Sauerkraut

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buzzy110, Aug 21, 1:53am
Benefits cont. 5. Are probiotic super-foods, restoring and maintaining healthy flora in the gut, which leads to greater nutrient assimilation. 6. Can help heal ADHD, allergies, candidiasis, chronic fatigue, cholesterol imbalance, depression, diabetes and disorders of the intestine - colitis, leaky gut, reflux, and the list goes on. (Skeptical about #6 but everything helps)
buzzy110, Aug 21, 1:58am
Benefits cont. Aside from all those there are things like savings and convenience. For the grand total of about $25 I have supplied my family with nutritious, prepared vegetables for lunches and some dinners and still have heaps to get me through Spring. I have not had to purchase any further salad greens. It has cost me nothing in terms of power usage of stove and freezer and glass bottle packaging is reusable so I'm saving the planet. The crock has no packaging waste at all.
racheee, Aug 21, 4:56am
Nourishing Traditions is probably the best book I have ever bought.Haven't even read it all yet!
racheee, Aug 21, 4:58am
It is not impossible to get raw milk unless you live on a farm Buzzy.You can buy up to 5 litres off a farmer, no worries.An organic farm preferably.
uli, Aug 21, 6:42am
rachee really! I always thought this is highly illegal in NZ!
uli, Aug 21, 9:56pm
This is the same with more common fermented foods like sourdough bread, cheese, Kim-chee, yoghurt, real Italian salami (not the cheap supermarket sausages). In fact my Pak'n'save sometimes has fermented Italian sausages - a real treat. They get imported from Australia I gather. So just experiment with very small amounts to get used to the taste. I have a recipe for a fruit Kim-chee which sounds exciting too . sooo much to try :)
buzzy110, Aug 21, 10:06pm
Oh. Sadly, there are not too many dairy farmers, organic or otherwise, working in Auckland. I'd love to be able to get my milk fresh from the farmer. I'm pretty sure uli is right though about it being illegal to sell unpastuerised milk so keep it quiet, I wouldn't want your supplier to get into trouble. Lucky lucky you. You could make real butter as well.
buzzy110, Aug 23, 4:14am
Well I'm jolly well going to go knocking on farmer's doors when I am out travelling. I remember the milk we used to get from the farm we stayed on every summer. Oh the cream that you could stand your spoon up in. My mother used to send us gathering blackberries and she'd make heavenly pies and the cream just topped it off. Only needed wee slices to feel satisfied.Now I'm getting all nostalgic.
buzzy110, Aug 23, 4:16am
Hi skippie. Do you make your own sauerkraut or are you going to get into making it! I am always keen to hear how other people do it.
buzzy110, Aug 26, 9:53am
I've been fortunate enough to have been given about 3litres of raw milk today. I was hopping someone could give me some ideas of what I could do with it.
racheee, Aug 29, 11:52pm
Hi Buzzy, Sorry, had not checked the message boards for a while.Drink it would be a start!Also, making things that you don't heat up would be a good idea.I made my whey and cream cheese with raw milk, very yummy!
uli, Aug 30, 12:33am
rachee - how do you "make" whey! For me it was always just a byproduct of cheese making which I have when I make goats cheese. And then only.
winnie231, Aug 30, 4:32am
uli - I guess rachee means the whey she has collected while draining yoghurt to make cream cheese! maybe!
racheee, Sep 3, 4:46am
Yes, 'making' whey but using raw milk rather than yoghurt.I made Sauerkraut today!Went to a Sauerkraut and yoghurt making course - very good!Going to make my own tomorrow.Very exciting and oh so easy!You can just chop the cabbage by hand with a knife, don't need a mandolin.
buzzy110, Sep 3, 5:47am
What sort of container did you put your sauerkraut in! You might find that using a mandolin is probably a good idea if you are making a whole lot. I do because I have a 10 litres pot which is rather a lot of work with a knife but if doing jars I'd probably just use a knife if I didn't own a mandolin. You are very lucky to have courses like that in Invercargill. Jolly hard to find any sort of interest here in Auckland. Sigh.
racheee, Sep 8, 3:02am
Made my sauerkraut on Friday with my two year old son, so that was fun.On Saturday though there was salty water all over the bench where it had squeezed out of the jar.Anyone else had this happen!
racheee, Sep 10, 6:56am
No-one interested in sauerkraut anymore! !
uli, Sep 10, 10:37am
Yes - however I couldn't post for a while, sorry If you stuff the jars too full then the liquid will overflow when the little bubbles lift the cabbage up. I usually leave about 3 cm on top and just use a spoon to stuff it down under the brine a couple of times every day.
racheee, Sep 11, 12:53am
So it is ok to open it and stuff it down Uli!I wasn't sure if it was ok to open the jar or not.
uli, Sep 11, 2:24am
I open mine all the time, cause I do not want to keep them for 6 or 8 months anyway :) and so its no problem if the CO2 goes off into the atmosphere - however soon you'd probably be taxed if you do too much fermented foods .
buzzy110, Sep 11, 5:48am
Yes. Still interested in sauerkraut but been away for a bit. I'm very sad at present as I have used the last of my sauerkraut and don't want to make anymore till my cabbages are ready. I guess now that 'summer' is just around the corner, I will probably have lots of other salad greens to eat. Also my cool place will not be cool enough in the summer.
uli, Sep 11, 9:06am
you can stuff it into jars buzzy and then put in the fridge. it doesn't take up much room.
seb28, Sep 11, 11:29am
#106 I have dutch parents it's just the way we've always had it! Oh I also forgot we'd also have a piece of rookwurst with heaps of mustard.
buzzy110, Sep 11, 11:37pm
Yes uli, I have been thinking about that. I better get a move on though. I am nearly through all my fermented vegetables and fermented pickled cabbage as well and I will be without my 'staples' in a few weeks if I don't do something. I have to go to the shops today so will have a look about for a nice organic cabbage to use along with the last of the organic carrots in my garden. Not very exciting but better than nothing.
buzzy110, Sep 11, 11:41pm
rachee. I'm surprised they didn't cover the problem of overflow in your course. The net has much more detailed info. Anyway. I fill all my jars and then, as uli advised earlier, fold out a round from the discarded cabbage leaves and put on the top of the vegetables. I screw the lid down really tight and then put into the bathtub on a towel. The vegetables will overflow for up to a week. When they stop, they are ready for refrigeration and edible about 2 weeks after that.