Wanting to make sauerkraut but don’t know how? You are at the right place – roll up your sleeves, get your cabbage and let’s start
Hi Everyone,
For today we have such a tasty & easy recipe and it’s Sauerkraut! Next to cabbage and some salt, get those muscles ready! The process from cabbage to sauerkraut will take a minimum of 2 weeks (to make it sour enough) but can be stored for much longer – as long as it’s in a cold and dark place.
INGREDIENTS:
In this recipe you will need the following ingredients:
– 1 cabbage (but use as many as you want)
– salt (2% of the cabbage weight)
– 1 small carrot
– 1/4 of a red bell pepper
– 2-3 garlic cloves
– 1/2 tbsp of mustard seeds
The traditional Sauerkraut is just made from cabbage and salt – so go ahead if you like it just that way!
PREPARATION:
To start off let’s cut the cabbage in half, take the hearths out and then nicely shred it – by knife, mandolin, shredder, or food processor.
Once done, transfer it into a bowl and weigh the cut cabbage – now you will know how much salt you need.
We got 950g of cabbage, so 2% would be 19g of salt!
950 x 0,02 = 19
Put the salt into the bowl and leave it for 10 minutes.
Now it’s time for the thought part start squeezing the cabbage to the point that it’s not crispy anymore and that a lot of water came out – it will take at least 10 minutes.
Go ahead and cut the carrot, pepper, and garlic and then add them to the cabbage together with the mustard – mix it well together!
Fill your glass container with the cabbage and top it up with the brine that is left and now firmly pack the cabbage mixture into the container – press it together so you have at least 1 inch of water covering the cabbage.
It’s very important that the cabbage mix stays submerged under the brine (so it doesn’t go off) so use a weight to keep it down – in this case, I just used a food bag filled with some water.
Store the sauerkraut in a dark and cold place and release the air from the container 3 times a week (scum will occur on top of the liquid – just remove it).
The fermentation is complete when the bubbling stops – you can then store it in containers in the fridge and use it for up to 3 months.
You can also use a fermenting crock (vessel) that is much easier to use (a very good buy if you are planning to make sauerkraut more often) – the water seal on top allows gasses to escape but prevents anything from coming in!
As mentioned at the beginning of the post, the sauerkraut will be ready for use already in two weeks!
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Vito
For a video tutorial, check the link below: