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To Make Sauerkraut

Fermented cabbage made by salting, packing, and allowing to ferment for several weeks.

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

To Make Sauerkraut

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cabbage

  1. Clean and prepare a tight barrel or tub.

  2. Remove the outer leaves from the cabbage.

  3. Cut the cabbage in halves.

  4. Shave the halves finely.

Salt and pack

  1. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of salt over the bottom of the barrel.

  2. Layer 12 quarts of cut cabbage.

  3. Add 2 teaspoons of salt.

  4. Repeat layering until the barrel is full.

  5. Pound the cabbage lightly after each addition.

Weight and brine

  1. Cover with a white cloth.

  2. Place a round wooden cover.

  3. Place a weight of 45-50 pounds on top.

  4. After 24 hours, ensure the juice covers the cabbage.

  5. If not, add clear, cold water.

  6. Wash the cover.

  7. Wash the weight.

  8. Wash the barrel.

  9. Do this every other day for one week.

Ferment

  1. Store in a moderately warm place for about three weeks.

  2. Then move to a cool place.

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

Good, firm heads of cabbage
Provides the bulk of the shredded vegetable that ferments into sauerkraut.
Coarse sea salt
Draws out moisture to form brine and inhibits spoilage while lactic acid bacteria ferment the cabbage.
Clear, cold water
Tops up the brine so the cabbage stays submerged during fermentation.

The step that matters

Keep the cabbage submerged under the juice. Cabbage left exposed to air can grow mold and spoil. Keeping it under brine excludes oxygen, letting salt-tolerant lactic acid bacteria dominate and produce the sour flavor.

“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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