Got 12 big heADS CABBAGE AND A 12 GAL CROCK
Any one have a favorite recipe?? all i see is salt and cabbage . i like a good sour twang... never done it so lets hear the brew.... do i add castor??

More time = more twang. Salt is all you need and time.



Owl

a cabbage shredder is nice. doing it with a knife is tedious

Very simple to do but a cabbage shredder is the only way to go. Shred cabbage and place in crock. Crush shredded cabbage with your fist. Add salt in layers. Cover and let sit for a few weeks. Taste and add more salt as needed. There are some variations but basically that is all there is to it. Lot's of good visual help on YouTube.

I don't think you'll get that sour "twang" like the store bought product. Mine never has, I prefer the flavor and texture of the home made product. 3 tablespoons salt to 5 pounds cabbage.

Many health benefits to eating naturally fermented and raw cabbage. Mainly probiotics. Don't can or freeze it. That destroys all the healthy bacteria.

Some people add grated green apple and raisins to the cabbage. I have had that version in Pennsylvania. It adds a distinctive flavor also.

Oh man...brats and saurkraut. Its only 6:30AM here but you guys are making me hungry for lunch already.
Jim

A definite colon cleanser for me. I love kraut, just love it. But after a heaping plate of kraut and sausage with a slice of buttered homemade bread, I don't stray far from the john for about a hour. Funny how that works.

Add castor & oil sacs .

yup got a shredder at antique shop along w 12 gal crock..ill take afew pics...... left the latches on 330 and trap was empty so no castor this year 3 tbl to 5 lb layered in the crock it is
thanks for the replies

I love kraut just had to add that, and have no idea how to make it. I cook up cabbage all the time and add vinegar and pepper and love it that way. I call it kraut but I know it isn't. Lol

Lol. It takes longer than 1 hour, but it's the same deal

Iv never used a crock, just put it in quart jars, and your done.saves time and just as good.

Look up recipes for KimChi if you want something differen't.

https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/tongbaechu-kimchi

When ya cook some add some Caroway seed and shreded onion and a little bacon grease,

Been making 100# of kraut for 40+ years now and never had a batch go bad. With that said I'll offer some insight as to what I do and why.

First, I don't start my crocks until around Thanksgiving. This is when you can get a winter cabbage that has been hit by a frost or two. Winter cabbage or kraut cabbage is what you want. The leaves are thick and the frost brings out sweetness. By Thanksgiving the basement is starting to cool off. To use a thin leaf summer cabbage and a crock in a warm environment usually leads to the cabbage rotting.

So now you've got your 1/2 dozen head of cabbage or so, and a nice 10L or larger Harsh crock. https://www.sausagemaker.com/TSM-Ha...x9sO7GwFZeilpRbz8buYoU4sj5RoCnMsQAvD_BwE

You can also use a open top crock like your grandma used for pickles, but this will require some extra work. First you'll have to skim the mold off the top regularly. Then you remove the weight (rock), plate, and cheese cloth for rinsing weekly. After these items are rinsed with clean water (NO soap) you place them back on the kraut in the order in which you took them off.

Okay so to start, you have your heads of winter cabbage. You'll need a kraut cutter and a couple of 5 gal. plastic pails. www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/weston-reg-cabbage-shredder/1017019902?skuId=1

This is going to be a two person operation by the way! Quarter your cabbage. Place the cutter over the top of a pail and grate each quarter down to the core. Throw the core away. When you have the pail about 3/4 full, hand it off to the other person and you or the wife continues shredding.

Now take the shredded kraut heads to the basement where you then adds about 5 Tbls. (small handful) of canning salt to the kraut and pound it down with a clean baseball bat, about 10 minutes. You can run the end of the bat through your table saw giving it a flat end if you like as it works better then. So your going to pound away breaking down the cabbage structure and working the salt into the cabbage. Do this until the next pail of shredded kraut is ready. Now transfer your pounded kraut to your crock and LIGHTLY, I SAID LIGHTLY, LIGHTLY, tap it down flat with the ball bat in the crock. You don't want to crack your crock! This is to expel any air pockets.

Return your empty pail up to the wife and repeat the same thing with the next pail of shredded cabbage and you might only apply the salt to every other pail. But still pound the cabbage to break it down. Transfer it to the crock.

Do the same with the third pail of shredded cabbage and this time add some salt. Keep doing this until you've finished with the cabbage.

So now you've got a mess on the kitchen floor and the wife's hoping this isn't going to be a every year thing! Oh the things she don't know yet.

You now have your crock full of kraut in the cool basement. The kraut should be juicy or even covered with liquid from the pounding and salt drawing out the moisture. With a German Harsh crock, all you have to do is add the flat weights you received with the crock, put the lid on and add water to the reservoir area around the outside of the lid creating the air seal. This keep the air from entering but allows the fermented gas to escape. Watch your water level around the lid and add as necessary to ensure the seal.

If you're using your grandma's old open top pickle crock, cover your kraut with a clean piece of #90 cheese cloth tucking in at the sides, a clean plate, and a clean rock. The rock pushes the cheese cloth and plate down submerging the cabbage but allow the liquid to rise to the top. Now every week to 10 days you're going to skim the top by removing the rock and plate, and then remove the cloth. Rinse the cloth, plate and rock and replace in the order you removed them.

If you're using a German Harsh crock (fermenting crock) you do nothing for the next 6 weeks, except for keeping the water seal full.

So now just after Christmas or New Years (about 6 weeks) its time to break into the crocks for your reward!

With the Harsh crocks you just remove the lid and start digging into the fermented kraut. It's all good.

Now for the open top crock, you skim, and remove the rock, plate and cheese cloth. You'll find that the liquid that was on the top has evaporated weeks ago and what you have is something you're questioning as to whether you really want to eat this! Not to fear! You're going to remove the top 3 inches of crappy kraut which you feed to the chickens until you get down to the good stuff. There you have it, the rest is a crock of gold!

So you can see the value of a German Harsh (fermenting) crock. Less work and less waste. You don't have to remove the top layer UNLESS you didn't make sure the water seal was always in place.

You can now either zip lock your kraut and freeze it or can it.

When you go to prepare your kraut, you can first taste a bit of the raw kraut. Too salty? Rinse it in a colander in cold water to reduce the salt content. Some times if you didn't go wild with the salt when pounding it'll be just right. Rinse to taste.

Now and overview of what you need.

Winter cabbage (thick leaves) around Thanksgiving harvest.
A cool basement or cellar
Cllean crock(s)
Clean Baseball bat.
Kraut Cutter
2-3 clean plastic pails
Cool basement, 60 degrees or colder, but not 80!
Kosher Canning Salt (2# box) NO IODINE TABLE SALT
#90 Cheese cloth
Clean Plate (No metal plate as it will react with the salt and acid)
Clean Rock ( from your local farmer's rock pile)

Now get you some fresh Kielbasa and cook that in beer separate from the kraut. You can do your Kapusta (cabbage) in the oven in a Dutch oven and the last half hour set your done Kielbasa on top of the Kapusta with the lid off so it browns nicely. Never cook your Kapusta with the sausage as the cabbage will suck the flavor out of the sausage!

So this is my humble offering to you on how I make my sauerkraut. Should you have any questions feel free to pm me and I'll help you out the best I can.

iv got seeds for cabbage and will definitely be trying this out! Thanks rick54.

Throw the sourkraut out and eat the dish....

That is very detailed 54. Thanks, but I will just have to continue to buy mine in a jar.
Why does the canned stuff I buy have so much vinegar? Is the home made that much better?

I never used to like saurkraut. Then I visited Germany and tried it there and loved it. I realized the stuff I disliked (American store-bought products) was all artificial in some way- sometimes pickled instead of fermented (explains the vinegar), artificial flavor added, etc. Now I pay attention and get real kraut when I find it, and it's delicious.

I've never made it but you're tempting me to try!