Tips on making sauerkraut.

Looking for any tips on making some. Seems pretty easy but haven't ever gave it a try before. May have 70+ pounds of cabbage and need to do something with it. Thanks.

Pretty simple actually. Lot's of YouTube videos can get you pointed in the right direction. The only big mistake I ever made was adding too much salt.

My tip is,,,,,, we use my grandmothers crock that was her grandmothers.....

A good crock is a must imo. I skimped on that my first try and musta got air or something and had moldy mush.

I used a plastic container that time, the next I had a real crock and had good Kraut.

I've always used a clean 5 gallon pail and had good luck...except when I added too much salt.

me too!!

We use quart jars, shred the cabbage and stuff as much as you can get in a jar, when you think you have all you can get in jar put some more in. Top off with some salt and hot water, do not put the lid on tight at first, keep it loose. Set the jars in an old dishpan and let the juice seep out a bit, after a month or two you can hand tighten the lid. We like to let it age at least a year before using. We use quart jars because we have a bunch and that makes a meal for two of us.

I ferment this way, it works real good.

Good old stone crock and a pine baseball bat (both have been used in the family for 75+ years) shred a layer of cabbage, sprinkle in salt on the layer, have someone tamp the layer while someone else shreds the next layer. Keep repeating until you are out of cabbage. Tamping brings out the juice. Cover crock with a large towel and secure with large rubber band. Wait two weeks min then test for taste. Continue to test every 5 days or so until it is sour to your liking. Don’t forget to chunk up the cabbage cores and place in with your kraut. There is always some friendly bickering over the cores when the kraut comes off

I have a crock (smaller one) that will hold about 8-10 quarts. Last year I made 5 qts as a trial. I plan to do 6-7 qts this year. I have a kraut knife and shred and pack in the crock with the designated amount of canning salt. I let it stay until it smells like kraut. I forget how long, maybe 6 weeks or so. I then bring out rinse in cold water pat dry and cram in jars and then I pressure cook the jars. I have about 1 pint left and it tasted like most kraut. I don't think I will add any caraway seed this year either. I did freeze one bag and that worked out well too. A nice medium sized head will make about two qts. maybe a tad less.

Bryce

Here's a tip. How bout making something good to eat. Did you run out of pickled eggs and head cheese already?