PROJECT: Sauerkraut

This is some very nice red cabbage we grew in the garden this year...and a little left over green cabbage...this is the first shot at making sauerkraut so we will see how it comes out...it's about 10 pounds of cabbage...

Wash the cabbage, peel off the outer leaves and keep for packing into the crock later...go ahead and core out the cabbage too...

 

 

We will be using double plastic bags filled with salted water to 'hold down' the cabbage...so get that ready now as it need to cool down to room temperature before bagging...

Here is the vital information...

6 Tablespoons of sea salt to 4 quarts of water...next time I will go with 6 quarts of water and 7 TBS of sea salt...just because I was a little short with this batch...this brine will be double bagged and used as weight to hold down the caggage...it is salted so that in case the bags break or leak into the kraut, it will not ruin the fermentation and taste...

Clean and sanitize the crock and all your tools etc...I used food grade 35% hydrogen peroxide...1 ounce to 1 quart of water...

Here is my great grandmother's crock we will be using...I guess it's about 3 gallons or so...all cleaned and sanitized...

...and here is my great grandmother's cabbage shredder...

Shred up that cabbage...it helps to have 2 people workin' this bad boy...

And here is what it looks like all nice and shredded...

Now sprinkle and mix in the sea salt...7 Tablespoons to 10 pounds of cabbage...the salt draws out the water in the cabbage to form the brine and keeps your final product crunchy...MIX and MIX Some More...keep mixing all the salt in and you  will start to see the water coming out...

Make an extra quart of brine with 1 1/2 Tablespoons of sea salt and 1 quart of spring water...this will be used as extra brine in case you do not have enough to cover the cabbage in the crock...

Always use sea salt or kosher salt as table salt has nasty chemicals and iodine in it...always use fresh spring water as tap water has a whole bunch of nasty stuff in it too...I always want the best ingredients possible...

After you are well mixed up, start to press out the brine with a masher...you will see nice juice coming out after about a hour or so...

OK...load up that crock and pack down as hard as you can...then pack some more with the masher...

 

My brine was not over the top of the cabbage, so I added the quart of spring water and sea salt... this seemed to be real close, I could have added another quart...but I will check it after 24 hours to see if the brine is up over the cabbage...if not I can add some more...

Now fill up the double bags...I guess 2 gallon freezer bags would work fine...

 

I made 2 at first, but ended up needing 3 for good coverage and weight...you want to keep that cabbage down in the brine for good fermentation...

Now pack the clean cabbage outer leaves on top of the packed kraut...keep pushing it down real nice...this will be a nice buffer between the kraut and the plastic bags...put your bags in to weight it all down...cover and store in an area that does not get over 70 degrees...the cooler the area the longer fermentation time...and it will not ferment at room temperatures over 70 degrees...

 

 

So there we are...I will check it for brine level tomorrow evening...and wait about 4 weeks for the final product...will post when I bottle it up and sample it...Thanks...