I was asked by another member how I made sauerkraut several weeks ago and I said I would make thread on it. Feel free to ask any questions or post how you make sauerkraut.
Step 1: Grow or buy cabbages lots of them it takes about 40 medium sized heads to make 5 gallons of finished sauerkraut.I like certain varieties of kraut for this as some contain more natural sugar than others. My favorites are Jersey Wakefield, Dutch flat, and Copenhagen. Stay away from the Stone Head variety as it does not have enough natural sugar. Once you have the cabbages cut them in quarters, wash and remove the cores.
Step 2: You will need a 5 or 6 gallon stone crock or a food grade plastic bucket, I have never used a plastic bucket but I know others have. Next you need a kraut cutter, a plate and a clean non-porous stone. I like granite, but stay away from limestone or sandstone. You can also use a quart jar filled with water with a lid on it. Make sure you sanitize all of these items with bleach water before you begin. Oh and wash your hands.
Step 3: Shred the kraut using the kraut cutter so that it falls into the crock as you shred it
Step 4: Once you start shredding the kraut you need only shred about 2 inches in the crock and add salt. So you want to add kraut-salt-kraut-salt kraut-salt until is about 80% full or however much you are making. Use only pickling or canning salt as it has no iodine. Regular table salt contains iodine and will discolor the final product. I really don't know how much salt I use in each layer I just guess by eye, enough to cover the layer of kraut lightly.
note: pay no attention to man in the photo, he can be a trouble maker.
Step 5: Now you will need to weight down the kraut using the plate and stone. Let this sit about a hour or two and check to see if the salt is pulling enough liquid out of the kraut to cover the plate. If it does not you need to and add salt water as the plate must be covered with liquid. Notice in the picture below you can see the liquid forming .
Step: 6 Now cover with cheese cloth and place the crock in a cool place to ferment, I use my cellar as it stays about 65 Degrees F that is about the ideal temperature. You must check the mixture every day and remove the scum that forms on the top of it and make sure there is enough liquid on top.
The kraut will take any where from 2 to 4 weeks to ferment( sauer). I will post the next steps which are canning, seasoning, and preparing for the table as they come about.
If you do not have a kraut cutter or a crock you can find them online, I would recommend Lehman's non-electric hardware store. They also sell all kinds of books and other homesteading tools.
http://www.lehmans.com/
Good luck and feel free to post questions or comments.![]()
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