Making Sauerkraut and pickled vegetables at home: Creative recipes for lactic-fermented food to improve your health [Paperback]

A clear and simple guide to basic sauerkraut and brine pickles. The book does discuss health aspects of lactic acid fermentation, but what distinguishes this book in my mind is its clear description of the process. The authors leave you with enough understanding to experiment and troubleshoot for yourself. Great fun--my first couple of batches were consumed by German friends who had been forced to eat the pasturized stuff for too long.

Even though this is a thin book, this is packed with information - basically everything you need to get you started.

The author(s) talk about why people make sauerkraut/pickles, a little bit about their use in various ancient and more modern cultures and how pickles saved the sailors from scurvy starting with 18th century, when ships started carrying them.

Sauerkraut/pickles are fermented foods, and the fermentation happens because of lacto-bacteria (named like that because they were first discovered in milk/dairy products). Actually, there are two types of them: for milk products and for vegetables. Organic products have more bacteria and ferment easier. Raw (i.e. unpasterized) milk sours by itself; pasteurized milk spoils... The white film you can find on organic veggies (e.g. plums, cabbage) is lacto-bacteria. Those bacteria - and fermented products in general - are beneficial for digestion.

The best container for fermentation is Harsch - search the web to see it. I learned from this book that the white yeast that appears over open fermentation pots is actually harmless, just it has a bad taste.

It is easier to get better results with more veggies or with more types of plants versus one type only. Salt is needed for fermentation, authors say, to allow veggies to withstand a couple of days without decay until fermentation begins. If you have organic veggies, or good container (such as Harsch), there is less need for it. Whey could also be substituted, but not fully (i.e. you still need some salt).

What else is in the book? The spices, of course. And some therapeutical applications of pickles.

And, last but not least, some recipes that seem interesting to me.

This is a great book. If you want to learn why fermented foods are so much better for you than pastuerized and heated products along with learning how to prepare them yourself, then this book is for you. It even describes a crock that eliminates all chances of spoilage or maintenance. The contents are sealed from the air the whole time the contents are fermenting. You can even use less salt. The finished product comes out crisp, fresh, and with incredible flavor.