Fermented Sauerkraut & Pineapple

It's a thing, and I didn't even know about this concoction. I eat a lot of Kraut and crazy combinations on food but never thought of this until my daughter Sophie started adding pineapple chunks to her hotdog. I was eating hotdogs too with Carraway-Karut and Bok-Choy-Kimchi so she talked me into adding pineapple to my dogs. Dang, having pineapple on my dog with Kimchi & Kraut was the bomb which lead me to think of a new creation, so I thought. Anyhow, I thought it would be fun to create a Kraut & Pineapple recipe. After doing some searching, I found out it was a thing. For more kraut making tutorial see this link ..... Carrot and Kraut. 

I am not working with a recipe which is my regular thing to do which is why I take careful notes. I either want to replicate or change what I did.

I came across some big heads of cabbage, so I only needed 3 of them which weighed in just above 12 lbs or 5503 grams. 

So depending on the size of the cabbages and of course what kind of mandolin you are using you will need to cut them in quarters or halves.

 On my mandolin, there are several settings for thickness. I chose the one between 1/8 and 1/16. Just a hair thinner than 1/8 of an inch. 

How to calculate salt percentages? Some will tell you 1 tbs. Per head or 5 lbs but I like being precise. I prefer to weigh everything and use between 1.5 % 2 % salt. So instead of weighing what I have already sliced up, I subtracted the waste which was the core and some outer leaves. Waste was 1134 grams. 

Math- Total Weight of heads 5503 grams - Waste 1134 grams = 4369 grams of shredded cabbage. I wanted to use 2% this time on the total weight of the cabbage instead of my usual percentage of 1.5%.  I am adding a lot of pineapple which has a lot of sugar so the .5% should slow down the fermentation just a bit. So back to the math... 4369 grams X 2% or .02 = 87.38 grams of salt. Which salt should you use.... chose a natural salt with no additives. I prefer to use Real Salt or Himalayan Salt. 

These were small Pineapples, so I grabbed two of them. I could not find my pineapple corer, so I had to do it by hand. The pic on the right is not fully trimmed yet. I misplaced my pineapple cutter.....dang 😢. 

All trimmed up and diced to perfection. It ended up weighing in at 1200 grams or 27.5% of the total weight of the shredded cabbage. So roughly about 1/3 of the Kraut will be pineapple.

Some recipes use powdered Tumeric, but I wanted the real thing. Make sure to wear gloves because this will stain just about everything.  Using a microplane grater ensures a finely ground root. Make sure to use the back of the spoon to peel. You could use an ordinary peeler too, but I think it removes to much root.




Do the same thing with the ginger. You cannot make this recipe without Ginger and Tumeric. 

It's all about timing.....Before you grind up the Ginger & the Tumeric sprinkle on 1/3 of the salt and toss cabbage. Wait about 10 minutes before adding ginger. After the elapsed 10 minutes add the remaining salt (2/3) and toss a bit. 

Add the pineapple and ginger and start working the kraut. 
When lots of water starts to collect at the bottom add the Tumeric. Don't forget to wear gloves otherwise, you will stain your hands terribly. When you think the cabbage has given up enough water, you're done. The goal is to have enough water to fill vessels and be able to submerge the cabbage below the brine.

This batch filled a one-gallon vessel, and two 26 oz mason jars so chose your crock carefully. Always have spares available. I have many options available at my disposal. 

Keep packing it down until you start approaching reaching the top. Place cabbage leaves on top and press veggies below brine...which is your first follower...of two. Now add your weight which is the second follower. Make sure everything is below the brine.







See the weight? Cap them off, and you're ready to go. I use airlocks to maintain anaerobic conditions. Don't forget to date everything. I placed all the jars in my garage because it had the perfect ambient temperatures for fermentation.

 

After 10 days I hit the PH I wanted, and it tasted awesome!!! 

The recipe is below the pictures...

Note: Once your fermentation has hit its sweet spot and you are satisfied you must refrigerate to stop the fermentation process. 


Ingredients 
12 lbs or 5503 grams of Cabbage Heads 
Now you need to subtract the waste to calculate percentages. 
After I removed the core and some of the bad leaves, there were 1134 grams of waste. 
5503-1134 = 4369 grams 

Cabbage= 4369 grams is the number we use to calculate the additional ingredients. The specificity in this recipe is not necessary but if you want to make adjustments or replicate this is the easiest way to accomplish that. The calculations below are based solely on the weight of the cabbage. 

Salt 2% (87.38 grams)
Diced Pineapple 27.5% (1200 grams)
Fresh Grated Ginger 2% (75 grams)
Fresh Grated Tumeric 1% (60 grams)

It's easy math... To find out how much Diced Pineapple you need multiply 4369 grams X 27.5% or .275 = 1200 grams.

and Salt 4369 grams X 2% or .02 = 87.38 grams 

(don't forget these amounts are just recommended) 


Review- It was outstanding of course!!!! 

Doshers GGG Fermented Carrots

Nothing to crazy about this fermented veggie. I was in the mood for some fermented carrots. I went with organic carrots of course. I think it’s important to point out that I did not peel them. Peeling them defeats or diminishes the fermentation process in my opinion (and Sandor Katz). I used cold water and a mushroom brush to clean. They were sliced into carrot sticks.

In this recipe I kept it simple. Crushed garlic, sliced up ginger and nice large green onions slices shoved into the jar with the carrots sticks. As you can tell I measured out everything. I’m going to make again and I would like to replicate or modify and contrast the flavors. 

In this fermentation I used a 2.5% brine. Note: I used filtered water using ZERO water and Redmond Salt. How do you compute 2.5%? If you needed at 1000 ml liters of water you would simply multiply 1000 x 2.5% or .025 = 25 grams of salt needed. I would suggest dissolving salt in hot water first than making sure the brine is cooled before combing everything. I make ZERO water Ice-Cubes so cooking is not an issue. Probably going to let this sit out for 6-9 days in my ice cold kitchen. My A/C is running and I keep my house very cold (58-60 f ). 

Well, I could not resist….it’s been 6 days exactly. I noticed the Co2 has diminished a bit so I wanted to check on the carrots. Look at that cloudy beautiful brine. Notice how everything is submerged. 

First thing I did was check the Ph….. Damn that’s a good PH for pickled carrots IMO (always shooting for a number below 4.6). Anything below a 4.6 ph is considered acidified. So far so good. 
Review- All done at 6 days at a house temp of 60 f degrees. Don’t forget if my house was warmer the fermentation process would have been faster. Dang they were good!!! Crunchy with the right amount of sourness. You might think that the low of a pH wold result in a very sour pickles but you would be incorrect. They were just about perfect IMO. Ok….. very very garlicky but I loved that. You could taste the onion too. You could not taste the ginger so next time I will up the ginger and cut back on the garlic just a bit. I also thought they could be just a little sweeter too.

Thoughts…………..

• Make a ginger carrots only
• Garlic and onion 
• Adding a ripened apple?
• Adding dill? 

For those of you that have pickled before you need to try fermentation. Only on rare occasions will I used vinegar again or for quick pickling. 

Note: Once your fermentation has hit its sweet spot and you are satisfied you must refrigerate to stop the fermentation process. 

Fermented SauerKraut with Carrots

So it begins, I am entering the realm of Fermentation. This is my first fermentation project (June 26, 2018) so I was not expecting phenomenal results but I was wrong. This Sauerkraut was the Bomb. It's the best I have ever eaten and I have eaten a lot of kraut. Granted fermentation and taste are part technique and part science. When is the fermentation complete? Fermentation is done when you believe it has reached a level that meets your expectations (and below 4.6 ph). 

Here's an example….I was discussing Kimchi with a friend who is not only a Chef but Korean and he and told me he only likes/eats non-fermented Kimchi. Fermentation is in the mouth of the holder meaning its up to you to decide when enough is enough. 

So for me fermentation (and Deli food) brings back some awesome memories with my Mom. Every two weeks or so my Mom and I would take the "J" train from East New York (BKLYN) to NYC. On our way to visit my Bubbe we would make three stops. First stop was at the Pickle shop on Essex & Delancey Street. The place was covered in wooden barrels filled with every concoction you can imagine. Of course I always had the Kosher Garlic Dill. 

Second stop was at  Katz Deli which was also located just up the street. I always got a Knish, Dog and a Kosher Dill if I hadn't gotten one at the Guss's Pickles. Oy and don't get me started on the Pastrami sandwiches which are the best in the world and only second to mine…LOL.

The third stop was always involved a  Back & White cookie or an Apple Turnover. When we left my Bubbes we always stopped at the Essex Street Market and picked me up a goodie or two. To-date I have not made a Black & White Cookie. I bake with my youngest daughter so this is on the list too.

So something about me before we continue. I love books and I love knowing how to do things. I mean right down the smallest detail. I am not of fan of recipes that do not give details. I want to understand all that I can before I embark on new creations. Yes, anyone can just read a recipe and replicate but I need to understand. I watched a ton of videos and read a few books. I want to spotlight my point of reference so here they are. Wild Fermentation and The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Katz, Fiery Ferments and Fermented Vegetables by Christopher Shockey and The Kimchi Cook book by Lauryn Chun.

So for me everything is about being precise with the thought of being able to replicate everything. Specificity is my middle name. After reading and deciphering all that I could I settled in what will be my new techniques moving forward. Some I acquired from others but mostly it's just the way I was do things. I've had Sandor Katz book for over a year but because of life didn't really get through it all until these last two months. 

So initially I gave a lot of thought about how much sauerkraut i wanted tao make. This was dependent on the size of my crock (I have several now). I had a 3 liter crock and I needed to estimate how many veggies it could hold. Anyhow I nailed it!!!! I ended up buying 4 heads of cabbage. I think all 4 weighed in at over 14 lbs. 

So here we go…. I quartered Cabbage quartered. The whole process took me less than 10 minutes. I used a mandoline to expedite the slicing. And oh yes I used a safety glove too. Note: The shredded Cabbage weighed in at 3475 grams. Cutting out the core and getting rid of the bad leaves gave me  3-4 lbs of waste. 

The carrots were cleaned up and using the veggie peeler sliced into ribbons. The carrots ribbons weighed in at 452 grams.

These Red Jalapeños were sliced very thin  and used for color and taste (needed more). They weighed in at 51 grams. I also used Garlic. It was crushed and rough chopped and it weighed in at 10 grams.

Everything into the food container. This is where the magic happens IMO. Ok how much salt did I use? I've read many many ideas on how to apply salt. I adapted several ideas and techniques. All the veggies weighed in at 3988 grams. Based on research most just guess on salt content based on taste and some use percentages. I went with percentages because it's the most accurate. I went with the minimum salt percentage which was 1.5%.  3998 grams X 1.5% or .015 =  59.97 grams of Salt needed. For fun I added 15 grams of Celery Seed. 

Now the fun begins………..using your hands I squeezed everything until it started giving up some of its water. It happened fast. Granted my hands are stronger than most. LOL. My daughter who is 13 yrs old helped me too. It was lots of fun.

Some great pics of the cabbage giving up its water. When you think the cabbage has given up enough water you're done. The goal is to submerge the cabbage below the brine. Basically this is where all the Lacto Fermentation happens. All this happens in anaerobic conditions (no air). 

My pretty 3 liter jar. My daughter shoving her fist in to smush it all down. 













Using a cabbage stomper to pack the jars is very helpful. 

I used some large cabbage leaves to submerge all the veggies. This will be the first follower. This will ensure that all will remain submerged. A huge factor for successful fermentation and other veggies is keeping everything below the brine away from air. In addition to the cabbage leaves I used some ceramic weights as the second follower. This combo should keep all the veggies below the brine level.



Bring on the air lock. Air = bad bacteria. During the fermentation process there is whole slew of bacteria than will preserve your sauerkraut but only in an anaerobic (without air) environment. The bad bacteria multiply like fertile rabbits but only in environments with air aka aerobic. This set up allows for Co 2 escape but locks out air. Yes, during fermentation Co 2 is the by product. If you were to seal the jar and did not have a way for the Co 2 to escape it would burst.

Time to check the Kraut. I've read where people will let their kraut go for weeks and as little as 3 days. So when is it ready? Read above. One thing is for sure and that is the Ph needs to below 4.6.  

Fermented and Acidified Vegetables

I.M.Pe ́rez-Dı ́az, F.Breidt, R.W.Buescher, F.N.Arroyo-Lo ́pez,

R. Jime ́nez-D ́ıaz, A. Garrido Ferna ́ndez, J. Bautista Gallego, S. S. Yoon

and S. D. Johanningsmeier

Updated September 2013

"Fermented vegetables: This term is used here to refer to all vegetables that are preserved by fermentation, and is defined as follows: (a) low-acid vegetables subject to the action of acid-producing microorganisms that will natu- rally achieve and maintain a pH of 4.6 or lower, regardless of whether acid is added; (b) the primary acidulent(s) in the product are the acids naturally produced by the action of microorganisms. If the fermentation proceeds to completion and good manufacturing practices are applied, spoilage organisms capable of raising the pH above 4.6 are prevented from growing in the product, and pathogens of public health significance are destroyed during the process, thus making the final product safe for consumption."

Note: Once your fermentation has hit its sweet spot and you are satisfied you must refrigerate to stop the fermentation process. 

Review- Absolutely delicious. Sweet and crunchy and not to sour. What is so cool about knowing that the PH. is being able to contrast this with other Krauts I will make in the future. This was a 6 day fermentation. Knowing the weights of everything also makes it easier to replicate. 

What will I do next time? Maybe create a whole new version. 

Lets do some math together. If I wanted to replicate this recipe this is what I would do. Everything will be in relation to the Cabbage weight. 

Cabbage weight was 3475 g 

Carrots 13% (452 g)

Red Jalapeños 1.5% (52 g)

Garlic .29% (10 g)
Celery Seed .44% (15 g)

To calculate how much Carrots the recipe called for I multiplied 3475 g ( Cabbage) X 13 % (Carrots) = 452 g

To Calcuale how much salt was needed I added up all the ingredients and multipleid by 1.5%.

Cabbage 3475 g + Carrots 452 g + Jalapenos 52 g + Garlic 10 g + Celery Seed 15 g = 4004 g

4004 g X. 1.5% or .015 = 60 grams of Salt 

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