Sauerkraut

[Deleted]

I'm finally trying to make my first batch ever of fermented sauerkraut. I thought about the one where you salt the cabbage and then can it in the pressure canner, but then I thought why not try the old fashioned way first? What's the worst that could happen? I could ruin it and waste a whole two heads of cabbage? That wouldn't be the end of the world...

So I shredded 2 heads of cabbage, tossed in a bowl with some canning salt, packed the shredded cabbage into a couple of old ice cream tubs, and set slightly smaller tubs full of water inside to press the cabbage down. I'm supposed to go lean on those every time I think about it (like RIGHT NOW) for the first 24 hours, to get the brine to rise above the cabbage level, then let it sit for a week or longer until it starts tasting like sauerkraut.

I wish I had a big ceramic crock to make this in, but I don't, so I have to make do with plastic. At least it's food-grade plastic. If this even comes close to working, I'm going to make Rich buy me a big ceramic crock! We both like sauerkraut and if it's this easy (and cheap) to make, I'll never buy the jarred stuff again.

~Lannie

[Kathy]

Years ago I made it using the method where you shred the cabbage, mix with salt and put it in jars with the lids tightned down but not sealed. I can't remember the exact method but I do remember it was sooooooo good.
I was the only person who ate sauerkraut in the family so I guess that's why I never did it again.

Once your method is fermented and is now sauerkraut, do you can it or what?

I wouldn't mind trying it again, cabbage is cheap here.

[kyosa]

Kathy, I've had several people tell me about using the 'in-the-jar' method of making sauerkraut and they all said it's great. You just have to make sure the jars are sitting in something that will catch any overflow from the fermenting process. I assume that after the fermenting is done the lids are tightened completely. I think since it's a high-acid food there's no further processing necessary?

Today at a Japanese/Korean restaurant I had some spicy but very good kimchi, sort of the Asian version of kraut. Good stuff but makes for a bad case of hogbreath!

[Deleted]

When my dad was in Korea, he said someone gave him a jar of kimchi and it broke, so he had to burn the car.

He never said, but I assume it was a joke - I know he didn't like kimchi!

Kathy, this method of making sauerkraut is not supposed to be canned, it's the kind you just eat off of it until it's gone then start a new batch with what's left of the old batch. I don't have a problem with that - it's similar to making yogurt (except it takes a lot longer!), but I DO have an issue with mold. Most people don't, and when they get mold on something, they scrape it off. Not me. So if this batch molds, I'm tossing it.

I have another method that I mentioned, but I haven't tried yet, where you just do like I already did (shred cabbage, mix with salt) then put in canning jars and pressure can. It supposedly makes a blander, softer kraut, but I can't imagine it would be that much different from storebought, and up to this point, that's all I've ever had. I was interested to try "real" sauerkraut, though, and I like learning how to do things the old fashioned way. Unless it molds. Then I'll start doing the quick-canning method.

~Lannie

[Kathy]

Lannie, I wonder if you put a few drops of Grapefruit Seed extract into the fermented kraut if that would inhibit the mold?

I wash all my veggies but especially greens with GSE water and they will stay fresh and not slimy for a week or more.