkraut in his home kitchen.

Until I met Dan Kuebler this spring, I didn’t really know the difference between store-bought, vinegar-processed sauerkraut and the real deal. Sure, I enjoyed a little kraut a few times a year as a side dish for a pork roast, or heaped on a brat, but I never realized how different—and how addictive—genuine, old-school, your-German-grandma-would-approve, fermented sauerkraut could be. And now I’m such a convert that I had to stop to spoon up a dish of Dan’s kraut to munch on while I wrote this. Dan Kuebler is a familiar figure in the world of sustainable, healthy, local food in mid-Missouri for the past 23 years. A certified organic market gardener, Dan served on the board of the Columbia Farmer’s Market from 1992 to 2000. He was a co-founder and board member of Sustainable Farms and Communities (SF&C) from 2001 to 2012, where he now works as a volunteer. And he has served on the board of the statewide Missouri Farmer’s Market Association for the past two years. Also currently an active member of both Slow Food Katy Trail and the Missouri River Bluffs Association, he freely shares his time and energy to bring the gospel of fresh and local to schools and to the general public. The farm he purchased in 1977, the Salad Garden, provides a steady flow of organic vegetables and fruits to the Columbia Farmers Market, area restaurants, and a small 15-family CSA.

Dan Kuebler demonstrating the art of sauerkraut making at the Taste of Local Missouri in Jefferson City, Missouri, 2013. Photo by Angela Reid, www.facebook.com/notesofdawn

And now Dan has turned his boundless energy and enthusiasm to the study of fermented foods. As a child growing up in Hermann, Missouri, Dan watched his German grandmother making sauerkraut using a huge mandoline to shred the cabbage, and recently, after becoming fascinated by the health benefits of fermenting organic vegetables, he dug that old mandoline out of his parents’ closet and began using it to create his own kraut. After much study and experimentation, he’s continued to perfect his recipe and technique, and has just begun selling his fermented kraut by the pint and quart at the Lincoln University Farmers’ Market in Jefferson City, with plans to bring it to the Columbia Farmers’ Market Saturday, September 14 (2013). (Update: His Farmer Dan line of fermented sauerkraut flavors and pickles has been a hit at the CFM and other outlets for the past two years, and he has spread the fermentation gospel all over mid-Missouri with talks, demonstrations, and samplings.)

This video demonstrates how anyone can make sauerkraut in their home kitchen a quart or two at a time. All you need is a cabbage (organic, of course), a little salt, and the magic ingredient—bacteria. Beneficial, immune-system boosting bacteria, that is. Dan is one of the many who believe in the health benefits of fermented foods, and he recommends The Art of Fermentation: An In-Depth Exploration of Essential Concepts and Processes from around the World, by Sandor Katz, as a comprehensive introduction for anyone interested in do-it-yourself home fermentation.Personally, I’ll just stock up on some of Dan’s kraut until I make up a batch of my own, and I’ll count every serving as a tasty helping of probiotics!

Though the process of sauerkraut-making has been documented in this MO Deep Roots cooking video, here’s the recipe, with pictures, as an additional reference.

First Dan shreds a cabbage using his grandmother’s large mandoline. Photo by Angela Reid, www.facebook.com/notesofdawn — First Dan shreds a cabbage using his grandmother’s large mandoline.
Photo by Angela Reid, www.facebook.com/notesofdawn

Next Dan begins squeezing and breaking down the shredded cabbage by hand. Photo by Angela Reid, www.facebook.com/notesofdawn

Next the cabbage is tamped and pressed tightly into a quart jar. Photo by Angela Reid, www.facebook.com/notesofdawn

A water-filled pint jar in the top of the quart jar keeps the cabbage immersed during fermentation. Photo by Angela Reid, www.facebook.com/notesofdawn

Finished sauerkraut, ready to dish up and sample. Photo by Angela Reid, www.facebook.com/notesofdawn

Dan Kuebler’s Small-Batch Sauerkraut

Tangy, immune-boosting fermented sauerkraut that you can make a quart or two at a time in your home kitchen.

Ingredients

A firm, fresh head of organic cabbage—about 5 pounds for 2 quart jars—preferably a variety that’s recommended for kraut-making, such as Early Copenhagen.
Two and a half tablespoons of sea salt for every 5 pounds of cabbage (pickling salt will also work)

Instructions

To make sauerkraut you’ll need something to cut the cabbage with—either a large, sharp knife or a mandoline would work. You also need a cutting board, a tub or large bowl, wide-mouthed quart jars (about one per every two pounds of fresh cabbage), and something to keep the cabbage submerged in the jar while it’s fermenting. (Dan is using an apple in the video, but he’s recently come to favor pint canning jars fill with water.) After fermentation is complete you’ll need a wide-mouthed jar lid and ring for each quart jar.
Remove loose outer leaves and then cut cabbage in quarters exposing the the core stem. Cut out the core stem with sharp knife. Slice cabbage thinly on the cutting board and place in large bowl or tub.
Weigh contents of cut cabbage and add the proportion of 2.5 tablespoons of sea salt per 5 lbs. of cabbage. Mix salt into cabbage with your hands and firmly massage and crush cabbage with your hands for a 1–2 minutes. You’ll hear the cabbage squeak, and you’ll see it reduce in volume and release quite a bit of moisture by the time you finish, which is exactly what you need.
Pack the cabbage very firmly into a wide mouth canning quart jar, removing all air pockets from the cabbage. You can tamp it down by pressing into the jar with your hands unless you happen to have a device like Dan’s homemade tool to use for the tamping.
The cabbage liquid should come to the top of the jar and must cover all the cabbage for proper fermentation to occur. You can place something—a pint jar filled with water works well—on top of the cabbage to keep all cabbage submerged under the water.
Fermentation will begin within 24 hours with some bubbling over, so place a plate under the jar. If you notice at any point that enough moisure has bubbled out that your liquid is in danger of no longer covering the cabbage entirely, you can add salt water to keep the jar topped off. (Use a ratio of 3 tablespoons of sea salt to a quart of filtered water; do not use chlorinated tap water.) The finished kraut should have a clean and pleasing, if somewhat pungent, aroma. If your moisture level gets too low, bad bacteria has a chance to form; if there’s an unpleasant odor when you open the jar that’s a warning sign. It’s best to discard that batch and try again, being careful to keep the cabbage fully submerged next time.
Ferment for 3–4 weeks at room temperature, no higher than 77 degrees, preferably 75 degrees. To stop fermentation place lid on kraut and refrigerate.
Kraut will keep for 6–12 months in refrigerator.

Notes

See Sandor Katzs’ fermentation guide, The Art of Fermentation: An In-Depth Exploration of Essential Concepts and Processes from around the World for more information

What’s your favorite food to pair with sauerkraut? Let us know in the comments!