Home-made Sauerkraut

Print
Home-made Sauerkraut
Prep Time
30 mins
 

This recipe scales to match any need. The sauerkraut can age in any size container, pictured here are a quart canning jar and a 5 liter ceramic crock. It is best to use a glass or ceramic container, but food-grade plastic will work. Avoid any type of metal container for the fermentation process.

The only two required ingredients below are the cabbage and salt, although without the caraway, I would just call the result pickled cabbage, not sauerkraut. Any other fresh vegetable could be used in addition to the cabbage. Experiment! 

Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Farm Fresh and Vegetarian
Servings: 1 Gallon
Author: Bruce Fihe
Ingredients
  • 5 pounds cabbage
  • 3 tbsp sea salt or kosher salt
  • 2 tbsp caraway seeds
  • 2 - 3 medium carrots optional
  • 2 medium onions optional
  • 3 - 4 stocks celery optional
  • 1 - 2 apples, tart
Instructions

  1. Set aside a few leaves of cabbage, enough to cover the surface of your fermentation container.

  2. Chop cabbage. I like big chunks of cabbage in my sauerkraut.

  3. Add salt. I add the salt to the chopped cabbage so that it can begin to extract the juices from the vegetables.

  4. Add caraway seeds, mix by hand, crushing the cabbage

  5. chop and add celery and onions

  6. Slice and add carrots and apple. I use a mandoline slicer with the finest cross-cut blade.

  7. Mix the ingredients by hand, squeezing to crush the vegetables a bit.  

  8. Pack into the fermentation container.

  9. Cover the surface with a layer of cabbage leaves.

  10. Place a weight, glass or ceramic, on top of the cabbage leaves.

  11. Ensure that the extracted liquid covers to top of the ingredients. Note in this image, there was no added liquid, what you see if the natural result of the salt extracting the juices of the vegetables. 

  12. Check the process of the fermentation 24-hours later.

  13. Let the sauerkraut ferment for one week. With a glass container, you can watch the process. If you are using a non-transparent ceramic crock, resist the temptation to open the lid and look in.

  14. If your container is open to the air, a white scum may form on top. This is harmless and can be skimmed off. In a purpose-built crock with a water-lock lid, this scum will not form. The sauerkraut can be kept at room-temperature for several weeks as long as the liquid level is above ingredients. Use what you need as you go.