Sauerkraut

This is going to be a small, informative post about how to make you own sauerkarut at home.

First of all this post is dedicated to Herrick Kimball, who is a farmer by heart and a very educative at that. Most of his blogging time is spent upon providing the curious reader with information about how to make garlic powder, how to butcher a chicken, how to take home-made sinus sauna and although being mostly agriculture/food-related, the list is almost endless. I recall the little discussion we had about the culinary use of chicken head for example. I have to add that we seem to have different views on the Bible - but that's a completely different story. Herrick is a tolerant teacher for anyone interested in agriculture. He illustrates his posts with so many proper photos that you just can't miss the meaning.

Secondly sauerkraut is a healthy, living food. Uncooked, it really is alive. It is the microorganisms (bacteria) that make sauerkraut different from a simple heap of shredded cabbage.

Thirdly, I love food with sauerkraut.

Once I posted one of my favourite meals HERE and I got some positive reflections from my readers. Hence is the third reason for writing this entry.

My fourth reason for writing this post is that making sauerkraut is damned easy.

So here we go.

You need:

white cabbages

salt, 1.5 gram per each kilogram of cabbage

a large clean tank

a glazed pot (a large container made of clay)

You have to do:

1. Remove all dirt from the cabbages. It is not really suggested to wash the plants. Simply remove dirt with your hands or a towel from the outside of the heads.

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2. Slice cabbage, or shred it. You can also leave a head or two intact - those come handy if you want to wrap some nice rice+meat combination of filling inside whole leaves.

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3. Measure cabbage and calculate the amount of salt.

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4. Collect salt all shredded cabbage into the large tank. Remove shoes/socks and wash your feet. This is not a joke. You have to push the unnecessary liquid out of cabbages with the force of your feet. If you have a cut, the salt will hurt your skin. You may want to do it with gloves on your hand, or with your feet wrapped into a plastic foil. Those are great options too. But what are kids for? For them it is kind of funny and/or strange. My kids were quite willing to do this labour intensive part of the making. Believe me, this is the toughest part. The rest is easy.

Illustrated down below:

It takes about 10 minutes of pushing. All right, once it is done you can go on forward.

5. Take the pot.

Let me ponder here for a while - there are special pickling pots, you can use them quite easily. Do NOT use, by any means plastic containers. As you probably know, not all plastic things are brand new. Some of them are recycled ones. Why the hell is not THAT great one might wonder...Oh why. Some of the plastic containers had their previous life as containers of pesticides that's just one of the reasons why.

I suggest buying a clay pot instead. In Hungary, pots are sold in various sizes. Size determines how much sauerkraut you will have. If you are into eating tonnes of it, buy a large pot. If you are unsure, buy a small one. Remember that you have to make the pot full with cabbage.

We used to make 15 kgs each winter - but we found out that we just can't eat as much. So we need a smaller pot.

6. Once the pot is clean, start layering shredded cabbage into it. But don't just 'add' as if you'd place a flower into someone's hands. Push it hard.

Some people add other ingredients as well. These may include, but absolutely not limited to: bay leaves (to give some extra flavour), zucchinis, slices of quince, or basically any other vegetable you feel suitable.

Once the pot is filled up you close it with the lid. The one special pot we use has a rim that goes along the top of the pot. We pour water into the rim, which keeps air out of the whole system.

Now, all you have to do is wait and make sure there's always water in the rim. I don't know of other type of pots, so I'm unsure as to how to airtight those. I'm sorry about that.

7. Sauerkraut is ready within two weeks.

8. You can take any portion out of the pot, but don't forget to re-close it making sure it's airtight. Once the sauerkraut is ready, you have about two months to use it up - as it is alive, you can't stop that useful bacteria from growing. Also, when air meets sauerkraut inside the pot there is a high chance of other bacteria and microorganisms getting into contact with both the product and the useful bacteria. So I suggest making a smaller amount at first and/or giving it endproduct away as present to friends/family.

Any questions?

Pictures were made in 2005. Sorry for the lameness of the second photo - I had to erase some personal reference...