Kraut

Farm Girl recently asked in our comments for our kraut recipe. I'll give it here, but keep in mind that even very experienced kraut-makers seem to admit that sometimes it makes, and sometimes it doesn't.

Last year was our first year to make kraut. A friend mentored me and gave me a number of recipes/instructions to work from, as well as tips from her own experience. She also loaned me a great crock (I will not covet.), thinking she wasn't going to make kraut during that period. Turns out another friend had an abundance of cabbage and gave her a lot of it, so she made some after all, using one of her plastic wheat-type buckets. When it came time for us to make some this year, I decided I'd find a crock to buy for us. Lehman's has them, but I needed it then, and was somewhat reluctant to spend so much on a crock, not that the price is out of line, just thought of all the other things we could get for that. One of the recipes I have says NOT to use plastic, and I kept wondering what might leach into our kraut, so I nixed the plastic bucket idea. One recipe said and unchipped enamel pot would work, though, so that's what we used. This had an advantage over the crock in that it has a lid, and there was much less skimming/daily cleaning of the top of the kraut.

Now for the steps:

First, set aside some of the large outside leaves of the cabbage for later use.

Shred the cabbage for the kraut. We used a food processor for this step--very convenient.

Mix 2 tablespoons of pure salt (I think our container is called pickling salt.) with every 5 pounds of cabbage. (The recipes call for 3 tablespoons, but my friend recommended using only 2; this has worked well for us.)

Let this stand a few miniutes.

Pack the cabbage into the pot, crock, or large jar that will be its home for a few weeks. Juices from the cabbage (drawn out by the salt) need to cover the cabbage now and throughout the fermentation process. If additional brine is needed, use 2 tablespoons pure salt to 1 quart water.

Cover the cabbage with the large outer leaves you set aside before shredding the cabbage. Cover this with a plate that fits inside the container and is weighted with a jar of water. This keeps the cabbagge in the brine. OR you can cover the cabbage with a plastic bag filled with water. This supposedly seals the surface from the air and helps prevent the growth of film yeast and molds. Make sure the bags are food-safe and watertight; you may want to double-bag. I placed a large plate on mine, weighted it, then put the lid on, and had very little of the molds, etc.--much less than last year, when I did not have a lid.

Keep the kraut around 68-72 degrees. (One reference says 65 degrees.) I didn't worry about this, and simply kept it in our laundry room.

Remove any surface scum. I had to do this almost daily last year, but only once this year, I think, although I checked it often.

The kraut is ready for processing when bubbles no longer come to the surface. My friend told me to check by hitting the side of the container; if bubbles appear at the top, fermentation is still taking place. If bubbles don't appear, it's ready. My references vary on how long this will take, anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks. Last year, we processed at almost 4 weeks; this year, at just over 3 weeks.


Once the kraut is finished fermenting, heat the cabbage to simmering.

Pack into hot canning jars; cover with brine (make more if needed, just as you did, if needed, while the kraut was fermenting), leaving a half-inch head space; remove air bubbles; wipe mouth jar with a clean, damp cloth. Adjust lids.

Process in a boiling water bath: pints, 15 minutes; quarts, 20 minutes.

Store in a cool, dry place. If cured and sealed properly, should keep a year.

We started with approximately 15 pounds of cabbage and ended up with 5 quarts and 7 pints of kraut. Hope this helps and works!

Mary Susan