Who ferments their own cabbage to make sauerkraut? (caraway, crock, juice)

[taurus430]

I tried it a couple of times but did not like the end result. I let it ferment for 4 weeks and the water got funny. I didn't like the way it smelt. Tell me how you do it, details plse, I want to try again.

[jasape]

I do this on occasion, but in small batches only because I'm the only one who eats pickled food in my house. For sauerkraut I take one cabbage and cut it up, put it in a bowl with 4 tablespoons of salt and 2 tablespoons of caraway seeds, and pound it with a wooden spoon until it gets nice and soft and the juices run out (~10 minutes?). I think a mallet would be easier except I can't find mine.
Then I take a large jar and using my fingers, pack the cabbage and juice in as tightly as possible, and leave about an inch from the top or else it will overflow later. Then I leave it sit on the counter for a week. You could leave it go longer I guess it would just be stronger in taste but I have never tried. But take the weather into account - things will ferment faster in hot/humid air.

I have had a couple of my jars go bad like you described when i first attempted to make sauerkraut where it and it smelled/tasted spoiled. I'm pretty sure the reason was because I did not pound the cabbage first so it didn't get packed in tightly enough.

[taurus430]

Originally Posted by jasape

I do this on occasion, but in small batches only because I'm the only one who eats pickled food in my house. For sauerkraut I take one cabbage and cut it up, put it in a bowl with 4 tablespoons of salt and 2 tablespoons of caraway seeds, and pound it with a wooden spoon until it gets nice and soft and the juices run out (~10 minutes?). I think a mallet would be easier except I can't find mine.
Then I take a large jar and using my fingers, pack the cabbage and juice in as tightly as possible, and leave about an inch from the top or else it will overflow later. Then I leave it sit on the counter for a week. You could leave it go longer I guess it would just be stronger in taste but I have never tried. But take the weather into account - things will ferment faster in hot/humid air.

I have had a couple of my jars go bad like you described when i first attempted to make sauerkraut where it and it smelled/tasted spoiled. I'm pretty sure the reason was because I did not pound the cabbage first so it didn't get packed in tightly enough.

I have a crock and did use a plate to cover with a weight making sure the salted water was above. I didn't realize that if it's to cold, it won't ferment, to hot it might spoil. I made Kimchi and that went well because you have the spices in it.

[karibear]

My gran used to make it, but she shredded the cabbage. It went into a big crock and there was considerably more salt - I think - though since she made such large batches it might have turned out to be around the same proportion. She didn't pound it, she just poured saltwater over it, stirred it up with a long wooden spoon or her hands to get all the air bubbles out, and had a big platter weighted down on the top.

[Minathebrat]

There's a really cool crock, made in Germany, that I think is really fantastic for sauerkraut. It has a lip that you pour water into that allows fermentation bubbles to escape from, but won't let air and "hitchhikers" into your sauerkraut. This is also a really good how-to on how to make sauerkraut, and she uses the crock I'm talking about.
Rabbit Food or Sauerkraut « Softly We Walk…

[Rach1966]

I just shred my cabbage like I'm making slaw
put a spoon full of salt in the bottom of a clean quart jar (1/2 spoon full in pint jar)
put in shredded cabbage, push in with fingers
add tap water to it to fill it up
put jar lid and ring on (leave ring loose to let it bubble over) (I just my old jar rings for this)
I put newspapers on the bottom of one of those plastic milk crates, put the jars in there and cover with more news papers
take the whole crate outside in the building sit on concrete floor out of the light (newspapers helps with this)
forget about it for about 4 weeks
then bring it outside, remove the newspapers, take water hose and wash off, tighten the lids and store
really simple
cabbage, salt, water, newspapers, plastic milk crate