The Cooking Cobb

Sauerkraut (Fermented)

Posted on June 29, 2011. Filed under: Cultured, Cured, or Fermented, Side Dishes |

I have been making my own fermented sauerkraut for a couple years now.  It takes a little time to make, but I think it is completely worth it.  It is wonderful with Homemade Corned Beef.

Ingredients:

• 7 – 8 lb green cabbage (about 3 large heads)
• 2 green apples
• 2 small onions
• 3 bay leaves, crumbled
• 1/4 tsp cheese culture (optional)

Plus the following ingredients are per pound:

• 1 tsp pickling salt
• 1/2 tsp caraway seeds
• 3 juniper berries

Storage:

• 2 tbs salt
• 1/4 cup vinegar

Clean and quarter the apples and onions.  Slice the stem off the cabbage and remove outer leaves.  Reserve a couple leaves for later.  Quarter and core the cabbage; do not discard the core.

Slice the cabbage thinly.

Grate the cabbage cores, apples, and onions.

Combine the vegetables and bay leaves.  Weigh all the ingredients.

The salt, caraway, and juniper berries are measured according to weight.  My vegetables weighed 7 1/2 lbs so  I added 7 1/2 tsp salt, 3 3/4 tsp caraway seeds, and 23 juniper berries.  Mix with the cabbage mixture and allow to sit for 30 minutes.

I use a 5 liter Harsch fermenting crock (on the right).  You can also use an open crock.

Place a large handful of cabbage in the crock and press down firmly with a potato masher or spoon.  Keep adding handfuls of cabbage and pressing it down until all the vegetables are in the crock.

Add the cheese culture.  Some of the recipes for fermenting called for whey so I started adding the culture instead of whey.  Add the stones and enough filtered (or spring) water to cover.  If you are using an open crock spread out the reserved whole leaves over the vegetables.  Then add enough water to cover.

Put the lid on the crock and add enough water in the trough to cover the hole.  If you are using an open crock fill a large plastic bag with water, place that over the cabbage being careful to watch for trapped air.  The reason it needs to be covered in this manner is so air can escape, but not get into the crock.  Here is a close up of my crock that shows the hole that allows air to escape.

Allow to sit at room temperature for 4 weeks.  Mine started slowly bubbling after 2 days and continued for about a week.

After 4 weeks has passed remove the lid.  When you first remove the lid it might smell a little funny and the liquid will be cloudy.  The important thing is that the vegetables still have a nice texture; not soft or squishy.  Add the salt and vinegar storage ingredients to a one gallon jar.  Remove the sauerkraut and place into your storage jar.  Pour in the liquid from the crock.  Cover and refrigerate.  This lasts for months in the refrigerator.

Make a Comment

2 Responses to “Sauerkraut (Fermented)”

Comments RSS Feed

Where's The Comment Form?