homemade sauerkraut recipe

Traditionally made from cabbage and a saltwater brine, sauerkraut is fermented for several weeks. Homemade sauerkraut is amazing and doesn&#039;t resemble store bought at all, plus it&#039;s easy and cheap to make and filled with probiotics.

Sauerkraut

cabbage (any variety)

tbsp kosher salt salt

dill seed

tbsp caraway seed

tbsp mustard seed

Peel away the outermost leaf from the cabbage and set it aside to use later.

Shred up the rest of the cabbage as finely as possible. A cheese grater works well for this, but you can also slice it thinly with a knife.

Put the shredded cabbage into a big wide bowl. Sprinkle the salt all over the cabbage and stir it around to thoroughly coat everything. Then add the spices to the cabbage.

Mash the cabbage with a potato masher, wooden spoon, or a fermentation tamper. Really mash it good to bruise the cabbage and break down the cell walls which will release juice.

After mashing the cabbage for a while it will be much more juicy and will have lost quite a bit of its volume. When it gets to this stage it’s time to pack the cabbage into a quart jar.

Use a wooden spoon to pack it into the jar. Once you pack all of the cabbage into the jar you should have a brine that covers the cabbage.

Put the reserved cabbage leaf on top of the shredded cabbage which will help to keep all of the little cabbage pieces under the brine.

Add a fermenting weight on top of the cabbage leaf. This will keep everything under the brine during the fermentation process.

Cover the jar with a fermenting airlock system, or you can simply cover the whole thing with a cloth or towel. Put the jar in a quiet corner of your kitchen to ferment.

Push down on the weight a few times for the first day whenever you think of it, and make sure the brine is completely covering the cabbage. It may not be for the first 24 hours, but if it’s still not after that you need to add more brine.

Taste the kraut as you go along, and when it’s to your liking that means it’s done. This could take 2-3 weeks or even longer.

Once it has finished fermenting, store the sauerkraut in a covered jar in the refrigerator. It will last for many months or even longer.

Homemade old-fashioned sauerkraut is easy to make with simple ingredients in a traditional fermentation crock. The basic recipe is just cabbage and salt but you can add other vegetables and seasonings. As a general rule, use 2-3% salinity for traditionally fermented vegetables.

How to Make Sauerkraut Recipe in a Crock

lbs cabbage (1800 grams, or 1 large head)

oz carrots (optional,

oz cucumber (optional,

oz radish (optional,

turmeric powder (optional)

garlic

ginger root (optional)

red pepper flakes (optional)

flowering dill (optional,

coriander seeds (optional)

horseradish leaf (or several grape leaves, cherry leaves

Prep the ingredients: wash the cabbage, vegetables, ginger root and fresh herbs well. Remove the outer leaves of the cabbage and peel the carrots if they are mature. Peel the garlic cloves.

Shred the washed cabbage and vegetables using a box grater or food processor with a slicer or grater blade. Add the shredded veggies to a large mixing bowl.

Thinly slice the garlic cloves. Smash ginger with a mallet or flat edge of a kitchen knife. Add them along with the rest of the ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix everything together using spoons or clean hands. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes to let the juices release from the veggies.

Pack the sauerkraut mixture into a clean fermentation crock or large glass mason jars. Pour any extra juices in the bowl over the mixture.

Cover the sauerkraut mixture with the horseradish leaf or other tannin-rich leaves to help retain the crispness of the veggies.

Press the sauerkraut mixture down with fermentation weights until it is submerged in its own juices. The brine should cover the mixture by at least 1&quot;.

Cover the fermentation crock with the lid and let veggies ferment on counter-top at room temperature for anywhere from 2-8+ weeks. Check it periodically to make sure veggies are submerged in liquid, and for spoilage. It should smell pleasantly sour, not off-putting or moldy.

Taste it at 2 weeks and weekly thereafter until it is fermented to your tastes. At that point, remove and discard the leaves if used. Pack the fermented sauerkraut into sterilized mason jars and seal them with plastic lids. Store the jars in the refrigerator.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXJj4ToO1wg

Golden Sauerkraut Recipe by Kaity Farrell of Fare Isle. Learn how to make wild fermented sauerkraut with the use of a fermentation crock from Gardeners Supply Co. 

Full detailed recipe here: http://www.fareisle.com/blog/2016/9/25/golden-sauerkraut-fermentation-crock-giveaway

Head our instagram feed to enter for a chance to win a fermentation crock from Gardeners Supply Co.

Link to fermentation crock: http://www.gardeners.com/buy/stoneware-pickling-crock-1gallon/8587567RS.html

Sauerkraut Recipe

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