Try This Recipe for Fermented Turnips (Sauerruben) for a Tangy Snack (2024)

FAQs

How long to ferment sauerruben? ›

4) Ferment

Secure a lid or jar top fermenter, and set to ferment out of direct sunlight at room temperature for 10-21 days. A longer fermentation time yields a more sour flavor; it also softens the texture of the woody roots. Refrigerate for up to 1 year.

Like curtido, sauerruben can be eaten as a side dish (a pickled salad) or as a condiment for a wide variety of recipes. Sauerreuben is generally served raw. Its sour, tangy, tart flavor complements many rich, hearty, and spicy Latin American dishes; it's also great as banchan, a Korean-style side dish.

Make sure that the lids are not too tight, so that the pressure can come out naturally during fermentation. Place the jars on a small plate to catch any excess liquid. Leave to ferment at room temperature for about 3 weeks (or more).

Sauerruben (Fermented Turnips)

Rutabagas are also generally much larger than turnips. So for a quick rule of thumb, the brownish-yellowish ones are rutabagas, and the smaller white and purple ones are turnips. In terms of their flavor, rutabagas are slightly sweeter-tasting than turnips whereas turnips have a slightly more radishy flavor.

Store the container at 70°–75°F (21°–23°C) while fermenting. At these temperatures, sauerkraut will be fully fermented in about three to four weeks; at 60°–65°F (15°–18°C), fermentation may take six weeks.

Use turnips any way you would use a potato, and then some. Try them baked or boiled in stews, soups and stir-fries, or lightly steamed with some butter, salt or lemon juice for flavor.

Another delicious member of the brassica family, purple top turnips are generally the last turnips to make it to our CSA shares. These storage crops have a somewhat spicy flavor and can be enjoyed raw or cooked.

Local residents have been distilling a strong turnip liquor called Wildschönauer Krautinger as far back as the 1700s, when Habsburg empress Maria Theresa granted 51 area farmers the exclusive rights to produce it. Around 15 families still make it today.

If harvesting for both the root and the leaves, the turnip should be about 2 inches in diameter, but if the leaves have been harvested first, the turnip should be 3 inches in diameter when it is ready to be pulled. Pick turnips when they are smaller for a milder, sweeter flavor.

Why are my turnips tough? ›

If the soil is too heavy, the crop will rot. If the soil is too lumpy or rocky, the roots will be tough, fibrous and misshapen.

It has fermented too long. At room temperature, tepache develops quickly and can turn to vinegar. It is not lost! Use it as a table vinegar for your summer salads, or in your “sour” co*cktails.

The typical fermentation takes two weeks when making ale and four to eight weeks when making lager. For more on the distinction between the two, see our post going over the difference between ale and lager.

Fermentation: Keep fermentation temps up to around 70° or 75° F. Fermentation should last between 10 to 20 days. Rack into a conditioning vessel and bulk age for 3 to 6 months.

Fermentation should activate into two to three days, and the tepache is usually optimal by day five. By then, small bubbles should cover the surface of the ferment. Store tepache in the refrigerator in a covered glass jar for up to a week. You may need to burp the jar, occasionally, to release gas.