Today included several projects, but one was homegrown, homemade sauerkraut! We planted the cabbage a few months ago, and considering it is our first year growing cabbage, it has done surprisingly well.
We freshly harvested the cabbage today, and rinsed the leaves. I pulled them apart and made sure to clean thoroughly between each leaf. After cleaning the leaves, I stacked them and julienned the leaves (cut in long strips).
After cutting the cabbage, I put into a large bowl. You will want to then sprinkle in 1.5 tsp of salt onto your cabbage. Then gently caress your cabbage leaves until the water (or brine) begins to leave the cabbage.
My cabbage took about 10 minutes of caressing to expel a good amount of water. You will then put your cabbage into a mason jar, and let it ferment! It’s only going to take a few days for your sauerkraut to ferment and become delicious, but longer is okay! You want to keep your cabbage submerged to prevent it from spoiling. You can purchase a weight to place inside of your mason jar, however, I place a plastic bag into the mason jar, and fill it with water. This acts as a reusable weight that doesn’t require additional storage! Once the cabbage looks like sauerkraut, remove the bag, remove any funk on top, put a lid on, and stick in your fridge to enjoy with grilled bratwurst!
NOTE: I clean the plastic bag and reuse it many times!
Be sure to “burp” your fermenting items, and if your container is close to full, I recommend placing a cloth underneath of it for quick clean up in case of any spillage.
There you have it! I will be sure to update in a few days with my yummy sauerkraut!
