Fresh out of college, I took a teaching job in Racine, Wisconsin, just downwind of the small Wisconsin town of Franksville. The town was surrounded by fields of cabbage, and every fall that cabbage was turned into kraut - Franks Kraut - and the air downwind of the town smelled of fermenting cabbage. The large number of German immigrants and the ready availability of German cuisine in the area made sauerkraut a common part of meals, and when we moved to Iowa and later, Washington, we carried our taste for kraut with us.

The problem with the kraut we had been eating, however, was that it had been canned, a process that killed all the fermenting bacteria, so the probiotic benefits of the kraut had been lost. We bought freshly made deli kraut from the grocery refrigerator section but found it too sour - and too expensive. It was time to learn to make our own kraut.

Recipes for making kraut are easy to find. According to the recipes, all one needs to do is:

• Shred a three-pound head of cabbage,
• Combine the shredded cabbage with 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt,
• Knead the salted cabbage until a good amount of juice is released,
• Put the resulting juicy shredded cabbage in a clean mason jar,
• Tuck a leaf of cabbage inside the neck of the jar to keep the shreds from floating out during the fermentation process, 
• Cover the jar with a cloth to keep out troublesome insects, mold, and bacteria, and set it in a dark, cool place.
• In a week the kraut will be ready to use or to store into refrigerator. 
• If you like your kraut less sour, start eating/storing it earlier, and if you like it sourer, extend the fermentation time.

We followed the recipe, and our first attempt was a success, except for the fact the fermenting juice started rising out of the jar, but we managed to catch the juice in a platter, and the resulting kraut tasted just right. The next jar spoiled while fermenting: the cabbage leaf had been lifted by the fermentation bubbles, so the kraut developed a mold and rotted. The same thing happened to the third jar. 

There HAD to be a better way to make kraut. Two simple devices solved the problems. One was using a glass weight to hold the top cabbage leaf down, and the second was an air lock.

Air locks let the fermentation bubbles out, but allow no air or contaminants to come in. Air locks for mason jars come in at least two varieties. One is a flat silicon disk whose protruding nipple includes a tiny hole that lets gas escape:

The other - my favorite - is the air lock we found at a beer and wine making supply house. With this device, an upside-down cup inside the device floats in a small amount of water. As the kraut ferments, the resulting gas pushes through the water and escapes. There is no chance of air/mold/bacteria leaking into the jar, and no contamination is possible.

I like to add a few teaspoons of caraway to the cabbage and salt mix to ameliorate the tartness and add an interesting additional flavor. However, the key to good kraut is keeping the cabbage from spilling up and over the jar and keeping unwanted mold and bacteria out. The glass weight and the air lock handle this nicely.

John Hofland is a Master Herbalist from the School of Natural Healing and an organic gardener. He also holds a Master in Fine Arts in Theatre and is an illustrator for children’s literature.