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Homemade Sauerkraut Recipe

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Crisp, tangy homemade sauerkraut made by naturally fermenting fresh cabbage with salt. This simple fermentation method develops a pleasantly sour flavor and crunchy texture that’s perfect for sandwiches, sausages, salads, and hearty meals.

Ingredients

  • Fresh green cabbage
  • Non-iodized salt, such as pickling or canning salt, equal to 2% of the prepared cabbage weight
  • Caraway seeds, optional
  • Juniper berries, optional
  • Shredded carrots, optional
  • Garlic, optional
  • Black peppercorns, optional
  • Red pepper flakes, optional

Instructions

  1. Wash your hands thoroughly and clean the fermentation jar, weight, bowl, knife, cutting board, and other equipment. Rinse everything well.
  2. Remove damaged outer leaves from the cabbage. Quarter the cabbage, remove the core, and slice the cabbage into thin shreds.
  3. Weigh the prepared cabbage and calculate salt equal to 2% of its weight. For example, use 20 grams of salt for 1,000 grams of cabbage.
  4. Sprinkle the salt evenly over the cabbage. Massage and squeeze the cabbage with clean hands for several minutes until it softens and releases enough natural liquid to form a brine.
  5. Add any optional seasonings, if desired. Firmly pack the cabbage into a clean fermentation jar, pressing it down to remove trapped air pockets. Pour all of the released liquid into the jar and leave adequate headspace for bubbling and expansion.
  6. Place a fermentation weight over the cabbage and make sure all shredded vegetables remain beneath the brine. Do not dilute the mixture with an arbitrary amount of plain water if there is insufficient brine.
  7. Cover with a fermentation lid or another suitable fermentation setup that allows gases to escape while protecting the contents. Place the jar on a tray away from direct sunlight at approximately 70–75°F (21–24°C).
  8. Monitor the sauerkraut during fermentation and regularly verify that the cabbage remains submerged. Bubbles and an increasingly sour aroma are expected as fermentation progresses.
  9. Begin tasting after several days using a clean utensil. Continue fermenting until the desired acidity and texture develop, typically about 3–4 weeks for fully developed sauerkraut.
  10. Once the sauerkraut reaches the desired flavor, cover it and transfer it to the refrigerator to dramatically slow further fermentation.

Notes

  • Use a kitchen scale to calculate salt accurately at 2% of the total prepared vegetable weight.
  • For caraway sauerkraut, mix caraway seeds into the salted cabbage before packing.
  • For carrot sauerkraut, combine shredded carrots with the cabbage and weigh all vegetables together before calculating the salt.
  • Garlic, red pepper flakes, fresh chilies, juniper berries, or black peppercorns can be added for different flavor profiles.
  • Green cabbage can be partially or completely replaced with red cabbage for a colorful variation.
  • Keep the vegetables submerged beneath the brine throughout fermentation to maintain the appropriate low-oxygen environment.
  • Fermentation speed varies with temperature, so use aroma, flavor, texture, and fermentation activity along with time as guides.
  • Store finished sauerkraut refrigerated in a clean, tightly covered container and keep the cabbage beneath the brine as much as possible. Always use a clean utensil when serving.
  • Properly fermented and continuously refrigerated sauerkraut can keep for several months, although its flavor and texture will gradually change.
  • Discard the batch rather than tasting it if it develops an unpleasant rotten odor, concerning discoloration throughout the ferment, or other obvious signs of spoilage.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://thefamilycooking.com/homemade-sauerkraut-recipe/