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Homemade Sauerkraut

Homemade Sauerkraut is so Easy.

Karen
Making sauerkraut yourself is so EASY. I highly recommend that you try this. Naturally fermented food is very good for us. It's the bacteria. It has always been known that the bacteria is good for our gut. Studies now suggest that sauerkraut has anti-cancer fighting benefits. With that in mind, I would recommend not canning it. You will kill all of the good bacteria. I have sauerkraut that a friend gave me last summer in my refrigerator and a year later it is still good.
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Prep Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients
  

Kraut

  • 5 lbs cabbage
  • 3 Tablespoons salt

Brine

  • 4 cups distilled water
  • 1.5 Tabelspoons salt

Instructions
 

  • Pick off any damaged/dirty outer leaves from the cabbage.
  • Slice whole cabbage in half. Cut out cabbage core.
  • Slice cabbage by hand or with a food processor.
  • Dump cabbage into a container large enough to hold all of it with room to spare.
  • Sprinkle salt over the cut cabbage.
  • Massage the cut cabbage. Your best tools for this job are clean hands. You can also use a potato masher, a spoon , or as I did a wooden spatula.
  • Your goal is to force the cabbage to release as much moisture as it can. This liquid plus the salt becomes your brine. This process can take 30 minutes or more depending on the cabbage.
  • Once the cabbage has released a lot of liquid, pack it into a container. I used a BPA free plastic bucket. You can use a ceramic crock or mason jars. Pack it so that the liquid covers the cabbage. If you need more liquid go ahead and make a brine. Pour enough to cover the kraut.
  • An alternate method is to put a weight on top of your cabbage. I used a round plate with a rock (inside two seal-able plastic bags) on top to hold the cabbage under the brine. I put a plastic lid on my bucket half full of cabbage. Some people say it should breath so they cover it with a thin towel or cheesecloth. I didn't have any problems.
  • Put the container of cabbage in a cool spot (70°-75°) Look at your cabbage every few days. If any scum begins to form (usually on stuff above the brine) scrape it off. Taste it until it is to your liking. Can take from 3-4 weeks. (If temperatures are 60°- 65° it can take a couple more weeks to ferment. It is not advisable to ferment it in temperatures under 60°.)
  • Once the taste has reached your liking put it into clean mason jars (again make sure the liquid covers the sauerkraut, make more brine if necessary) and store in the refrigerator for months. You can also can the sauerkraut for longer shelf life. If using the hot pack method bring cabbage/brine mixture to a boil stirring frequently. Pack kraut and juice into jars leaving 1/2 - inch headspace. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes for pints and 15 minutes for quarts.
  • For cold pack fill your jars with kraut and juice leaving 1/2- inch headspace. Process in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts.

Notes

I recommend buying as fresh of cabbage as possible. Local farmers markets are great for fresh produce. If you can, grow your own. Not difficult. The fresher it is the more liquid it will release.
If you want to make a larger batch just remember that it is 3 Tablespoons salt for every five pounds of cabbage. Massage in five pound batches. I use canning/pickling salt. Just don't use a coarse salt as the pieces of salt might not dissolve enough.