Best Sauerkraut --recipe here

[carolg]

This recipe works and rawks with raving reviews from raw and non rawK folks. End of the season for cabbage but Farmer's Market saving me more next week so they can benefit from the kraut too. I never go to the Market without fresh raw stuff for the workers weekly. They love me and treat me better than family even in special pricing. Of course faithful customer for years may help, but surely my food does. Okay, recipe below.

Sauerkraut-Carolg
Slice green cabbage thin (food processor takes long time, so knife works great)

In LARGE bowl, place about 1 cup water to start
Add cabbage
Start with 1-2T salt depending on how much cabbage you have, less better and can add more daily. (Salt: using RealSalt sold at HFS in bulk).

Massage with hands so water and salt cover the cabbage for a few minutes.

Fill large jar with water as a weight.
Put on top of the sliced cabbage and mixture.
Cover with towel, cloth or plate over night.

Next day, massage, taste and see how the salty part is. You can add 1T to start just increase slowly.

Transfer mixture into wide mouth bottle. I prefer glass and largest size bottle.

Anything will work, even stainless steel large bowl. I still sometimes will use smaller jar with water to continue pressing down cabbage mixture but key is too be able to have something that keeps all the kraut working with the liquid. I don't keep the jars on the kraut forever when transferred but at least till I can see some liquid rising to keep the kraut submerged.


Note: If you have too much liquid you can use for fresh salad or toss. You don't want tons of liquid in jar to be all liquid and no cabbage effect.

Day 2 add a slice or two of garlic, optional. Dill can be a nice addition which I have not used. What about caraway seeds which I haven't tried but can imagine great.

I keep mine covered till process is totally finished. I taste daily.

Takes about 5-7 days and I store always in cool area as it is doing it's thing too.

Store: refrigerate covered in jars and lasts for me at least 9-12 months. When super mush at this point may want to use up quickly.

Enjoy.

carolg

[Veganforlife]

Thanks! I'll have to give this a try! I sure love sauerkraut, in fact, I've been doing nori roll ups with 'kraut! Yum oh!!!

Wonder if you could make Kim Chee similarly?

[carolg]

Vegan,
Just added a sentence to original post so NOW copy recipe vs. before.

Recipe great to the max. I sure wish I could find ways to make $ like I can in cranking out kraut or pickles. No, not interested in doing this for a living. I want passive income--rolls in when I sleep after I created the product.

Kim Chee can't talk about that as need to learn myself. I bet the liquid or even the done cabbage would be great. I think someone posted long time ago some recipes and maybe even a Korean version. Maybe Morn or?

carolg

[Ilse W.]

My farm store had organic cabbage today for 29 cents/pound. They were huuuuuge heads, I bought 2 for a total of 29 pounds! I spent the rest of the day shredding it and pounding it with (lacking the proper tool) a water filled sturdy bottle. Basically, you have to break down the fiber walls of the cabbage so it will release the water more readily. I mixed it with some salt and squished it more. Real sauerkraut does not require any water other than that contained in the cabbage. I filled a 5 gallon sauerkraut crock. I'm proud of myself. I wish all that pounding had done something to firm up my whabbly arms...:p A couple of days ago I made 2 jars of pickles. I also bought some more pickling cucumbers today, so I'll probably have another 2 gallon jars by tomorrow evening. Not tonight, I'm bushed! I put currant leaves in my pickles, and found that I still have some currants on the bushes. I'm pretending they are part of a juice fast.:D

[carolg]

Slicing cabbage has been fast and simple with just a knife. I always add water to mix the salt in. I always cover to bring water up to the top or enough to make it mix with all the cabbage.

29 cents is super cheap. I would be buying many heads for kraut times.

My kraut takes about week and same for pickles.

Emma, go girl.

carolg

[carolg]

After many years of kraut making I discovered a trick for my special family here:

Some batches this year just sliced by hand and then got into jars as it did its thing for about 7 days.

With limited jars, as used many already, I decided to put some of the kraut into my FP, with S blade and made the kraut into smaller pieces like stores probably do but I just discovered.

Wow, is this easier to digest/chew and great way to stuff more into jar.

Hope this becomes your million dollar saving tip.

Why not take same concept and make it pickle heaven. I bet I can do same with pickles and call it pickle relish without any additions or even a hot pepper could give it HOT Pickle Relish name. May try pickle talk on my Farmer Market guys who love all my food and love hot stuff too. Won't see them for a few more days.

carolg

[Ilse W.]

Just tried one of my pickles that I made about 2 weeks ago. They are great! My sauerkraut, made the traditional German way, has to ferment in the crock for another 4 weeks before it's done and at that time I will either put it in jars in the fridge, or I'll keep it in the crock out in the shed. I don't have a cellar where it's cool year-round, but it'll be cold outside in another 4 weeks and the kraut should keep very well in my shed. Just can't forget to eat it. I already have 4 gallon jars of pickles in the refrigerator and loads of veggies, I don't think it will hold 10 jars of sauerkraut.
I make cabbage salad the way you did your kraut in the cuisinard. Then I mix in salt, dill, ACV, olive oil, etc. I make a big batch and put it in the refrigerator. It keeps forever (well, not inn MY fridge :D). I also started making kimche (sp). I LOVE spicy. Your relish idea sounds good, I just don't know what I would put relish on?

[carolg]

Kim chee recipe....please post under a kim chee link....

Relish: how about mixed in salads, on nori, in cold soups, in coleslaw....just about anywhere I would add it...on top of burgers, or side dish to burger/french fries, eggplant relish...my gosh...let your imagination run wild...

Great about your pickles. I have used dill in past too.

My pickles are really done by 7 days for sure...I'm not seeing for myself any reason to make longer. Are you collecting a scum on top? No problem with scrum this year!

I have gallons already made. I'm probably finished making pickles this year I think.

carolg

[Ilse W.]

My first batch had a little scum on top, so does my sauerkraut water. I just lift it off until it no longer appears. I keep my pickles in the original salty water. The fermentation should stop or slow down considerably once closed and refrigerated.
On relish - great ideas. I still have to train my mind when it comes to inventive raw foods. I tend towards simple foods.
Kim chee? I just cut up a chinese cabbage (napa cabbage), mix it in a large bowl with 1T sea salt and 1-2 T ceyenne or hot chili pepper. Let it sit. I stir every few hours and sample :D. After a few hours you can see the red juice appear. Keep mixing it (and sample). By the time it has drawn a good amount of water, your sampling will have reduced the amount in such a way, that all you need is a quart jar to store the rest in the fridge for the next couple of days :D. Make sure you have your next chinese cabbage on hand or you'll go through kim chee withdrawals, lol.

[carolg]

Thanks for kim chee recipe.

pickles/kraut=zero scum at all

I am tons of gallons into this already.

Maybe too warm where you are doing yours or needing more salt. I taste daily for flavor and add salt if necesssary to my taste buds.

carolg

[Ilse W.]

Gosh, I wish it WAS warm where I am. Northern edge of Olympic Peninsula in Washington, where this year we had 3 days of spring and 8 days of summer (not consecutive). I'm freezing and my woodstove has already had a work-out.:eek:
On the kraut it's not really scum, but the bubbles that come out of the kraut as it ferments. It's a normal thing. I don't have prior experience with making pickles raw, but the only batch with scum was the one where I used dried dill instead of fresh. The second batch had no scum. They ALL taste great, though!

[carolg]

Taste is taste so great Emma.

Keep your cold weather. My tomatoes can use my help of warm days but can stand cool if need to be picked earlier.

carolg