How to make Sauerkraut

Making Sauerkraut With The Family

I'm in Virginia visiting family. Here's what we did this afternoon:

Here's a video of part of the process.

It's great to be together with everyone. 

How to make Sauerkraut the Awesome Way:

This method of food preservation utilizes a process called lacto-fermentation. This increases the nutrient content of the ingredients and allows access to fresh veggies all winter.

You'll need:

Cabbage (preferably organic)

Jars with lids 

Salt

1. Get a bunch of cabbage. It's a big project, so you want to make a lot at once. 

2.slice it up in shreds. We like to add carrot and onion. Beets are good too.

3. Toss everything into a large bowl and add salt. You'll need about 1 1/12 tbs per cabbage. We like to use sea salt because of the extra minerals it has. Sprinkle it over each layer of cabbage as you chop. 

4. Mash everything down until it's nice and juicy. We used a jar In this picture. This compacts the cabbage, gets everything  salty and gets rid of air, all of which encourage growth of lacto bacilli, which occure naturally on the leaves of cabbage. These bacteria produce lactic acid, which is what pickles the kraut.

5. Once everything is nice and juicy, pack it tight in jars. Remember: air is not your friend. Packing everything tight keeps the kraut from molding.

6. Screw on the lid and let the bacteria do the work. 

Place your jars in a some kind of container, like a Pyrex dish, or Rubbermaid bin. The kraut will produce  co2 as it ferments and the increased pressure will cause some of the juice to bubble out of the jars.

No need to refrigerate. The jars will even seal themselves from the pressure produced as they ferment.

 In a week or two your sauerkraut will be ready to eat. Refrigerate your jars once you open them, otherwise, you can store them on the shelf, once they're done off-gassing.

It's great with fried eggs for breakfast, as a salad garnish and of course- it's fantastic on hot dogs.