Sweet or Sauerkraut

One day at the local fruit stand, we saw a sign 50lbs cabbage for $16. So we got the bright idea of trying to make sauerkraut ourselves. Well needless to say it was an adventure which we will share with you.

We ended up purchasing the box of cabbage which turned out to be around 75lbs instead but hey, 15lbs more for the same price, I will take it. But I am getting a little ahead of myself with the purchase of the cabbage. First thing I really needed was a crock, a big heavy can't lift when full crock. Luckily I found a friend who was willing to sell me hers since her family was just using it as an end table in the living room.

So now I have my crock and my cabbage. Need salt!!!!!! Stopped and got a large box of kosher salt. Perfect I got it all and ready to go. I get out my cutting board and big butcher knife. Holy Hannah, I got through the first one, it was not working the way I had hoped. I thought cutting would go so much easier, like thinly cutting lettuce, not so much. What can I do to make this quicker and easier?

Lightbulb!!!!! My uncle had given me a small meat slicer. Not top of the line but it worked. Had to cut the huge heads of cabbage in 1/4 but it worked. Problem solved. I was whipping through the heads quite quickly.

Now on the chopped end of the cabbage was my husband, Jeremy and daughter, Kali. They were putting it in a huge metal tub and beat the ever loving snot out of it. It is typical to have a stomper, but we were not prepared like we had thought we were, we didn't have one. Jeremy ended up using the wooden stomper thingy used in a cone shaped tomato sieve used for making sauce.

I was cutting and slicing, they were stomping and putting in the crock. We had a great system going and only took us about an hour to do the whole box. The scrap stuff that was left ended up being a treat for the girls in the chicken pen.

It takes about 2 months for your kraut to be ready. When it was ready we jarred up and canned and started a second batch. The second batch we ended up using regular table salt. I figured it would turn out the same way, nope wrong. Kosher salt actually made the kraut sweet and the regular table salt made it quite sour, like pucker your bunghole sour (which I like and grew up eating). So depending on your taste depends on what salt you use.

Equipment:

Large cutting board

Large butcher knife

Cabbage slicer (meat slicer or you can get a shredder)

Large crock

Big box of salt (kosher-sweet, regular-sour, or sea - don't know flavor results)

Large metal tub or 5 gal bucket

Stomper (a small sledge hammer would work as long as it's sanitized)

Water

Bucket lid (the side of the opening of crock, just a little smaller)

Weight

Ingredients:

2-3 heads of cabbage (approximately 5lbs)

3 Tbsp salt (sea, kosher, regular)

water

Directions:

Make sure all equipment is clean and sanitized.

Take the outer leaves off the cabbage, cut into 1/4 to make it easier for handling.

Set your thickness on your slicer 1/8-1/4" and slice away (be careful, keep your fingers away from the blade!!!!!!)

As one person is slicing have another put sliced cabbage into tub or bucket, add a little salt and start pounding away. It will start looking wilted and juicy. This is when we add it to the crock. Continue this process until: you run out of cabbage, or you crock is full (only fill 3/4 of way full, so as to not overflow during fermenting process).

Make sure your crock is where you want to keep it for the next 2 months. Preferably in a cool dark room, temp between 60-75 degrees. Fill your crock with water, still only to the 3/4 mark. I use the washed outer leaves I took off in the beginning and put a full thick layer over top of the cabbage. This helps protect your cabbage from coming in contact with the air and any mold that will grow on top. Next place your bucket lid on top of the leaves, set your weight on top of the lid. I used 2 milk jugs full of water. This holds your cabbage down below the water line which helps it from molding.

Cover the whole top so fruit flies or other stuff don't get into it. I used an old pillowcase and tied it tightly around it. You need to make sure it's breathable. Periodically check on it. You will see some scum on the top floating. Take a slotted spoon and just skim it off. It's fine. You will see bubbling and smell the fermentation.

After the 2 months or you taste it and it's ready, we pack into wide mouth quart jars and water bath can for 30 minutes, after your canner starts to boil.

Enjoy, and Happy New Year's Eve!!!!