We made a sauerkraut how-to video today. Fermenting green or red cabbage into sauerkraut is an easy recipe to make, and the possibilities are endless. Fermentation and fermented foods are on the rise, with their probiotic organisms and all around healthy food reputation. Making sauerkraut should be on the to do list of all urban homesteaders, and i imagine most homesteaders already make sauerkraut.
Inspired by Daniel Gastieger, author of Yes You Can! And Freeze and Dry It, Too, we make a simple sauerkraut recipe that is the basis for all sorts of combinations. Daniel was on GardenFork Radio, you can hear his interview here.
If your idea of sauerkraut is that greyish stuff you see in the store, try making sauerkraut yourself. Take red or green cabbage, or a mix, add salt and go from there.
Basic Sauerkraut Recipe
this is based on Daniel's Yes You Can! And Freeze and Dry It, Too book.
1 head of green or red cabbage
pickling or kosher salt
Glass, plastic, or ceramic fermentation container
Remove the outer leaves from your cabbage, just the dinged up ones.
Chop up your cabbage, you can do this by hand or use the food processor to coarsely grate the cabbage.
Put the cabbage into a clean large bowl. Add a teaspoon of salt for each pound of cabbage.
Use your hands to mix the salt into the cabbage, you want to crush and crinkle the cabbage.
Put the cabbage into a fermentation container, mash the cabbage down and put a clean plate or something similar on top of the cabbage to keep the cabbage down in the container.
Cover the top of the container with a plastic grocery bag and put the container in a dark cool area.
Check the sauerkraut after 24 hours, there should be enough brine to cover the top of the cabbage. If there is not, boil a quart of water, add to it 1.5 tablespoons of salt. let the salt water cool, the top off the sauerkraut so the cabbage is covered.
Ferment the sauerkraut for at least 5 days, you can go a month if you want to. any mold that forms should be skimmed off.
When you are happy with the fermentation, put the sauerkraut in a clean closed container in the fridge. ©2011 all rights reserved
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Christina says
Nice video. It’s something I want to try too, but I’m not a huge sauerkraut fan. OMG! Your dog at the end scared the bejeezus out of me.
Julia says
I made sauerkraut for the first time this summer. I think you need to let it ferment longer before judging it. My kraut was no longer green when it was fully fermented, and it was really sour and tangy. No chance of confusing it with coleslaw. . .
It was terrific with home made bratwurst!
Another cool home fermentation project is traditional dill pickles. I filled a gallon glass jar with cucumbers, dill, some grape leaves (they’re supposed to keep the pickles crisp), garlic cloves and salt water. I just wish I had some more pickle eaters in my family.
Eric Gunnar Rochow says
yeah, i learned that i need to let the cabbage ferment longer. what i made there was salted cabbage. thx, eric.
Richard says
Great video, Always fun to watch Eric at work/play. Good ideas, watching Eric do these things makes you want to join in the fun. Ironically, last night on PBS there was a show that featured a tour of a sauerkraut factory in LA. Process was the same, just on a hugh scale. They fermented the ‘Juice’ separately for four weeks, while the cabbage dried in the salt brine. The result was that the juice got very ‘vinegary’ and was then added to the cabbage. And yes the color of the cabbage was yellowish, as Julia pointed out.
I really enjoy you videos, keep up the good work or is it good fun?