To me, when making sauerkraut or any other fermented vegetable product, it makes
more sense to include whey and a modest amount of salt than to rely upon salt or
acid vinegar or pepper or cabbage juice, hoping that these alternatives (to
direct inoculation) will favor the beneficial over the harmful bacteria. Whey as
a byproduct of fermenting cheese or making kefir etc. includes overwhelming
numbers of the beneficial lactic acid producing bacteria derived from the
starter culture and amplified during the cheese-making process. These large
numbers of beneficial bacteria can help ensure that any harmful bacteria present
in the cabbage or other ingredients are out-numbered. Also, many of the
beneficial bacteria used to ferment milk into cheese are the same as or similar
to those that are ultimately responsible for fermenting cabbage into kraut.

Cabbage that is naturally fermented into kraut due to the actions of the
cabbage's indigeous bacteria undergoes a natural succession; at first coliform
bacteria are favored (coliforms can be pathogenic), then the slimy Leuconostoc
are favored, and finally the lactic acid bacteria such as Lactobacilli
predominate and esentially eliminate the coliforms and Leuconostoc. For better
or for worse, I suspect that the addition of whey might actually reduce the
numbers of coliforms or Leuconostoc or even Clostridium botulinum growing in
one's sauerkraut.

I made one batch of cabbage kraut for a class I taught using a high- salt
no-whey recipe. It turned into a foul smelling slimy mess that I would not go
near. After that, I wasn't comfortable attempting kraut again until I chanced
upon recipes in Nourishing Traditions and in Klaus Kaufmann's Making Sauerkraut
that included whey.

Donna, Southern California