Sauerkraut
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cabbage
Collect cabbage in autumn and remove the stalks.
Slice the leaves by machine or hand.
Layer the sliced cabbage in a vat, alternating with layers of coarse sea salt until the vat is full.
Place heavy weights on top to apply pressure.
Ferment and cook
Allow to ferment for six weeks, adjusting time based on temperature.
To cook, stew the sauerkraut in its own liquid with bacon or pork.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Cabbage
- Provides the bulk of the dish and the raw material that ferments into sauerkraut.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and suppresses spoilage microbes, letting fermentation proceed safely.
The step that matters
Layering with salt. Salt must be distributed evenly between the cabbage layers. It draws water out to form the brine that covers the shreds, and this brine keeps the cabbage submerged and protected while lactic acid bacteria ferment it.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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