Sauerkraut recipe

[CookiePie]

Can anyone share their recipe/technique for making sauerkraut? I'd really like to do this!!! Any good links would be appreciated also!!! This is something that I've been wanting to do

[blessedwithboys]

here's what i do, and it comes out awesome:

first, forget about the salt recipe. LOL

then, some people use whey, but i'm too impatient to wait for the yogurt to strain, so i just take about a cup of plain active yogurt and the put a handful fo my shredded cabbage in to the blender with it and get it all mushed up.

next, i take the remainder of the shredded cabbage and put it in a big bowl and pour the pureed cabbage/yogurt mixture over it and stir it up good and then press it into whatever sized jar will hold it with little headroom.

i cap the jar and each day i push the cabbage down in to the liquid that forms, trying to keep it fully submerged.

after a week, i taste it and either recap it and wait a few more days or if its a small enough batch and its summertime, i put it in the frige. i love my kraut nice and cold on top of blackened meat.

[CookiePie]

So you don't use salt at all? Does it taste any different with this method? I already make my own yogurt so that sounds pretty easy! So are we talking maybe a week or 2 until it is done?

My other queation is, if I'm cooking the kraut say with kielbasa am I ruining everything that I just did by cooking all those good probiotics? I really love hot kielbasa & kraut on a roll with mustard!

[velcromom]

I kind of like the idea of skipping the pounding. Why do you use the blender? could you not just mix the shredded cabbage with the yogurt? Also does it come out crispy? I've heard some problems with texture using whey so that makes me wonder.

[Magelet]

Personally, I will sometimes cook or heat kraut. Certainly, the probiotics aren't still there, but its so tasty. who cares? I just eat most of it raw, and don't worry if sometimes I cook it.

(thought my fave "cooked kraut" is for a ruban sandwhich, and its actually still great with cold kraut, you could try the kraut cold and the keilbasa hot too)

As for how I make kraut,
I finely slice a green cabbage. I put it in a big metal bowl, and add some sea salt (a good bit. 1-2 tablespoons maybe?) use a heavy glass drinking glass as a pounder. I pound it until the juices come up. Then I mix more salt until it tastes saltier than I would enjoy eating, but not too salty to eat. (that is, it doesn't taste disgustingly salty, just a bit saltier than I would prefer). I also mix in juniper berries, mustard seeds, and caraway seeds. I pack it tight into a mason jar, push the kraut under the liquid, and cap it. I then push the kraut under the liquid every few days for 2-5 weeks.

It is still crunchy this way, and works just fine. I love it. You can also add other spices, or different veggies, and stuff, but that's what I make at home because its very versatile. It goes with mexican food, pot roast, steak, hamburgers, rubans, salami sandwhiches, really anything.

[tanyalynn]

http://www.wildfermentation.com/reso...age=sauerkraut

This is Sandor Katz's recipe for sauerkraut, he's got a wonderful pickle recipe on his website too, plus more goodness in his book. And he's got a lot of links in his website if you search around, they go to lots of other fermenting pages.

eta: I make kimchi, not sauerkraut, but the pounding to break down the cabbage a bit and see how much juice there was was starting to get to me, then I realized I could be lazy. Now I fill a bowl with salt and shredded cabbage and put another heavy bowl on top and let it sit for a few hours, I've done overnight too, either on the counter or in the frig. Juice comes out, cabbage softens, and very little work is required of me.

[blessedwithboys]

...

Originally Posted by CookiePie

So you don't use salt at all? no, i tried that once and it came out really soggy and gross. dont know why, i just know my yogurt method works better for me. Does it taste any different with this method? i havent actually gotten a good batch of salted kraut, so cant really say I already make my own yogurt so that sounds pretty easy! So are we talking maybe a week or 2 until it is done? mine's usually done fast, but i live in FL where its hot 360 days each year

My other queation is, if I'm cooking the kraut say with kielbasa am I ruining everything that I just did by cooking all those good probiotics? yes, you would likely kill the good bugs, but once in a while thats not so bad. the rest of the batch that you eat raw will more than make up for it I really love hot kielbasa & kraut on a roll with mustard!

Originally Posted by velcromom

I kind of like the idea of skipping the pounding. Why do you use the blender? cuz i'm too lazy to pound, so i get the juices going from a small bit of the cabbage and call it good LOL could you not just mix the shredded cabbage with the yogurt? yeah, probably. i might try it next time without pureeing in the blender just to see what happens Also does it come out crispy? very crispy. I've heard some problems with texture using whey so that makes me wonder.

[Jojo F.]

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

http://www.wildfermentation.com/reso...age=sauerkraut

This is Sandor Katz's recipe for sauerkraut, he's got a wonderful pickle recipe on his website too, plus more goodness in his book. And he's got a lot of links in his website if you search around, they go to lots of other fermenting pages.

eta: I make kimchi, not sauerkraut, but the pounding to break down the cabbage a bit and see how much juice there was was starting to get to me, then I realized I could be lazy. Now I fill a bowl with salt and shredded cabbage and put another heavy bowl on top and let it sit for a few hours, I've done overnight too, either on the counter or in the frig. Juice comes out, cabbage softens, and very little work is required of me.

I was gonna post the same link and no pounding here either, the salt naturally pulls out the water from the cabbage And when you tamp the cabbage into your jar/crock more water will come out of the cabbage.