Avocado toast or hotdog, topping can be a serious concern. Especially if you are a food person.
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New kraut vs sauerkraut
New kraut and sauerkraut are considered to be the same but there are some differences. New kraut is cabbage dipped in a vinegar solution. Sauerkraut is cabbage fermented using brine. There’s a major difference in the nutrition value of new kraut and sauerkraut. This is how the collision continues.
Unless you want to get lost in this battle, a clear insight into the comparison is necessary.
Since I am a foodie myself, I am here to help you with my fellow article here.
So, pick up your forks, prepare the plates. The food is about to be served!
Quick-Comparison
Before running into any description, how about going for some quick review? Let us see what new kraut and sauerkraut have for us at a glance:
| Features | New Kraut | Sauerkraut |
| Raw material | Cabbage | Cabbage |
| Ingredients | Vinegar, ginger, onions | Salt, water |
| Fermenting agent | Vinegar | Brine, or salt and water |
| Process timing | Fast | Slow |
| Time of expiry | 4-5 days of opening | 4-6 months once opened |
| Taste | Sour | Sour and salty |
| Best for | Nutrition | Nutrition |
This is for the quick review of our contestants.
New Kraut vs Sauerkraut: Detailed Comparison
Now just one sneak peek isn’t all to judge the best among our competitors, right?
New kraut or sauerkraut, which one should be on your dish? To find this, you must explore deep into the ocean.
Main Component
Now the main component of our ‘kraut-story’ is cabbage.
Cabbage is a popular veggie. Whether you cook it. Or, it’s in the form of a gazpacho in your freezer.
In fact, The name ‘kraut’ means making cabbage jam.
If you are up for sauerkraut, the main ingredient is cabbage.
The same thing goes for new kraut. The food is all about cabbage.
Any type of cabbage is used. You can try purple cabbage if you like colors.
Ingredients Added
Cabbage is not alone in its journey to becoming kraut. It gets support from other ingredients.
Let’s have a glimpse of the new kraut. In new kraut, the main ingredient that is used for making kraut is vinegar. You can also use onions, gingers as well. This adds up to the taste.
Now, Sauerkraut. In sauerkraut, all you need is salt with your cabbage.
Waiting to hear more components? Don’t worry! It’s that much only. Only salt is used to create sauerkraut.
Now times can come when you may not have vinegar around you. You can use brine instead. It works the same.
Speciality Factor
What’s the secret behind any kraut? Well, it’s the fermenting agent.
For Kraut, vinegar works as the fermenting factor. It’s the one that softens up our cabbage and starts the transformation.
Cut the cabbage with a good quality vegetable knife and put it in the jar. Add vinegar. Vinegar starts the pickling.
That goes for new kraut, what about sauerkraut?
Obviously, it’s the brine or the salt you will use. The salt gets out the water from the cabbage, making it soft and juicy.
These are some vinegar you can find in the shop.
| Product 1 | |
| Product 2 |
They are the tastiest ones in the market. Not sure? Try it yourself then!
Process Time
Now just the fermentation process will surely take some time. Only after that, you can eat your kraut.
Making of new kraut is a fast process. Vinegar is used to make new kraut. Once the cabbage is ready, mix it up with vinegar. Then let it get fermented.
Naturally, kraut with vinegar gets ready or fermented in a few hours. Pretty fast, right?
In this case, the souring of sauerkraut is rather a long-term process. Once the cabbage slices are dipped in the salt solution, you need to keep it for a few days, a week will be even better.
So you need to wait for a while before you can enjoy kraut delight.
New kraut or sauerkraut, it is better to keep the cabbage in a souring solution as long as possible. The more pickling it gets, the more tasty treat you’ll get.
Lifetime
Let’s talk about the lifetime. You want your pickle to last longer, right?
Generally, Pickled foods last longer than usual foods.
The life span of the new kraut is kind of small. These newbies are found mostly in cans.
Once you open the can, the new kraut can live up for 4-5 days, if you keep it open. So eat before it expires.
Sauerkrauts can stay longer in this regard. Once you open your sauerkraut, it can easily stick up to 4-5 weeks.
If you handle the kraut with care, you will be able to save it up even 4-5 months as well. Now that’s a lot of time.
Nutritional Value
You are having food and the next concern will be, is it healthy or not?
Normally kraut is considered a probiotic full of nourishments. No wonder why kraut has so many health benefits.
Let’s check on sauerkraut first. Sauerkraut is full of nutritions. The brine fermentation helps to grow friendly bacteria at the cabbages.
These bacteria produce the lactic acid that keeps the krauts long-lasting. Bacteria also add up extra nutrients to the krauts. For which sauerkraut becomes super nourished.
Speaking of new kraut, new kraut is a bit less nourished compared to sauerkraut. The reason is, new kraut is soured with vinegar.
Vinegar kills most of the bacteria. Although it kills most of the germs, it also kills friendly bacteria. Because of this, You won’t get the extra nutrition.
Taste
Let’s see what our kraut should taste like. After all, you are going to eat it.
New kraut has a light sour taste. It’s because of the vinegar. The vinegar gives a musty taste. However, the new kraut tastes salted.
Moreover, while eating it, you’ll get a crunchier taste.
Sauerkraut tastes sour, not as much as new kraut. Also, it will feel a bit soft when you eat.
Origins
You must be wondering about their origin, right? Let’s know then.
Original kraut was first invented in early China. Still, there’s a catch.
Let’s look at sauerkraut first. It is a traditional German food.
The Germans use this as an extra feature like the fine quality chimichurri sauce with a hotdog, avocado toast. Also like a salad.
Here comes the new kraut. Basically, it’s kind of a customization of the traditional sauerkraut.
Normally, this was first introduced by the British. They used vinegar for the quick fermentation of cabbage.
Final Verdict: New Kraut or Sauerkraut?
So now’s time to take the leap of faith. Should you go for new kraut or sauerkraut?
Well, truth to be told, both are good appetizers. No one beats the other completely. If you want to have quick easy kraut delight, then go for new kraut. Tasty, healthy, and fast processing.
Nevertheless, you can be a man of culture and look for traditional touch in your kraut. Then go for sauerkraut. Traditional, slow process, but full of nutritions and simple processing.
Whatever you are up for, keep one golden rule in your mind. Choose which one suits you best. That’s it.
FAQs
Is patuerised sauerkraut is better than non-pastuerised sauerkraut?
Well if you are looking from a nutritionist’s view, then no. Pasteurized kraut is heated to a specific temperature which kills most of the good bacteria. So, raw kraut is much healthier than pasteurized one.
You get gas if you eat sauerkraut?
Not at all. Sauerkraut is a Nutri-bomb. It rather improves your digestion rather than giving gastric complexities.
Why there’s a bad smell coming off from the fermentation jar?
Well, the bad smell comes from the sulfur present in the cabbage. It creates hydrogen sulfide, which gives off a bad smell, more like a rotten-egg odor.
Final Words
That’s it, Gordon Ramsay. This is all in the bag. Hope now you know the result of the new kraut vs sauerkraut.
Stay safe and happy hunting for good food.
Bon appetit!