Sauerkraut turns out to be tasty only if the recipe for its preparation was strictly followed during its fermentation. It is not enough to simply tamp the chopped vegetables into a jar / tub and sprinkle them with salt, it is necessary to strictly observe the proportions of the ingredients and subsequently, when the cabbage is fermented, pierce the food with a wooden stick with a frequency of 2-3 times a day.
Sauerkraut can be eaten as an independent dish or used in the preparation of more complex culinary delights.
Homemade sauerkraut, made according to all the rules, is much tastier and healthier than the store one, so housewives who appreciate the quality of products make this preparation themselves. Of course, if you have experience in creating this pickle, then it takes a little time to work and the final product pleases with its taste. In the absence of experience in salting cabbage, you can spoil the workpiece, and it will taste bitter. Most often this happens when some of the rules for salting a vegetable are not followed.
Why sauerkraut is bitter: how to fix it
- The most common reason for the acquisition of a preparation of a bitter taste is non-observance of the rules of salting. The fact is that when a vegetable is fermented, a large amount of gases is formed in the product, and according to the rules of salting, it is necessary to pierce the cabbage three times a day to the very bottom of the container in which it is fermented, in order to prevent stagnation of these gases in the workpiece. Failure to comply with this condition is a sure damage to the product already in the first days of fermentation.
- Also, cabbage can be bitter when using salt with various additives for its fermentation. It is worth remembering that cabbage is fermented either exclusively without salt, or with the addition of a small amount of ordinary rock salt without spices and impurities.
- The temperature regime in which the preparation is fermented can also negatively affect the taste of the vegetable. In general, the optimum temperature for fermenting vegetables is 20 degrees; at higher rates, fermentation is more active, and this requires frequent piercing of the workpiece to get rid of gases. Not everyone has time to perform these manipulations 10 times a day.
- You need to know that not fully fermented cabbage has a slight bitterness. And if, when taking a sample, it seems to you that the workpiece is bitter, do not worry, just in the future, until the end of the fermentation of the product, pierce it with a wooden stick more often - the unpleasant taste will go away as soon as the fermentation period ends.
Why sauerkraut is bitter and what to do
Now with regard to getting rid of sauerkraut from bitterness. So, if the dish already has a bitter aftertaste, then it will not be possible to get rid of it (no washing of the product and soaking will help), you can only slightly muffle the unpleasant taste by adding spices and spices to the salad. In general, it is better not to eat bitter cabbage, it is much safer to prepare a new product, but according to all the rules.
