Fermented Saurkraut?

[Dace]

I would like to try a batch.....punkin said her dad did his in quart jars. I am trying to find how to do this.

I do have a crock pot crock I could use for a few days....and then transfer to jars to put in the fridge. Would that be better?

I have some fermented carrots that I am not loving...can I add that to the kraut? Will I even like the fermented kraut if I am not digging the carrots?

 

[Dace]

This is the recipe I ended up using. I just made 1 qrt, which was one head of cabbage. Keeping my fingers crossed!

http://www.foodinjars.com/2009/02/10/homemade-sauerkraut/

To make a quart (approximately) of sauerkraut
1 head of cabbage, cored and finely shredded
1 tablespoon good salt (kosher is okay, sea salt is better)
1 teaspoon carraway or fennel seeds
1-3 tablespoons of distilled water
Put the sliced cabbage into a non-reactive bowl, add salt and seeds and bang it around with a potato masher or meat tenderizer, until it starts to soften a bit. Pack it into a quart jar, using the end of a wooden spoon to really force it down. Top it off with just enough water to cover. Let it mellow for a month or more, occasionally releasing any gasses that collect in the jar. Just be warned, it will be stinky. If any bloom starts to develop on top, scrape it off.

 

[Iceblink]

Dace, I did mine in quart jars, with a water filled ziplock baggie on top to make a seal. It didn't mold or stink.

Free, I actually like it a little softer........ I know cooking it will kill some or all of the 'good' bugs and stuff, but if I don't eat it because I don't like firm sourkraut..... those good bugs won't do me any good anyways......

 

[freemotion]

Go ahead and cook it....you can get your good bugs somewhere else!

Dace, I've made it in both a gallon jar then transfered it to quarts to make it easier to store, and made it right in the quart jars.

 

[davaroo]

Does anybody here make their own saurkraut? I especially love polish kraut, it is so earthy and mellow with a deep brown richness.

I have read what little I can find on making it at home, and it seems there are 2 ways, straight up canned and fermented. I think maybe the fermentation adds the extra flavor?

If you do make it, does it stink your house up? What supplies do you use? Do you add carrots, and if so at the beginning or later on in the process?

And of course I would love recipes.

Kraut is supposed to be fermented - that is the point behind it. I saw something recently where the author sealed his fermenting vessel and used a vapor lock, like when making wine, to let the gases escape and keep bacteria out. But one reason the kraut doesn't get more than a surface layer of bacterial 'scum' is because as the cabbage ferments, the lactic acid created kills bacteria... or something like that.

I excerpted this from "The Foxfire Book," with a few additions, from when my dad used to make 'kraut...

"Select firm heads of cabbage and shred them fine. Pack the cabbage in alternating layers with salt into a crockery, glass or plastic container (many people use a clean, 5 gal bucket) - but do not use metal pots.
Use about half a cup of salt per gallon of cabbage.
As you pack the shredded cabbage, pound it down into the container with the end of a clean hardwood mallet, bat, etc.
When full, cover the jar with a clean white muslin or linen cloth and a flat, tight-fitting hardwood board or plate. Then place a heavy weight on top to hold the cabbage under the brine as it develops. The salt will leach water from the cabbage and soon the cabbage will be covered in this briny "juice."
Let this stand for about 10 days, to ferment. You can scrape of the layer of scummy build up that accumulates if you like.
After the fermenting, remove the new kraut to canning jars and lid them. Then boil them in a water bath to seal the jars and cook the cabbage.
Old timers used to just leave it in the fermenting container, but it turns dark. Jars keep it in serving size portions and keep it fresh. Some add peppers or caraway or shredded onion at the beginning for added flavor."

Hope it helps.

 

[freemotion]

I add the carrots along with the cabbage.

 

[Dace]

So I keep hearing 'scrape the scum off the top' but if mine is in a little quart jar, how would i do this? I hope I did not mess up.

I like the idea of canning it after it ferments, just to have it in the pantry year round. I may try that on another batch.

 

[freemotion]

I haven't seen scum yet...and if you have room, you can keep it in the fridge indefinitely after it ferments.

 

[Dace]

I love indefinitely!
ok, good to know, thanks Free

 

[Iceblink]

Great, Davaroo, I do think I'll try canning it. My fridge is so full, and I'm trying to make room for apple season coming up.

I added shredded carrots to one batch, and finely sliced onion to another batch, pre-fermentation. They are both pretty good, but still too salty.

I started another batch today and only added a little salt, I'll see how it does.