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To Make Sauerkraut

Fermented cabbage preserved with salt and vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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To Make Sauerkraut

Why it works: Cabbage and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,924 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

To Make Sauerkraut

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Slice the cabbage as finely as possible after one or two good frosts in the fall.

  2. Pack the sliced cabbage in clean barrels, firkins, butter-tubs, or earthen jars.

Salt and pack

  1. Sprinkle the salt evenly over the cabbage, using 1 pint for a barrel and adjusting for smaller quantities.

  2. Add 1 gallon of vinegar to the barrel, adding a little more if desired.

  3. Pack the cabbage down firmly.

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

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cabbage + vinegartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,924 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Solid heads of cabbage
Provides the main bulk and crisp texture that becomes the sauerkraut.
Coarse sea salt
Draws moisture out of the cabbage and helps control spoilage during storage.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that gives the finished dish its sour flavour.

The step that matters

Pack the cabbage down firmly. Firm packing removes air pockets so the cabbage stays submerged in its own brine, which helps prevent spoilage and keeps the texture even.

“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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