Give me the kraut and no one gets hurt

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

I love sauerkraut.  Love it!  Growing up, we always had sauerkraut, pork, and mashed potatoes on New Year’s Day (for luck), a tradition I still continue as an adult.  And in college I admit that my breakfast of champions was a daily hot dog with mustard and kraut from Dave’s Dogs in front of Temple University’s library.

My family never served homemade sauerkraut, though, and I’m relatively certain that Dave’s Dogs didn’t exactly use the finest sauerkraut.  I’ve sort of wondered about the logistics of making sauerkraut at home, but it never really went beyond the wondering stage…until about a month ago.  I ended up with two rather large heads of cabbage through the CSA share.  Not knowing what I wanted to do with two heads of cabbage, it seemed like a good idea to try my hand at sauerkraut-making.

The first obstacle was finding a vessel in which to let the cabbage ferment.  Stoneware crocks are popular - the Harsch Fermentation Crock, for instance.  But I wanted something less expensive for my first time out.  I settled on a five gallon food grade plastic bucket with an airlock in the lid, one meant for homebrewing (which ensures that I try homebrewing at some point, as well!).

After that, it was super easy.  Using a mandoline, I sliced up the cabbage as thin as I could and tossed it in the bucket.  I sprinkled four Tablespoons of pickling salt over the cabbage, and used my hands to mix the salt in and squeeze the cabbage until liquid was released.  I poured some water over the cabbage until it was all just covered with water, put on the lid, and let it ferment in my kitchen for just over three weeks.

Most recipes I ran across for sauerkraut called for kosher salt instead of pickling salt, but sometimes you have to improvise.  The pickling salt worked just great, although I think it makes the sauerkraut slightly sweeter than kosher would have.  Regular old table salt, by the way, will not work.  Don’t even try it.  The ratio of salt to cabbage, by the way, is five pounds of shredded cabbage to four Tablespoons of salt.

If you use a crock that isn’t air tight, there’s this whole rigamarole involving cheesecloth and pressing and skimming scum off the top.  I’m not one for scum, so I took the easy route.  Also, the temperature of your kitchen (or wherever you might choose to ferment the sauerkraut) has a direct bearing on the length of time it may take to ferment properly.  The ideal temp is around 75 degrees, which takes approximately three weeks.  The lower the temperature, the longer it will take to ferment. 

All of that to get to the final product: last night I uncorked my fermenting vessel and checked it out - perfect, tangy sauerkraut!  I didn’t relish the idea of dragging out my pressure canner last night, so I packed it into freezer bags and threw it in my chest freezer.  Frozen sauerkraut will last just about a year.  Of course, my annual New Year’s Day krautfest is only about six months away.  Hooray!