I have some sauerkraut fermenting right now. It's in a kilner fermentation jar which has a water lock to keep it anaerobic. I'm also separately starting a new kombucha batch tomorrow.

I started making these because I just like them - the sauerkraut is a great ingredient to have for various dishes or just to eat, and the kombucha was because I was getting bored with white wine at dinner and wanted something with a similar acidity level.

But since I started making them I've noticed that both instantly settle my stomach when it's upset and both also make my, um, digestive system move more...

If you want to start making sauerkraut all you need is a decent fermentation jar that can keep the interior anaerobic. For kombucha you need a bit more - big jars (it's aerobic though) and beer bottles - I also have a ph meter, BRIX measurer, etc

• masfuerte

  today at 7:44 PM

  For sauerkraut you don't even need a fancy jar. I use a big old coffee jar. I cut a cabbage leaf to fit over the top of the shredded cabbage so none floats up. I weigh that down with an old spice jar. The cabbage stays under the surface of the brine so the environment is naturally anaerobic.

• kakacik

  today at 8:43 PM

  Back home in eastern Europe every household I knew (during communism when I was growing up but this continued) had a 30-50l glazed clay barrel with lid (same material) which would have a deep groove which was filled with water to let the gasses out naturally. Usually in the cellar, and then common rooms for cellars in typical communist apartment blocks smelled accordingly (nothing bad, just matter of getting used to that).

  Putting sauerkraut into barrel was a ritual for whole family - cutting cabbage heads on manual spinning cutter, then smaller person in the household would but a plastic bag on one foot/both feet and stand in the barrel, while family was adding more layers (to compress it all). It was mixed with some apples, spices like whole black pepper and salt. Once closed and water was put in, over time it would start regularly 'farting' out excess gasses from fermentation.

  Lasted whole winter and then some, base for many nice meals but by far the best is hearty cabbage soup, tradition for not only Christmas dinner.

I read about fermented foods being good, like the old days.

Sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, kefir. None of which sounded like something my celtic ancesters eat. Beer, cider, bread maybe. I see a disconnect.

• d_sem

  today at 7:23 PM

  More likely the cultural practice was not passed down after the massive change in food preservation about 125 years ago. In the United States, fermentation was a universally practiced method for the pickling of vegetables. This practice has been so reduced that the word "pickle" now only refers to cucumber preservation.

• llbbdd

  today at 8:41 PM

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surstr%C3%B6mming

• fsckboy

  today at 7:53 PM

  >kefir. None of which sounded like something my celtic ancesters eat

  celts consumed plenty of dairy. kefir is dairy. clotted cream is fermented and buttermilk and cheeses are fermented.

  scandinavians eat fermented fish, and there was plenty of exchange and living side by side between scandinavians and northern celts.

• pc486

  today at 7:45 PM

  Stinging nettle is known to have been eaten by the celts. It can be boiled or picked, which breaks down the stinging nature of the plant.

  Also, cook books are a modern invention. You're not going to find a collection of thousand year old recipes by looking at written records.

  • cogman10

    today at 7:50 PM

    While cook books are modern, we do actually find thousand year old recipes [1].

    [1] https://eatshistory.com/the-5-oldest-recipes-in-the-world/

• galleywest200

  today at 7:14 PM

  Pickles veggies are made by just leaving veggies under brine at room temp, I am sure they had some form of that.

• comrade1234

  today at 7:41 PM

  Kombucha has two origins - Eastern Europe and Korea. So European Celt's may have used it.

• ibotty

  today at 8:23 PM

  Beer, cider and bread (leavened with yeast or sourdough at least) are fermented. What was your point again?

• bleudeballe

  today at 7:26 PM

  Sowans, buttermilk, and bog butter, fermented vegetables and seaweed?

I've had this hypothesis that human bodies are kind of like cruise ships built by microbes. The larger body is not necessarily the one in control (like in the cruise ship metaphor). Maybe at some point, the vessel being built gains some control of its own - maybe this will happen with AI.

Japanese eat fermented foods and have a long life expectancy.

• comrade1234

  today at 7:42 PM

  And the highest rates of stomach cancer in the world (but maybe from fish parasites)

  • jvican

    today at 8:13 PM

    Plus, I don't think Japanese eat a lot more fermented foods than other cultures. It's way more prevalent in South Korea, China, Russia, etc.

Cool article, also sad I think I read that Asimov press is going on hiatus of some kind.

No love for any of the fermented fishes?

Surströmming, sursill, hákarl...

• throw-qqqqq

  today at 7:27 PM

  > Surströmming

  That smell though! You can evacuate a small town by opening a can of this.

• IAmBroom

  today at 7:32 PM

  No.

  No love.

Sourdough and sunshine are all you need.

• edgyquant

  today at 8:41 PM

  I’ve never been able to get a good rise out of sourdough. I make bread all the time, make sauerkraut beer etc and my starter doubles in size but when making bread it just never works

• znort_

  today at 7:34 PM

  > sourdough

  nice, but too complicated. slice a cabbage, add some salt, pound it, stash it for 10-15 days, enjoy. easy peasy and delicious (optionally pour some olive oil, vinegar and pepper on the serving for flavour).

  just make sure i has enough juice to stay covered. odds are it doesn't; popular wisdom is topping it up with some extra brine. i prefer white wine.

This is an excellent article. Currently fermented foods are fashionable amongst those that care for such things, and this article spares the reader of the hype, hype which could be horse manure.

The Yakult company of Japan make these fermented foods things, calling the yogurts is a joke considering the ingredients. For decades they have been getting themselves banned by advertising standards for claims regarding beneficial bacteria that can't be backed up with science. Their product is marketing, yet millions believe their product works wonders - a placebo, if ever there was one.

I have an ongoing nutrition experiment, to cut processed foods and animal products from my diet. As a result, I cook from scratch at all times, even making my own bread. I don't use a fridge or a freezer since I don't buy anything that needs to be kept that cold.

What has surprised me is the absence of mold and decay. Before my experiment, I would regularly have to throw out lots of food that had gone bad, but now I don't have these problems. I thought modern preservation techniques made food last for longer, however, this has not been the case and I simply don't waste food.

In the article much is written about inflammation. Allegedly fermented foods help with that. But so does removing free sugar from the diet, along with processed foods and animal products. Therefore, before worrying about fermented foods, it is worth considering removing the junk first, as in all of it, to not eat HFSS (High Fat, Sugar and Salt).

A healthy gut is a huge upgrade to life and I don't think mine was healthy before my little experiment, but I knew nothing different, so I was not to know.

My advice for getting there is to cut the junk and cook from scratch, mostly, if not all, plants. Order should be restored to the gut microbiome with such a move, in a matter of days, no fermented foods needed.

Get some Florastor and put a couple of capsules into juice. Wait 24-48 hours. Drink. Delicious! Very fizzy and fun. Reduced sugar.

Good for the gut and immune system. Use it when my kids have GI distress/diarrhea or just as a treat/reward.

I like it way more than Kambucha and it never has vinegar worms.

Can buy some yeast energizer too on Amazon for a great boost.

* I get the Florastor has & bloat personally b/c I figure the enzymes might help and I find it’s a little cheaper somehow, sometimes. https://www.amazon.com/Florastor-Advanced-Probiotic-Digestiv...

I like apple cider, pasteurized is fine but must be preservative free. OJ is fun, comes out as orangina like, but tastes off too quickly.

Energizer https://www.amazon.com/LD-Carlson-Yeast-Energizer-oz/dp/B07M...

• dylan604

  today at 7:21 PM

  I have zero trust in products on Amazon not being a counterfeit there's no way I'd buy something intended for me to eat. On top of that, these types of health nut type of items often found under supplements are just always going to be dubious.