Ingredients:
- Cabbage(s)
- Canning salt
- Water
- Pull a couple of the outer leaves off the cabbage(s) and set aside.
- Shred cabbage (75% green and 25% red) and soak in a brine for an hour or two (brine = 1 tsp. canning salt per cup of water).
Don't use too much brine--otherwise you'll just end up pouring most down the sink; use enough brine to cover about 1/2 the depth of shredded cabbage in the bowl.
Stir it around with your hand before you let it soak. - Drain & set aside the brine; pack jars tightly with cabbage.
- From the set-aside leaves, cut or tear pieces that are slightly larger than the jar mouth and tuck one into the top neck of each jar. This is a sacrificial piece--when you open the jar, you'll toss it.
- Top off with brine, leaving a bit of head space in each jar.
- Put on bands and lids snug (tight but not over-tight--they need to bleed pressure later) and let set a week at room temp (70 F). Avoid direct sunlight.
Put them in a glass dish or something similar--because the jars will overflow and make a mess. - After a week, wash up the jar tops, lids, and bands, re-tighten, and put in the cellar for 2 months or more. (You can add brine if any jars need a bit.)
- In a couple of months, open a jar, toss the sacrificial cabbage leaf, and dig in.
Refrigerate after you open a jar. This kraut is not heat canned, so the lids won't seal--this is expected.
- Roughly 1.75# of cabbage fills a quart mason jar.
- Most of the initial fermentation that causes the jars to spill over will usually take place in the first three or four days.
- The flavor develops over time (3 months, 6 months, a year).
- If you don't have a cool basement or root cellar, you can refrigerate.
- Dogs love the sacrificial leaf.
