How to Make Sauerkraut

During the summer, I wrote a blog entry about the "country wine" that I made from peaches.

http://windyacresnaturalfarm.blogspot.com/2012/08/peach-country-wine.html

This endeavor was inspired by a book that I purchased titled "The Art of Fermentation".  The country wine was just one example of fermentation that is described in the book.  Next to wine and other fermented beverages, foods such as pickles are probably next on the list of the most widely known fermented foods.

Many people do not realize that sauerkraut also falls on the list of foods that are fermented.  In fact, the aforementioned book covers making sauerkraut as well and it is quite easy, so I decided to try it. 

The biggest challenge was finding a suitable container to hold the sauerkraut while it sits quietly and ferments.  I happened to have a large glass jar that I bought one time to use as a terrarium.  I don't remember how the terrarium turned out or why I dumped it out.  But, suffice it to say that I broke the lid at one point and it sat in a closet for years.  When we moved to this house,  I took a lot of stuff to the non-profit resale shops and gave other things away.  So, I  wasn't real sure it had made the move with us.  But, after a search, I was rewarded by finding it on a shelf in one of the upstairs bedroom closets!

I bought the largest head of cabbage that I could find (4 pounds) at Consumer's IGA.  Removed the outer leaves and cut it into shreds, like this.

I had to do this in several batches.  As I finished each batch I added it to the jar and sprinkled it with salt.

You can use any kind of UN-iodized salt.  I used sea salt.  The recipe called for 3 tablespoons of salt for each 5 pounds of cabbage.  I used 7 teaspoons for the 4 pounds of cabbage that I had.  It does not have to be exact.  After each layer of cabbage and salt, I took a wooden spoon and tamped it down tightly.  This is supposed to bruise the cabbage and help draw out the juice.

After the cabbage and salt were in the jar, I found a small plate that would fit through the jar opening to place on top of the cabbage.

And then weighted it down with a heavy object.  This needs to be a glass jar filled with water or other non-reactive material.  

Finally, it has to be covered with cheese cloth or a kitchen towel to keep out insects and dust.

The recipe says to remove the cover and tamp it down several times during the next 24 hours.  This should help draw the juice out of the cabbage.  The goal is to have the cabbage submerged completely in brine.  If, after 24 hours, this has not happened, then you should add salt water to the container until it covers the cabbage.  The salt water should be mixed at the rate of 1 teaspoon per cup.  I had to add a couple of cups of salt water.

As the fermentation proceeds, scum will develop on the surface of the liquid.  You can skim this off every now and then.  But, don't worry about the sauerkraut.  As long as it is submerged under the brine, it will be fine.  Fermentation length will depend upon the temperature of the room.  You can taste it occasionally to determine when you want to eat it.

More details can be found at the following website.

http://www.wildfermentation.com/making-sauerkraut-2/