What you need:
Utensils:
- FERMENT FOR LIFE Fermenting Pot
- Long chef’s knife or cabbage shredder (mandolin)
- Large bowl or bucket
Ingredients:
- Cabbage
- Salt
- Caraway seeds
- Onion
- Optional ingredients: drill, grape leaf, horseradish, turmeric, ginger, garlic etc.
Instructions:
- Wash the Fermenting Pot & vegetables thoroughly.
- Remove the outer leaves of the cabbage, cut it in half and remove the stalk.
- Slice or shred cabbage into thin slices using a long paring knife or shredder and place in large bowl.
- Add approximately 20grm salt, 1 tablespoon of caraway seeds, and 1 chopped onion per kilo of cabbage.
- Mix all of the ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl or bucket and then pound or stomp the cabbage for a couple of minutes until plenty of juice (brine) has been released.
- Fill the fermenting pot with the cabbage and brine. Pack the cabbage tightly using your fist, making sure there are no gaps or air pockets. The brine should cover the cabbage by at least 3-5cm.
- Once the cabbage is packed in and submerged under the brine, allow a gap of approximately 5cm below the rim of the fermenting pot. Do not fill the pot all the way to the top.
- Place a whole cabbage leaf over the shredded cabbage and then weight it all down using a smooth clean stone, a small plate or a jar filled with water.
- Place the lid on and fill the groove in which the lid sits with water. (This ensures a hermetic seal that prevents air from coming in yet allows the co2 gasses to escape.) Within a few days you will hear a gurgling or bubbling sound as the fermentation begins and the gasses bubble up from under the lid.
Keep your fermenting pot in a stable enviroment where the temperatore doesn’t fluctuate too much. Check the water groove every couple of days as the water can evaporate & may need to be topped up. The main part of the fermenting process takes place within the first 3-4 weeks after which time the bubbling sounds become less frequent. Your sauerkraut will be ready to eat after 5-6 weeks; you can either to take it out of the fermenting pot as you use it (keeping in mind that the flavour will continue to develop), or you can take it all out, put in jars and store it in the fridge and start a new batch.
Happy fermenting and please share your own recipe’s and tips!