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Sauerkraut

Fermented cabbage preserved with salt, packed in a crock, allowed to ferment for 10 days to 5 weeks.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cabbage

  1. Remove the outside leaves of the cabbage.

  2. Cut the cabbage crosswise and shred it very finely.

Pack the crock

  1. Pack the shredded cabbage into a clean earthenware crock or container.

  2. Sprinkle a little salt in the container, then add a layer of shredded cabbage and pack it down with a potato masher.

  3. Repeat layering with salt and cabbage until the container is full.

  4. Press the cabbage down tightly and cover with a cloth, then place a glazed plate or board on top.

  5. Add weights like stones to keep the brine above the cover.

Ferment

  1. Allow fermentation for 10 days to 2 weeks in a warm room, or 3 to 5 weeks in a cool place.

  2. Skim off any film that forms daily to prevent scum.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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 vegetable that ferments into sauerkraut.
Coarse sea salt
Draws out moisture to form brine and keeps harmful microbes in check while fermentation proceeds.

The step that matters

Keeping the cabbage submerged under brine. Cabbage left above the brine can spoil and grow mold. Pressing it down tightly and weighting the cover keeps the shreds under the liquid, where the salt protects them and the lactic acid bacteria can ferment them safely.

“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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