Tag: fermentation

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Simple Sauerkraut

Writing an article about Simple Sauerkraut actually surprises me. I’ve never liked sauerkraut.

At least that’s what I thought.

As I get further into my DIY, I find I’m willing to try more and more things. I’m slowly realizing how much my tastes have changed as I became an adult. I’ve been an adult for a long time and still find myself afraid to try things I remember not liking in the past.

I’m making a concerted effort to change that.

What’s left from my first purple batch of sauerkraut.

What made me decide to give it a try was reading several articles that said homemade kraut is so much better than the store bought kraut. Many different people said that you couldn’t even compare the two.

How could I resist?

Start with 1 head of cabbage after pulling the outside leaves off, that aren’t so tender.
Quarter and remove the hard center core.
Thinly chop the cabbage.
A bowl full of chopped cabbage.
Add salt to the cabbage. I actually added about half again of what you see in this picture.
Mash and massage the cabbage with the salt.
The cabbage is getting transparent at this point.
Some brine at the bottom of the bowl from mashing the cabbage.
Jam pack it in the jars using a wooden spoon or something similar. If you look closely you can see the brine in the jar.
I can’t get a whole head of cabbage in 1 quart no matter how hard I try. Again look closely and you can see the brine from the mashing process.
The sandwich baggie cover I discovered works great for my simple sauerkraut.
Add water to the inside of the sandwich baggie and it acts to seal the jar and keep the cabbage submerged under the brine.

Simple Sauerkraut

Ingredients

  • Cabbage
  • Salt

Directions

  1. Cut your cabbage in quarters and remove the core.
  2. Thinly slice the the head of cabbage.
  3. Sprinkle approximately 2-4 tsp of salt over the sliced cabbage.
  4. Massage the cabbage for several minutes.
  5. Cover your bowl with a paper towel and let set for 10-20 minutes.
  6. Continue to message the cabbage as it becomes transparent and begins to break down and a liquid begins to form in the bottom of the bowl.
  7. Add your cabbage to quart jars and pound it down to get as much cabbage in the jar as you can. You’d be surprised how much cabbage you can get into a quart jar.
  8. The cabbage should be covered with the liquid from the process. *See tips below.
  9. Cover the jar loosely & let set 14 to 21 days. *See tips below.

Tips:

Covering the Cabbage

You want to make sure the cabbage remains completely submerged in the brine solution. I’ve read several ways to do this. If you screw the lid of the jar on the jar, you must remember to “burp” the jar daily.

Or you can make the extra brine and pour it over the cabbage (2 tsp salt to 1 quart water). Or you can buy fermenting weights to set on the cabbage and hold it below the liquid or buy fermenting lids that automatically releases the gases from the fermentation process.

I found a really cool way of putting a plastic sandwich baggie over the cabbage and add water to the baggie. Make sure the bubbles (all air) has been pushed out from under the bag and you have a seal where the gases can still escape easily.

Try to get all the bubbles out from under the baggie after adding your water to the baggie.

Letting the Cabbage Sit

The first recipe I tried, I let sit for 14 days. That turned out good, but I think the batch I have going now I’ll let set for 21 days. I think it’ll be even better.

The longer you let it set the more “twang” it’ll have.

Options

The first batch I made I used a half head of red cabbage and a half head of green cabbage. I thought it would be cool to have the different colors in the jar. The red actually overtook every other color in the jar, but it was pretty.

This was really a colorful simple sauerkraut. I actually saw one article where someone covered her green cabbage with a purple cabbage leaf before letting it set and it was a really cool effect in the jar. Give it a try.

I’ve read that you can add carrots, onions, radishes as well as other veggies to add to the flavor or to make it your very own. I’m excited to try adding shredded carrots in the future.

I hope you’ll give it a try. It really is as simple as you can get and it really is good.

I hope you enjoyed this one. It surprised me that I did. Tell me about your sauerkraut, if you’d like.

If there’s something specific you’d like me to try, leave a comment and let me know what it might be. I’d love to try something new.

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Until next time – Health, Wealth & Blessings ~ Tracey