DIY Sauerkraut

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Hello!  My name is Erica and I’m excited to join the Farm to Philly team!  I’m a community garden organizer and local food lover from West Philadelphia, check out my bio for more info on the gardens I tend in Philadelphia and Camden, NJ.

For my first post I decided to go with a tried-and-true recipe that I am constantly making in my kitchen; sauerkraut.  Cabbage is a great winter staple, I get mine at Mariposa Food Co-op where they’ve recently been selling small cabbages that are perfect for a mini batch of kraut.

The first step is to assemble your equipment:  a ceramic crock or (food-grade) plastic bucket and a dish that fits snugly into it.  I found my crock at a second-hand store, but you can sometimes buy them at housewares stores.  You’ll also need a cutting board, a glass mason jar with lid, a knife, a dish cloth and a large bowl.

Your ingredients are one small cabbage, sea salt, and water.  The amounts depend on the size of your crock, but I use one small head of cabbage, ½ cup of water, and 3 or 4 Tbs of salt in my ½ gallon crock.

Thinly shred the cabbage.  I find that the best way to do this is to cut it in half and slice thinly from the cut side.  When you’ve cut off a handful of cabbage, put it in the bowl and sprinkle it with salt.  Keep doing this until you’ve shredded the entire cabbage, layering the cabbage and salt as you go.  Put the cabbage in the crock and mash it down with your fist to get it tightly packed.  Mix together one teaspoon of salt in a cup of water and pour it over the cabbage until the cabbage is submerged.  Put the dish into the crock and put it down so the cabbage is under the salt water.  Fill the mason jar with water and use it to weigh the plate down.  Cover the entire thing with a dish cloth to keep away flies and dust, and place it in a dark corner of your kitchen.

Taste the sauerkraut daily to observe the fermentation process.  When it has reached the perfect amount of “sourness,” take it out of the crock and place it in a mason jar in the fridge.  For me, it takes between 1.5 and 2.5 weeks in the winter to reach the perfect point (less time in the summer).  To see the original recipe I used and more fermented food recipes, check out wildfermentation.com.  Enjoy!