Print

If you don’t try something new, you’ll never discover something new.  Last year we had our first successful cabbage crop, so Aunt Alisa made sauerkraut.  It is so much better than the store-bought, so we are looking forward to her making it again this year.

 

Ingredients
  • 3 pounds cabbage
  • 1 ½ tablespoon sea salt
    • (do NOT use iodized salt)

 

Brine

  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 4 cups of water

 

Instructions
  • Wash, core, and remove outer leaves of the cabbage. Cut into ¼-inch strips. Place in a bowl, and sprinkle with salt.
  • Let sit for 15 minutes. It should taste like salt water. Then work the cabbage by crushing and mashing for 8-10 minutes using your hands and/or sauerkraut tamper.
  • Place the cabbage in a jar firmly packing it with the back of a spoon to remove any air pockets. (Make sure to leave 2 inches of space at the top of the jar.)
  • Now pour the brine over the cabbage leaving 1 inch of space at the top of the jar. Make sure the cabbage is completely submersed to prevent molding.
  • Add a glass weight to keep it from floating. Affix lid to jar then place on a small tray to catch any drippings. Store at room temperature with no direct sunlight.
  • Make sure to burp during the fermenting process. If you use the easy fermenter starter kit, it will burp automatically without you having to lift the lid and risking the addition of bad bacteria.
  • Let ferment at least one week. Then taste and smell the sauerkraut to see if it is tangy enough for your preference. If it is, refrigerate to store.  If not, continue to ferment and burp.  Taste each week until desired flavor is achieved.
  • Once it tastes just right, you can water bath to make shelf-stable using the raw packed method in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.

We like it fermented two weeks.