Directions:
Shred the cabbage with a knife or a slicer
like this one. |
Sprinkle a tablespoon of salt onto the cabbage and work in with your fingers. |
Work the salt into the cabbage and let sit for a while 20 min to 2 hours. |
Put the cabbage into your fermenting vessel,crock or a sterilized mason jar.
The cabbage should produce plenty of juice all on it's own. If you don't get enough to keep the cabbage covered then add brine |
Add the Kosher salt to the water and stir till dissolved. It is important to use a salt that is free of iodineand flow agents that can hurt the fermentation. Sea salt has impurities in it that also can harm the development
of the pro biotics like lacto bacilus. If you boil the water instead of letting it sit out for 24 hours to get rid of the chlorine,
boil for 15 minutes. Let cool before you pour the brine over the cabbage.
|
Fill the water to a 1/2 inch above the plate so it makes a seal and locks out the oxygen
It is important to keep the water level above the cabbage. The time honored method is to keep a plate on top of your crock and use a weight. My grandma used a rock, here I used an empty clean canning jar filled with water. |
If you are going to ferment the cabbage in a quart jar, which I like to do, then after you have salted and let the cabbage sit a few minutes, pack it in the jar and push it down with your fingers. |
The juice will rise above the cabbage and many times make it's own oxygen seal. If a few leaves float to the top it is no big deal.
To the right is another way to make a vapor lock.
Place a sloping sided glass into the opening of your jar. |
You still need to keep the cabbage covered with water. If you can't seem to get enough water then you can always add brine. |
Let the Kraut sit for at least 3 days. The household temperature should be between 65 degrees and 75 degrees F.
Above 80 degrees F the kraut will be a bit mushy.
I taste it each day to see how it is doing. If a white scum forms on top
it isn't harmful just skim it off. If a pink scum forms it is best to throw it out.
In 3 days my Sauerkraut looks like this and tastes crunchy and wonderful!
I put it into a canning jar or other glass container and cover with the brine.
It will continue to ferment slowly in the fridge. It lasts a week to 2 weeks.
Usually after a week I will use the rest in cooking.
You can get creative with your sauerkraut and add apples, carrots, and other vegetables.
You can add spices like pepper, ginger, caraway, juniper berries to season it.
Here is a batch I made with both white and red cabbage and one clove of garlic. This is enough to give
a nice background flavor that compliments the tang of the cabbage.
Product Links and more Recipes
More information about Lacto Bacillus
Here
