My First Ever Sauerkraut Project

Today, September 18, 2011, I made my first batch of sauerkraut, or should I say my first bunch of cut-up cabbage that I hope turns into extremely good tasting sauerkraut.  I picked up two farm grown heads of cabbage, both over 7.5 lbs each.   They were picked this morning.  With fresh cut cabbage the hope is there will be a lot of juice making up the brine that the cabbage will ferment in.  Some store purchased cabbage that may have sat around long might require brine to be added once it is in the fermentation crock.

Ok, here are the details for this first batch:

1. Two 7.5 lbs for a total of 15 lbs of cabbage.
2. Formula for canning salt, 3 tablespoons per 5 lbs of cabbage
3. Caraway seeds, 2 teaspoons per 5 lbs of cabbage

I worked with one cabbage at a time, or 7.5 lbs, so I had to convert to these quantities:

1. Salt for one shredded cabbage head, 7.5 lbs, equaled 4.5 tablespoons
2. Caraway seeds 3 teaspoons.

 This photo shows the size of these two cabbages.  Not the best however in that they both had gaps in the leaf structure compared to some that are solid with no gaps.  Some of the instructions I read suggest removing all of the green leafs so that the kraut final color is consistent. I really don't care if the color varies some. 

Here is just an other picture of the cabbage. The clear bin on the right of the photo is what I use to mix the sliced cabbage with the salt and caraway seeds.









This is the first cabbage cut in half.  Notice the air gaps.  The second head had more gaps than this one.  The cabbage is quartered and the core is sliced out.  I read some instructions that state that some people will slice even the core up and add it to the crock.  I choose not to.

On the left shows the head of cabbage as I'm slicing it by hand.  On the right is one head of cabbage sliced and ready to have salt and caraway seeds added.  After adding the salt and caraway I hand mix it with the cabbage for about five minutes.  Then I let it stand for about 10 more minutes while the salt starts to reduce the volume and it starts to release its juices.

The photo on the left shows the salt, caraway seeds, the measuring spoons and the measured amount of salt and seeds to sprinkle over the top of the chopped cabbage.  Once sprinkled on the cabbage I mixed it all together and allow it to set for about 10 to 15 minutes before placing in the crock.  On the right shows the crock after washing it and then added boiling water to sterilize it.  After sterilizing (about 20 minutes) the water is removed and the crock is allowed to return to room temperature.

This is after the last sliced head of cabbage is added to the crock.  The yellow looking piece in the right of the photo is the tamper.  The tamper is used to pack the cabbage into the crock and working the moisture out enough to cover the cabbage.

This is a close-up of the filled crock.  I could have added about another 3 to 4 lbs of cabbage, but I think 15 lbs will be enough for my first batch.  There are a set of half moon looking weights that are placed on top of the kraut to hold it down and allow it to stay covered with the brine. Sorry, forgot to take of photo if them.

This is where the crock will stay for the next 4 to 5 weeks as the transformation from cabbage to sauerkraut happens.  The crock weights about 46 lbs total with the 15 lbs of cabbage in it.

This photo shows the crock with the lid in place and the water around the lid.  This water makes an air tight seal but allows the escape of the carbon dioxide that the fermentation generates.  This air tight seal is important to allow the fermentation to occur and to keep oxygen from getting in which can allow mold and other unwanted things from growing with the kraut.  To kraut makers, they call it scum.  This is the primary reason I decided to get this type of crock.  Even though they say it is harmless, I just didn't want to deal with scum!!

I'll post an update as time goes by.  If things go as planned, I should have kraut on October 16, 2011.  We shall see!!