I decided that I wanted to try and make my own homemade sauerkraut...another way to be self-sufficient. Bob and Pasie love the stuff, I can take it or leave it and Luke hates it but I though what better way to have sauerkraut than homemade. Forget the store bought stuff...we never know what is going in those cans that we buy at Walmart. At least ours would be without any preservatives or chemicals.
Organic cabbage was on sale this week at Super One for .44 cents a pound so I thought it was a great time to try making it myself.
Pasie had an old crock in storage so I cleaned it up and got it ready to fill with cabbage! I love crockery like this that have a long history to them. Isn't it pretty?I asked a friend of mine from Frugal Village ... a site that I love and her recipe was as follows...
- chop the cabbage
- add 1 tbsp of salt to each pound ( I had a 4 pound cabbage)
- put in crock in layers....cabbage, salt, cabbage, salt .... a little of each at a time
- push down with a heavy object.... I used an empty glass jar...until all cabbage is pushed firmly to the bottom of the crock....so there is no air between the cabbage pieces
- fill a plastic bag with water and place on top of cabbage...the bag of water will press down on the cabbage which will not allow any air to seep in-between the cabbage
- each day press down on the cabbage... do this for 21 days, then cold pack in quart jars for 30 minutes
Sounded simple enough ...right? Well, I chopped the cabbage and used a vintage chopper that we had from Bob's Aunt Monica. She passed away a few years back and we were the heirs to her estate and needless to say there were things of hers that I had never seen before! She was a German war bride and saved everything!
I chopped, added salt, pressed down, chopped, added salt, pressed down in the crock . I then placed the bag of water on top and that was it! Not difficult at all and it must be starting to ferment because my kitchen is already stinky! Tomorrow and each day for the next 21 days, I will remove the bag, press down on the cabbage with my glass jar and replace the bag of water.
Hopefully we will have delicious homemade sauerkraut for hunting season this year!
Debbie, my DH does a similar thing when making Japanese cabbage - just not for so long. I am really anxious to see how this turns out. I use about 2 large jars of sauerkraut a year, so shall stick with the store bought. MM
ReplyDeleteHi Debbie. That's how I make it too. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
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