How To Make Sauerkraut

Categories: Food & Drink | Cooking & Recipes | Healthy Cooking | Special Diets

  • Tips on Making Sauerkraut

    • Sealing the top of crock: You can use a wooden or porcelain or stone lid that has holes drilled in it to seal the fermenting cabbage, but it must be weighted to keep the cabbage from floating to the surface
    • Variations: Adding peppers, carrots, and onions makes Hungarian csalamádé; Korean kimchee has napa cabbage, garlic, pepper, salt, and ginger (as a basic recipe) and a separate brine is made. http://www.boingboing.net/2009/01/12/mak...
    • Lactofermentation: An anaerobic process that happens in the absence of air by Lactobacillus bacteria that are naturally present on the cabbage leaf surface
    • Handy reference: "Wild Fermentation" by Sandor Ellix Kat

  • Making sauerkraut can be done by simply adding salt to shredded cabbage. Once you do that, bacteria take over and convert the cabbage into sauerkraut by a process called lactofermentation. This how-to provides you with the details you need to be familiar with before your start so you will know how to make sauerkraut perfectly. Tips and variations on the recipe are included tips section to the right. Also provided are details on the fermentation process and how to keep sauerkraut for long-term storage.

  • Preparing to Make Sauerkraut

    In order to make sauerkraut, you will need the following items:

    1. A crock or a 5-gallon food grade plastic bucket
    2. Cabbage, 10 lbs
    3. Salt, non-iodized, pickling salt or rock salt (pulverized)
    4. Sharp knife
    5. Food processor (optional)
    6. Cutting board
    7. Caraway or fennel seeds (optional)
    8. 2 plastic garbage bags, kitchen size

  • Cutting the Cabbage and Putting It Into The Fermentation Container

    Here are the steps for preparing the cabbage and setting up the fermentation in the crock:

    1. Remove the outer leaves that are wilted or dried from the cabbage.
    2. With a sharp knife, cut the cabbage heads in half.
    3. Cut the halves into quarters.
    4. Cut out the core (feed to your children or to livestock)
    5. Shred the cabbage, using a sharp knife or a food processor (with the knife, shred by slicing the quarters finely, moving from one end to the other).
    6. Place the cabbage in the crock in three layers, for each layer, sprinkle on top 2 tablespoons of salt.
    7. Once the final layer is added, seal the top of the crock with a plastic bag (double-bagged) containing water.
    8. Place the crock in a place that is at moderate temperature (68-72 degrees F, or 20-22 degrees C) and let it ferment.
    9. Taste the cabbage weekly to determine if the sauerkraut is ready. The fermentation process may take from 3-5 weeks normally.

  • Preserving the Sauerkraut

    • If you have made the full recipe, you will have to store some of the sauerkraut. The refrigerator is good for storage of 1-2 months, but for long-term storage you can either freeze or can. If you have the freezer space, you can simply bag the sauerkraut in zip-lock freezer bags and put it in the freezer. Before serving, just place the bag in water to thaw.

    • To can sauerkraut, put it in sterilized jars that have been boiled for 5 minutes. Clean the top of the jar and place sterilized seals and rings loosely. Place into a pressure cooker for 10 minutes at 10 lbs of pressure for pints and 10 minutes at 15 lbs of pressure for quarts. Remove the jars and the lids will seal upon cooling. Then tighten down the rings. Alternatively you can use the boiling method, since it is an acidic food, see How to Can Food for instructions. http://schmidling.com/kraut.htm

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