Random Q&A

Question:

I stay away from salt, but love sauerkraut! Can I use yogurt cultures or kefir in your recipes instead of salt? All the natural health experts say live culture is healthy, but then they say stay away from salt.

Answer:

Traditionally sauerkraut used a lot salt as long-term food preservation was the goal. Now-a-days health benefits are more important, and the amount of salt used is much reduced. Sauerkraut does not need to be extremely salty. it can be made with moderate salt, or even with no salt at all. Using kefir grains or live-culture whey are two ways to do that; a couple of others are in my book. I generally just use only a very small amount of salt. The sauerkraut tastes much better with at least a small amount of salt, and my personal belief is that although excess salt consumption is a problem, we do need to eat some salt, and for most people a little salt isn't a problem.

Q30

Fermentation Q&A

Email your questions (as well as answers that differ from mine) to sandorkraut [at] wildfermentation.com. I'll reply directly via email (it may take about a week) and post the questions and answers. If you want to submit your question to an e-group of fermentation enthusiasts, visit Microbial Nutrition (a Yahoo! group) or Wild-Fermentation (a Google group).

Latest Questions

January 02Flat sourdough

When we started sourdough, there were a few bubbles on the first day, then every bubble dissappeared. Could it be that we used non-organic flour?

I've had fine success with non-organic flour, but organic is better. Try adding a piece of organic fruit (like a grape or plum) covered with yeast to "jump start" it? That can get it going quickly. If your water heavily chlorinated try some bottled sdpring water. Keep trying, keep stirring!

January 02Moldy sourdough

Why after a couple of weeks does my good bubbly sourdough starter develop a fine grey mold on its surface, even when fed? Is this an okay ? Is it a matter of contamination or even temperature....? I usually throw it out and wait quite a while before trying again.

Mold forms on any food in contact with the air. The easiest way to prevent it is to stir the sponge (or in a more solid state knead the dough) every day or two. This way the surface is constantly renewed, and invisible surface mold is essentially drowned and never has a chance to develop. If the mold develops, start again, no need to wait.

December 25Should I supplement?

There is so much hype, and probably with good reason, about the Product "Primal Defence". If I am incorporating a regiment of fermented foods,(including kraut, kefir and kombucha) should I also take a product such a PD?

I have a preference against supplementation and strongly believe that you can always get superior nutrition from food. I think that incorporating a variety of live-culture foods into the diet is better than probiotic supplementation. Supplementation is for people who think they are too busy to spend time preparing nutritious food.