Sauerkraut Recipe

Out of all of the veggies I grew in my garden this year, by far one the most successful crops was my cabbage.  While I like cabbage, and eat it often, we had more than we could eat!  So what does one do with extra cabbage you say?  We make sauerkraut.  But how?  Having never made it before, I starting searching recipes on line, and found the perfect one for us.  I adore Alton Brown from the Food Network, so I knew that his sauerkraut recipe was going to be good.

Ingredients:

5 lbs of green cabbage, shredded
3 tbsp of pickling salt
1 tbsp of juniper berries
2 tsp of caraway seeds

Directions:

I used my food processor to shred the cabbage, then in a mixing bowl added the cabbage, salt, juniper berries, and caraway seeds, and mixed together thoroughly.  Make sure your hands are clean if using them to mix all the ingredients together.  Let stand for 10 minutes.

I transferred my cabbage mixture to a stainless steal pot.  To weight the mixture down so it stays in its juices, and covered it with cheese cloth.  I then used my pasta strainer, and weighted it down with a quart size mason jar full of water.

It was the perfect way to make sure the sauerkraut was weighted especially at the edges.

Placed it on the kitchen counter overnight, and by the morning we could see the liquid just covering the surface of the strainer.

I left my cabbage on the counter, and checked it periodically. If surface scum appears, remove it, however I didn't have any scum, just the brine liquid the cabbage was in.  I let it stand for 4 weeks, checking periodically. At this point Alton Brown's recipe transfers it to an airtight container that stores in the refrigerator for up to 6 months, I however wanted it to be canned, and put in my pantry.  I went to my trusty Ball Blue Book of preserving, and proceeded to follow their canning method.

I brought the sauerkraut to a simmer, around 180 degrees, but don't boil.  I used a thermometer to make sure I had the right temperature.

Once it reached that temp, I packed it in hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.    Ladled the hot liquid over the sauerkraut again making sure the headspace was 1/2 inch.  Removed any air bubbles, and put the two piece caps on, and processed my pints sized jars for 15 minutes in my boiling-water canner.

 My 5 pounds of cabbage yielded me about 5 pints.








We of course opened one the next night to eat with our brats, and I must say it was fabulous.
To see Alton's recipe, click here!
Happy canning!
-K-