What do you make sauerkraut in

Pack the cabbage firmly into a very clean glass quart jar. Pour the liquid that was released during kneading on top. Cut a circle the same diameter as your jar out of the reserved cabbage leaf. Place it on top of the packed-down cabbage. Place a weight on top of the cabbage to ensure that it stays under the brine.

Screw a plastic lid onto the jar. Place the jar in a rimmed pan to catch any overflow and allow to ferment at room temperature until the kraut is as sour as you like it.

This can take anywhere from 1—4 weeks. After it's done fermenting, store the sauerkraut in the refrigerator. Sauerkraut is one of my favorite fermented foods.

The flavor is fairly neutral, so it goes with a lot of meals. I can make organic sauerkraut for much less than that. Start with a head of cabbage.

Before you do anything to it, weigh it. Peel off the outer leaves of the cabbage. These tend to be dirty or damaged. I like to give the cabbage a good rinse at this point.

Since you cut out the core, the water can flow into the leaves and wash them. Make sure to turn the cabbage upside down and shake out any water. Shred your cabbage and place it in a large bowl. I usually do this the old-fashioned way with a knife, but you could use a food processor if you prefer. Lisa from the blog Farmhouse on Boone suggests shredding your cabbage through the grater blade on your food processor if you like your sauerkraut fine.

I tried that and it makes slicing a breeze! It really depends on how salty you like your sauerkraut. If you like it nice and salty, use 2 teaspoons of salt per pound of cabbage. I personally find that 2 teaspoons of salt per pound is too salty. Knead the cabbage for 5 minutes.

You should have a fair amount of liquid at the bottom of the bowl after kneading. While this method is the least labor-intensive, it takes the longest. Four weeks or more are necessary before moving to cold storage because of the size of the cabbage heads.

The easiest way to start making sauerkraut is with our Homemade Sauerkraut Kit! This kit includes everything you need to start fermenting at home and comes with detailed instructions crafted by our fermentation experts to make everything as easy and as fun as possible. Click here to get out Sauerkraut Kit and start making homemade sauerkraut today!

Below you'll find our basic sauerkraut recipe. This recipe utilizes the pounding and kneading method. It is a great place to start for anyone just beginning to explore fermented vegetables. Once you've mastered the basics, you can vary this recipe by adding other vegetables, herbs, and spices.

Or use one of our other sauerkraut recipes for inspiration. Prior to culturing, you can also mix 1 part other vegetables or ingredients shredded carrots, apples, etc. For a non-traditional sauerkraut, try this carrot sauerkraut recipe or a zucchini kraut recipe.

Cultures For Health has everything you need to start making sauerkraut at home with our amazing Sauerkraut Kit! On top of that, this kit is also great for making kimchi, pickles, and other fermented vegetables! Click here to get your Sauerkraut Kit now!

Home » Learn » Recipes » Homemade Sauerkraut. Recipe: Homemade Sauerkraut. Start Making Homemade Sauerkraut Now! Add to Cart. The better your ingredients, the better the finished product will be. Use at least some salt. Salt is a traditional ingredient in sauerkraut because it increases shelf life, texture, and flavor. The amount of salt used can vary according to personal taste preference. We recommend 1 to 3 Tbsp. Create an anaerobic environment.

Salt is a key ingredient in fermenting foods for several reasons: 1 It creates an environment that favors the formation of lactobacillus bacteria good bacteria and prevents unwanted bacteria and yeast from forming, 2 It prolongs the shelf-life, 3 It helps preserve the vitamin and mineral content of the food, 4 It improves the flavor, 5 It helps keep the vegetables crisp and crunchy, and 6 It slows down the fermentation process so that the vegetables can develop a fuller, more complex flavor.

While fermented foods are slower to go bad, they most certainly can and will in time. So how can you tell if sauerkraut is bad? See below. In most cases it is perfectly safe. When this happens it is perfectly safe to remove and discard the top layer of the sauerkraut.

This is true if the mold is a greenish or grayish color. If however the mold is black, orange, or pink or if your sauerkraut has changed to an unpleasant color, slimy texture, or bad smell, then toss it. Remove any bruised or damaged exterior leaves from the cabbage, then cut the cabbage in half and remove the core. For the best texture we recommend slicing it very thinly by hand, not with a food processor. You can slice it by hand, use a mandolin , or cabbage slicer.

Place the sliced cabbage in a large bowl and toss in the salt. Let it sit for about 20 minutes until the cabbage has begun to wilt and releases some of its juices. This will take several minutes. Transfer the cabbage and all the juices to a glass or ceramic jar or crock a bit at a time and mash it down with a tamper.

Continue to mash the cabbage with the tamper, releasing more juice, until the cabbage is completely submerged under the brine.

The object should be glass, ceramic, or non-reactive metal. Because of the small diameter of the jar, after a day or two of fermenting the cabbage usually remains below the liquid level.

If the cabbage rises above it I just mash it back down with the tamper. If you choose to use mason jars without using something to weigh down the cabbage, just be sure to keep a close eye on it each day throughout the fermentation process.

Screw on the lids to fingertip tightness. If using airlock lids, follow the instructions provided with your lids. Place the jars in a dark place that is between degrees F, the ideal temperature for fermenting. At a the ideal temperature range of F we recommend fermenting the cabbage for at least 2 weeks we recommend longer but follow your own taste. After 4 days of fermenting start tasting the cabbage daily until it reaches the desired texture and level of tanginess.

The color of the cabbage will change from green to a pale yellowish beige in the pic below compare the green-colored cabbage in the jars, still in the early stages of fermenting, with the finished sauerkraut in the middle.

Store the sauerkraut in the fridge or a cold cellar. The storage temp should be between degrees F. Stored in the fridge the sauerkraut will keep for many months. Eat your sauerkraut raw to reap the benefits of the probiotics or use it in any recipe calling for sauerkraut. Thank you for you receipt!!! I made this several months ago and we thoroughly enjoyed the results. So much that I made it again. I was noting this time that the water rendered from salting the cabbage was not enough to cover it, so I used your tip for adding salted water to cover the cabbage.

I checked the math and it turns out that is not the case. Which is correct? My concern is that I over-salted the sauerkraut. Might also consider a correction. Thanks again for posting the receipt! Our house generally is …. Will it still work???