Raw sauerkraut: a fermented, probiotic superfood

"Sauerkraut is almost a perfect food," explains Alexander Valley Gourmet's founder David Ehreth. "It has cabbage which is a good thing to eat [ranked as one of the 10 best foods you're not eating] and then fermented it is a particularly healthful food because it has a lot of probiotic and probiotic just means the bacteria that is normal in our bodies and that needs to be reinforced on a regular basis which is what sauerkraut does." In this video, Ehreth shows us his fresh, unpasteurized sauerkraut and talks about the trend toward more probiotic foods in the market.

Video where we try to make fermented sauerkraut at home: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZruwvuTtdRI

Video with fermentation guru Alex Hozven of The Cultured Pickle: http://faircompanies.com/videos/view/the-coca-cola-fermented-foods-pickling-a...

Original story: http://faircompanies.com/videos/view/raw-sauerkraut-a-fermented-probiotic-sup...

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• sauerkraut
• probiotics
• superfood
• cabbage
• fermentation
• fermented food
• pasteurization
• raw food
• good bacteria

[wavepsychic]

I just want to know how to make it! We have cabbage but it's white not green. Why is it white and not green? And how do you do this. How much salt do you put in. Where do you get the probiotics? How do you make sure that the glass container doesn't break. How long do you ferment it for?

[kirstendirksen]

@wavepsychic Good questions. I just added a link to the text where I try to make sauerkraut at home. I'm a total amateur, but it worked. It doesn't matter the color of the cabbage. Probiotics are the bacteria that are already present on the surface of your vegetables... so by pickling the cabbage you are allowing the lactic acid bacteria to grow. The salt prevents harmful microbes from growing. I have a new video with a fermentation guru (I also put the link in the text).

[ajpadua7]

Hi! I understand that the sauerkraut isn't pasteurized, but is it flash heated like some sauerkrauts are? Thanks you guys are the best!!! :D

[bkcwzy]

@thibeault Thank you so much for the clarification & information! I do love some sauerkraut! Slowly converting my children, too! =]

[wavepsychic]

I like that bass line!

[kirstendirksen]

@zilbiol No he doesn't pasteurize. If you want more infomation you can read the text above. And there's also a link to the original story on faircompanies where I have more links still.

[zilbiol]

@kirstendirksen so.. does he?

[kirstendirksen]

@zilbiol That would defeat his purpose since what he is trying to do is preserve the probiotic bacteria that are present after fermentation, but that would be killed by pasteurization.

[zilbiol]

@kirstendirksen what if he pasteurizes it after he ferments it

[kirstendirksen]

@zilbiol No it's fermented, but not pasteurized. It's how sauerkraut was made traditionally.