DIY Sauerkraut

Since I have a cabbage finishing up soon, I'm considering making sauerkraut out of it. First I'm going to make some from farmer's market cabbage to see if that is really what I want to do with it.

It's getting there

Most of the required supplies

Sauerkraut

5 lbs Raw Cabbage

2.5 tablespoons coarse salt (no iodine)

(Optional Ingredients (per 5 lbs)):
1 small Onion

1 1/2 tablespoons Caraway Seeds
2 Carrots

Mixing bowl

Cutting board

Knife

4 Quart sized Mason Jars

4 Short neck beer bottles

There are many other optional ingredients that you can add in for flavor; I only listed a few.

Step 1: Wash cabbage. Place onto cutting board and quarter it. Remove cores.

This one was 5 lbs

Take your knife

Slice it in half

Like so

And slice it again

Remove the cores

Step 2: Slice the cabbage into strips or dice it. A food processor is ideal for this. Place shredded cabbage into a large bowl.

Chop chop chop

Place cabbage into bowl

Step 3: Add in the salt. This would be the step to add other ingredients like caraway seeds, onions, or carrots. Mix with hands. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes.

The salt draws out the moisture in the cabbage

Step 4: Take cabbage and insert into mason jars. Once the jar is full, pack it down aggressively with a beer bottle or similar item.

Insert into jar

Compressing releases the moisture in the leaves

You want to get the liquid level in the jar to be up higher than the height of the cabbage. That way all the cabbage will ferment from lacto bacteria.

5 lbs of cabbage filled 4 of these quart sized mason jars

Place the jars in a dark, cool place. Since the bottles alone were not enough to bring the water level up, I added water into each of them. I covered each one with a towel to prevent any unwanted organisms from entering the jars and potentially altering the flavor.

A closet is a cool, dark place

Brine level after adding water to the beer bottles

It's a little awkward to cover these jars with the beer bottle sticking out the top

Fermentation should take anywhere from 4-10 days. I'll be tasting it as it is being made, to see if it is ready to eat. If this is successful, I'll experiment adding other ingredients or using different varieties of cabbage. Otherwise, I think it's time for me to stock up on bratwurst.

Finished Jar

Batch #2, Red cabbage