From Bubbie's Mouth

Recently, a reader asked me an interesting question about Bubbie's Sauerkraut. This was in response to Label Poetry, where I waxed on about my deep and abiding love for all things Bubbie, particularly their sauerkraut. Rebekka asked: "I actually just bought bubbie's saurkraut today...but I am trying to find out if it is raw or not. I can't find it online...do you know if it's pasteurized?"

I hadn't even thought of it, so I wrote Bubbies and asked them. Within days, I got a very detailed response from Jeffery R. Wilson of Bubbies San Francisco, Inc. I am posting it here in its entirety, because it's just so good - like the sauerkraut itself.

Hello Tracy;

Thank you very much for writing in to Bubbies, we are always pleased to hear from one of our customers and we would be delighted to tell you more about our products.

Bubbies Pure Kosher Dills are 100% raw. The same goes for our Pure Kosher Dill Relish and Pickled Green Tomatoes all of which share the same brine recipe. Our Pickled Herring in Wine and Prepared and Beet Horseradishes are raw but are pickled in vinegar. Our Sauerkraut is lacto-fermented like the dills and has been heated but not pasteurized.

We were forced to begin heating our jarred Sauerkraut to calm the cultures inside because they were causing the kraut to continue to ferment too much causing a buildup of gas that then causes the brine to leak all over distributor's and retailer's equipment and shelving.

When we heat our Sauerkraut, it is quickly raised to about 135-140 degrees and then allowed to cool as it is being jarred. The goal here is not to eliminate all the beneficial cultures, but rather to stifle them so they won't cause the jars to leak. When our Bread and Butter Chips are pasteurized the pickle chips are heated to about 175 degrees and the brine solution is just beginning to simmer (near 212). This process is designed at eliminating any potential cultures while the heating we do for our Sauerkraut is intended to calm them with the specific goal in mind not to eliminate them all.

We recently had all our naturally fermented products tested for their biological activity, including an additional sample of our sauerkraut, but a 100% raw variety we are only able to distribute in large buckets at this time. Bubbies Raw Sauerkraut showed a minimal increase in activity over the heated, jarred Sauerkraut. The jarred Sauerkraut definitely responded to their biological activity tests and showed that it has living beneficial bacteria within; and, since the product continues to change over time because of continued fermentation (even when refrigerated -- but most definitely if left at room temperature); those same enzymes produced in the original fermentation are still being produced.

On a slightly different note, the Sauerkrauts, raw and heated, tested a much distant third on the charts for biological activity than our second and first place winners: The Pure Kosher Dills and Pickled Green Tomatoes. The tomatoes actually tested the highest for biological activity and we believe that has to do with the fact that tomatoes have more residual sugars for these beneficial bacteria to live on after the fermentation process has essentially stopped.

It is important to note that our Sauerkraut is very crisp. It is crunchier and able to maintain its crunch for far longer than other brands of Sauerkraut I have tried. This is because there are still some vegetable fibers left intact in the cabbage which are the complex carbohydrates that break down into the simpler food that the lacto bacillus and bulgaricus bacteria feed on during the fermentation process.

Our Sauerkraut maintains its fibers better than others for several reasons -- one, because we pay close attention at when to pull and pack our Sauerkraut; and two, because of the method of preparation on the cabbages: they are shredded coarsely, and as a result the Kraut is not reduced to a near relish consistency at the end. This is one of the key reasons our Sauerkraut is so active and why we were forced to begin doing the heating process. The fermentation process must be carefully watched to ensure that the product is packed and cooled at a time prior to when the bacteria use up the bulk of the food supply -- i.e. when all the fibers in the kraut have been broken down and those simple carbohydrates have been consumed. If your fermentation process is too long, or at too hot of an ambient temperature, the process will happen faster and eventually you can over ferment your product. If this happens the bacteria and the enzymes have run out of viable food sources and begin to die off.

You can see that in creating the optimal Sauerkraut there is quite a bit more to it than just throwing it together waiting until it is not giving off anymore gas to throw it in the jar.

We hope this message wasn't too overwhelming, finds you in good spirits and that you are well.

Cheers,

Jeffrey R. Wilson
Bubbies of San Francisco, Inc.
Ph: (209) 951-6071
Fax: (209) 951-6290

Wow - there is a LOT more to it than I realized! And I don't know about you, but I am certainly going to seek out their Pickled Green Tomatoes - sounds delicious. I can personally vouch for the Sour Dills - truly the best dill pickle I've ever had, and their Bread and Butter Pickles are to die for. I think Bubbie would agree - quality, well-made pickles are a real treasure in this over-processed world.