Raw sauerkraut runs in eight steps: trim and core the cabbage, shred it, salt it by weight, pack it into fermenting crocks or tubs, keep it under brine, ferment at a steady temperature, check the pH until it reaches the recipe's target, then pack and refrigerate. The salt, about 2% of the cabbage's weight in many recipes, pulls out the brine and favors the lactic acid bacteria that sour the kraut. Keeping the cabbage below the brine keeps air, and mold, away. Raw sauerkraut stays alive and keeps fermenting slowly, so it's sold refrigerated. In the example below, a Portland fermented foods maker runs a batch from shredding to jars.
The short version
- Eight steps: trim, shred, salt, pack, submerge, ferment, check pH, pack and chill.
- Salt by weight: about 2% of the cabbage in the example.
- Keep the cabbage under the brine.
- Ferment at a steady temperature.
- Check the pH until it reaches the recipe's target.
- Raw kraut is sold refrigerated.
- TaroStack records each crock as a batch with its cabbage lot. More below.
The eight steps
| Step | What happens | What to record |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Trim | Outer leaves and cores removed | Cabbage lot, weight |
| 2. Shred | Shredded on the slicer | Weight |
| 3. Salt | Salt weighed for the cabbage and mixed in | Salt weight |
| 4. Pack | Packed into crocks, pressed down | Crock numbers |
| 5. Submerge | Weighted so brine covers the cabbage | Brine level |
| 6. Ferment | Held at a steady temperature | Room temperature, days |
| 7. Check pH | Read on a calibrated meter | pH readings |
| 8. Pack and chill | Jarred, dated, into the cooler | Jars, lot |
Making it by the hundred pounds is in how to make sauerkraut in bulk, and reading the pH in ph testing for acidified foods.
An example: a crock from shred to jar
Brightwater Ferments, the made-up fermented foods maker in Portland, Oregon, I use in these examples, ferments sauerkraut in 20-gallon crocks:
| Step | What happened |
|---|---|
| Trim and shred | Green cabbage lot CB-0902, 120 lb trimmed to 102 lb |
| Salt | 2.04 lb of salt, 2% of the cabbage |
| Pack and submerge | Two crocks, weighted; brine over the cabbage by the next morning |
| Ferment | 68°F for 4 weeks |
| Check pH | Week 3: 3.7; week 4: 3.4, at the target |
| Pack and chill | 180 jars of 16 oz, lot KR-0930, into the cooler |
The pH was read weekly; at week 3 it read 3.7, short of the 3.5 target, so the crocks went another week before jarring. Each reading went on the run sheet. The plan for keeping a fermented vegetable safe is in kimchi haccp plan.
Get the run sheet
Download the sauerkraut production run sheet. Two sheets: a blank run sheet to print for each batch, with the eight steps, the check at each and its target, and spaces for the actual reading, the time and initials; and the same run filled in from the example. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The run sheet covers one batch. Four crocks at different weeks, a cabbage lot in each, and jars at a co-op and two grocers: when a jar comes back, the trace has to run from its lot to the crock and the cabbage.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack records each crock as a batch with its cabbage and salt lots, so a jar's lot leads back to its crock.
Crocks as batches. Each crock takes the cabbage and salt off stock with their lots.
Jars by lot and date. Each batch gets its lot and use-by, and orders take the oldest first.
Where it went. Each order records the lot it got, so one recall report runs from a cabbage lot to every store.
| The job | Clipboard | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Which cabbage went into a crock | A note on the lid | Batches by lot |
| Which jars go out first | Dates on tape | First-expired-first-out |
| Which stores got a lot | Invoices | One recall report |
Recipes, batches, lots and recalls are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.