Experiment with Homemade Sauerkraut

[WRideout]

No, I didn't make it. A mystery bag of sauerkraut was found on my front porch a while ago. We don't have any enemies that I know of, so I thought I would try it. I think I know who left it, but haven't confirmed yet. It tasted a little salty right out of the bag, and I wasn't sure what to do with it. I finally decided to use up all the leftovers I had in the fridge to make lunch for myself. I used a 1/3 pound piece of pork, what is billed as "boneless ribs" but is really just any old piece that is cut to look like a rib. Even though it was just thrown together, it turned out really good. I may do the same treatment for the sauerkraut, without the pork, to use over hot dogs. Here it is:

Pork and sauerkraut
1/3 lb piece of pork (anything but ham or smoked pork hocks)
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 cup sauerkraut
½ med onion sliced.
1 clove garlic pressed
2 tbs butter
1 tsp balsamic vinegar

Brown the pork on all sides in a skillet with the oil. Add the onion and pressed garlic, and stir once in a while. Rinse sauerkraut and drain well. When onions are limp, add sauerkraut and butter. Sauté for about five min. Add the balsamic vinegar and give it a good stir. Serve with whatever starch you like; boiled potatoes are good, but spaetzel noodles would also be good. This recipe could easily be scaled up to handle dinner for more people.

Wayne

[gwpercle]

You sir are brave !

Just one of my silly rules....but I never eat things, left in a bag , left on my front porch with no note of who it's from or what it is....or am I paranoid ?

[MaryB]

I save the trimmings off the spare ribs from summer when I trim them to St. Louis cut. Basically what restaurants sell as rib tips with all the cartilage etc. When fall rolls around and I have a fresh batch of homemade kraut I put the ribs in the crock pot, cover with the kraut and kraut juice(in homemade kraut it is really healthy to drink this) and cook until the meat falls off the bones and cartilage. Pull the rib tips out, shred the meat, add back to the kraut then use a little instant mashed potato to thicken it a bit. Serve over mashed potato, rice, bread...

[WRideout]

You sir are brave !

Just one of my silly rules....but I never eat things, left in a bag , left on my front porch with no note of who it's from or what it is....or am I paranoid ?

We know all the neighbors, and they are friendly folk.
Wayne

[WRideout]

I save the trimmings off the spare ribs from summer when I trim them to St. Louis cut. Basically what restaurants sell as rib tips with all the cartilage etc. When fall rolls around and I have a fresh batch of homemade kraut I put the ribs in the crock pot, cover with the kraut and kraut juice(in homemade kraut it is really healthy to drink this) and cook until the meat falls off the bones and cartilage. Pull the rib tips out, shred the meat, add back to the kraut then use a little instant mashed potato to thicken it a bit. Serve over mashed potato, rice, bread...

Somebody needs to come up with a GMO pig that is mostly ribs. Kind of like the chickens that have fingers.

Wayne

[gunseller]

I would have to agree, I am a little picky on eating food I do not know who made it. Unless I am real hungry then I will and have eaten anything that won't eat me first. I am also that way on someone else's hand loads. That said I like the sound of the stuff you put together. Open faced on toast has me looking for some fixens.
Steve

[texasnative46]

MaryB,

And your recipe for your homemade kraut is??
(Presuming that it's not a family secret.)

yours, tex

[MaryB]

Standard shred and salt it! Nothing special at all! But I do use a german made fermenting crock that seems to make better kraut. No they are not cheap... https://www.amazon.com/Schmitt-Ferme.../dp/B004QH8MIA

[gbrown]

An old thread from a few years back. Might be of interest. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...ake-Sauerkraut

[Iowa Fox]

We love home made sauerkraut and make 15-30 pounds of it every year. When I was a kid I remember helping my grandmother make it, now our grown kids are making it also. Late white Dutch cabbage makes the best kraut. We use my wife's moms old cutter and know it came from a couple of generations of the family before her mother got it. Our kids bought cutters at tag sales after they left home. Pork, home made kraut, home made ketchup- Yummmm!!


Pork, home made kraut, home made ketchup- Yummmm!!

[Iowa Fox]

Standard shred and salt it! Nothing special at all! But I do use a german made fermenting crock that seems to make better kraut. No they are not cheap... https://www.amazon.com/Schmitt-Ferme.../dp/B004QH8MIA

Mary, can you elaborate on this crock from your usage? I looked at the link and the customer reviews. We use a 3 gal crock per batch with a plate and a rock on top. Its tricky and you can get a spoiled batch easy if you don't watch it.

[gbrown]

We've always used an 8 gallon crock my dad got about 40 years ago. It was older than dirt, then. I've never had a bad batch out of it, and mom and dad never did. It has a crack near the bottom that dad epoxied after he got it. It still works well. I have a 45 lb batch going now with it sitting near the back door. First time in years the wife has allowed me to do this. LOL! Pound the kraut down with an old baseball bat wrapped in a new plastic trash bag to pack it. Have 3-4 inches of brine over the kraut. Put a large plate on the packed kraut and then put a gallon water jug (well washed & sanitized) on that to weight the plate down. Take that trash bag that was used with the bat and slide over the crock. No smell, no muss no fuss. First week of February I'll pack in quart and pint jars and hot water bath can. This will be the 20-25th batch out of it, between my parents and I. I check the crock from time to time and remove any odd bits floating.

[AllanD]

I've attempted to make my own Kraut once and it was a miserable failure.

I decided that should I ever try again I'd start with the standard shredded Cabbage (I own a manual Deli slicer)and salt but intentionally add some cultured win years to kick it off and 24hours later add some cultured Vinegar mother so whatever bacterial
that ruined my last attempt would not have much of a chance to take hold.


As for Pork and Sauerkraut, I was taught by my mother to roast the pork first then put it when it was 90% done onto a bed of kraut in the STAINLESS STEEL or Glass roasting tray.

I typically coat and rub allover with "Steak Seasoning" a whole pork loin cook it on a rack fat side up then put it onto the Kraut for 30 minutes more. the combination of Kraut Juice and pork fat is the perfect dressing for halved, Boiled Redskin potatoes no special prep on the potatoes, except to leave them unpeeled and simply Crush them before plating.

[gbrown]

I dunno. I've never added anything but salt and caraway seed to my cabbage. Right now, in the crock, there is foam around the edges and some odd bits of cabbage floating on the surface. Our normal recipe was 3 tablespoons of salt to 5 lb of cabbage. I did 4 tablespoons of salt this time, but I can add a quart or so of water to that when I pack the kraut in the jars, and it will come out about right as far as brine. The caraway seeds go on each layer of cabbage as it is packed in the crock. Usually it is 1 tablespoon to each 5lb layer. This time I didn't measure, I just covered the layer with caraway until it looked like a country gravy with black pepper on it. I've heard of people adding yeast and such to "start" the process, but we never did and had good luck. The cabbage we always use is just the supermarket variety. With the demands from family and friends, we are lucky if we end up with a jar or two after December of the following year. I pack the kraut with the bat, as described, every 2 layers or 10 pounds of salted cabbage.

[Mr_Sheesh]

I imagine folks use a mandoline to slice the cabbage?

[MaryB]

The lid is an air lock. You fill the moat around it with water so nothing bad gets inside. Comes with 2 weights that cover the food to hold it submerged.

Mary, can you elaborate on this crock from your usage? I looked at the link and the customer reviews. We use a 3 gal crock per batch with a plate and a rock on top. Its tricky and you can get a spoiled batch easy if you don't watch it.

[MaryB]

The old cabbage cutters are basically a giant mandolin. My mandolin is to small so I just use a knife that is freshly sharpened.

I imagine folks use a mandoline to slice the cabbage?

[gbrown]

I have an old mandolin I got a couple of years ago. Problem is, I cannot find it. About 3 feet long with 3 adjustable blades. Here's a link to a place that sells new ones. Every now and then you can run across one at a flea market or yard sale. Fairly rare, though.

https://www.harvestessentials.com/ca...rauthobel.html

[Mr_Sheesh]

I have 2 of those Borner ones. Just not tried making sauerkraut yet.

[Iowa Fox]

The lid is an air lock. You fill the moat around it with water so nothing bad gets inside. Comes with 2 weights that cover the food to hold it submerged.

Thanks Mary. Would love to find one of those at a garage or tag sale. Maybe I'll just get my wife one for her birthday.