How to make Sauerkraut

Homemade Sauerkraut

Back in December I shared a post on how to make kimchee using the Harsch crock, a heavy-duty fermenting crock. We’ve used it multiple times and are really pleased with it. Still it’s expensive, and unless you intend on fermenting on a regular basis it is likely cost-prohibitive to purchase something like it. For a while I had been considering getting another smaller crock or fermenting jar so that we could have a couple of things fermenting at the same time, and we finally decided upon the Pickle, Sauerkraut and Kimchi Maker jar (currently priced at $24.97).

Sauerkraut Jar

This last week I finally took the time to make a batch of sauerkraut. I’d never made sauerkraut before, so I didn’t know how it would turn out or how different it would be from making kimchee. I have always loved sauerkraut, and I have pretty much only had the kind that you buy in a can at the grocery store. As you can imagine, I was extremely curious to know how different fresh sauerkraut would be versus the canned version.

Before I jump into the recipe, let me note a few things.

• I decided to follow the instructions that came with the jar since the jar comes with several pieces that are each meant for a specific function. I didn’t follow the instructions exactly, but I followed them very closely.
• If you use this particular jar, and since it does have multiple pieces, make sure you have everything and that it is all clean.
• I found that this is very similar to making kimchee, although this was much faster. This is likely due to the fact that when I make kimchee I often use a lot more ingredients.
• If you can help it, use a food processor to shred the cabbage (much faster), and definitely set the jar on a plate or tray.

I’ll note a few other things along the way, too.

Homemade Sauerkraut
Makes about 1 gallon of sauerkraut

• 2 or 3 heads of cabbage, shredded
• 3 or 4 tablespoons sea salt
• Water

Take your heads of cabbage, and discard the first one or two outer leaves and rinse well. Prepare your cabbage for shredding. I did this by cutting off the bottom of the cabbage and then cutting off chunks just off the middle (to avoid the very tough stem at the bottom).

Preparing the cabbage

I don’t have a hand-held shredder (believe it or not), and I didn’t really care to use a knife,  so I decided to use our food processor to shred the cabbage. I used the slicing blade as I did not want to have my sauerkraut be too fine. It’s up to you how finely grated you want yours to be.

Shredding cabbage in the food processor

Mix the salt in with the shredded cabbage (you can do this by hand). I wound up with a couple of large mixing bowls of shredded cabbage, so I mixed the salt in batches. Note that I also used the same salt that we use for making kimchee.

Mixing salt into shredded cabbage

Begin by putting handfuls of cabbage into the jar and then pressing down firmly with your hands. The reason for this is two-fold. First, you want to make sure that there is little to no air in the cabbage, and additionally by pressing down the cabbage will be more likely to release its own juices. The salt also helps the cabbage to release water.

Making sauerkraut

Quick note – I could have done one more cabbage (I did two – one on the smaller side and one medium-sized), but I didn’t want to make too much on my first try – but you can see that this jar really does hold quite a bit.

Pour in water to the top of the jar (I used filtered water), then place the small lid in the top of the jar and upside-down.

Pouring water into sauerkraut jar

Pour additional water into the jar and the upside-down lid until water has reached the absolute top of the jar.

Air bubbles escaping the jar already

Screw on the lid of the jar, and take out the black stopper from the middle of the lid only, leaving the black liner in the lid. A little water should come out – if not, unscrew the lid and add more water. Pour water up until the fill line in the airlock, then press the airlock gently into the top of the lid until the tapered end is no longer visible.

Closing up the sauerkraut jar

Place the jar on a plate or tray (believe me – you’ll want this, as water will overflow), and let it sit on your counter for the next three or four days.

When you first start off you’ll see that the cabbage has left a little bit of room at the very bottom of the jar, and is floating in the water.

Day One - Cabbage just went into the jar and has begun the fermentation process

In the next few pictures see how much room there is at the bottom of the jar as the cabbage ferments. Also see if you can find the bubbles escaping the airlock – this means it’s working! By the way, this was really only four days of fermentation, but I am calling the day that I put the cabbage into the jar “day one”.

Day Two - Basically 24 hours after it went into the jar

Day Three - Fermentation continues

Day Four - Check out how much space is at the bottom of the jar now

See how there is liquid on top of the jar? You’ll want to wipe that off every day, otherwise you’ll wind up fermenting some things on your jar and not just in it – not a good idea necessarily. Also be sure to empty your tray or plate every day if you can, otherwise you may have overflow on your counter – also not a good idea.

Day Five - Last fermentation day for the sauerkraut

On day five (fourth day of fermentation) I opened up the jar, removed the inner lid and took my first look at the sauerkraut. It’s really quite fascinating, but if you have ever had Rice Krispies it sounds just like that! Truly there was a bit of a snap, crackle and pop that I was hearing.

Opening up the jar of sauerkraut

I tried my first bite, and to be honest I was a little surprised – and disappointed. It wasn’t quite as sour as I had hoped, and based upon how much I had seen it ferment over those few days I had really thought that it would be more powerful than it was.

That said – I screwed the lid back on, popped in the black stopper and put it in the refrigerator -  it has continued to ferment since I made it, and basically after about a week it started to really get a stronger sauerkraut flavor. It’s probably still not quite as strong as what you’d get in a can at your local grocery store, but it tastes similar and more fresh.

Homemade sauerkraut

Sauerkraut can be used in a variety of ways. Some people like to put it on sandwiches or hotdogs, but I like eating it just by itself. I’ve been having a little bowl of it every day for lunch, with a touch of salt and sometimes with a dash of dill seed. Some people also like it with caraway or fennel.

Check out this video I found on YouTube on how to make sauerkraut in a similar, yet slightly different way.

Have you made sauerkraut or do you ferment other vegetables?

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