What you need:

Sharp knife, large bowl/bucket, chopping board, cabbage, carrots, Symbiota Kraut Mix, Symbiota Salt.

2-2.5gm non iodised salt to every 100gm produce

Ingredients per 2L Symbiota pot size:

2l pot requires 1 cabbage head, 1 cup of slides daikon radish, 1 cup of sliced carrot and 2 apples sliced. approx. total 2kgs fresh produce. 40 grams of Himalayan salt. 

Instructions:

1. Make sure your hands, work surface and instruments are clean to avoid introducing unwanted bacteria.
2. Wash your pot and weights thoroughly with water and soap. They do not need to be sterilised. Do not place in the dishwasher.
3. Wash all the fresh produce.
4. Keep aside 2-3 large clean, cabbage leaves from the outer layer.
5. Cut your cabbage into quarters and cut out the hard core.
6. Shred cabbage finely - a food processor can be used for this. Slices should be no more than approx. 5-7mm wide.
7. Place the shredded cabbage into a large bowl or a bucket for larger quantities.
8. Sprinkle your Himalayan salt and symbiota spice mix over your shredded produce and mix with your hands.
9. Let it rest for 10 minutes (100gm of cabbage = 2-2.5grams salt).
10. Pound with a mandolin if you have, or a wine bottle, or a strong fist, or rub produce together as you would when hand washing clothing. The produce will begin to make its own brine. Once you can see the brine rise above the produce when pushing the produce down, you are ready to pack your pot. (NOTE: NEVER POUND CABBAGE IN THE POT. USE A LARGE BOWL OR BUCKET TO POUND CABBAGE IN).
11. Add your carrot, daikon radish and apple. Mix through. 
12. Fill your pot up with the produce, tightly packing the produce down as you fill it.
13. Your pot should be approximately ¾ fill – this should be around the line on your Symbiota pot. Brine will flow up and over your produce by approximately 2-3cms.
14. Get your cabbage leaves you kept aside and lay them over the top of your packed produce, tucking them down the sides. This helps stop produce floating up during fermentation and minimises the potential for mould or yeast to grow.
15. Finally add your fermentation weights into the pot on top of the cabbage leaves, pressing down so the brine can rise up over the weights.
16. Place the pots lid on and fill up the groove (moat) with water. You will notice when you gently tug the lid, there is a hermetic seal. Keep this moat filled with water, otherwise the seal will break.
17. Place your pot in a cool place with a stable temperature of approx. 18-22 degrees Celsius. The warmer the temperature, the quicker your produce will ferment.
18. Do not open for at least the first 10 days. After 10 days you can begin to taste your ferment. The longer you ferment (at a low temp) the deeper and richer the flavours become. Once you have reached your ideal taste, you can jar your sauerkraut and move it to the fridge to stop the fermentation process.

The environmental temperature will affect the fermentation times. As a guide:

• 16 degree Celsius- 6-8 weeks ferment
• 21-24 degree Celsius – 2 weeks
• 32 degrees Celsius- 1 week.