Sauerkraut

Someone at church sent an email out whether a few people might like to make sauerkraut together. Home-fermented kraut is very healthy. The vitamin C level actually goes up. There are beneficial bacteria from the lacto-fermentation. None of us had ever done it before. Prior to meeting, we read lots of online recipes and watched a number of videos. From what we could tell, it's the kind of thing you can't screw up too badly.

This morning three of us gathered at one of the homes. We used a food processor to slice the cabbage. We used pickling salt and pounded the cabbage using a potato masher, and of all things, canning jars. It was more fun than doing it by myself at home. Instead of buying a food-safe plastic bucket, I decided to pack it into this gallon jug. It seemed to be the best container I had. (I do not plan to use the spigot on the bottom.)

Sauerkraut has to be weighed down so that the cabbage stays under the juice. I put in a red coffee can lid which could be folded to get into the jar. I used tuna cans as weights. They are in plastic bags for cleanliness reasons.

UPDATE
I fermented it in a bottom kitchen cabinet for about 2-3 weeks. It didn't smell great. I thought of putting it in the basement laundry room, but I wanted to keep a closer eye on it. Once I thought it was done, it was kept in the fridge.

It turned out crunchy, too salty, and kind of beery. My cousin, Alison, makes sauerkraut often. She says beery is good. So there you go! Mostly, I used it in soup. After I took some out, I didn't keep a weight on it. By January, it had fuzzy white dots on the surface. I threw the rest away, which was only about 1 1/2 cups. Time to make some more!