Fermented cabbage....

[redhawk0]

I'm 1/2 PA dutch, 1/4 German and 1/4 Irish....I grew up on Sauerkraut. I started making it myself last Fall and can't wait to start up again. I ferment it for just 3-4 weeks then pack it in freezer bags to store it. I'm almost out from last years batches...so...I'll be firing up my crock shortly too.

I like and make mostly plain old sauerkraut...but I have a deli style caraway seed recipe that's also really good in a Grilled Reuben.

Mmmmm mmmmm.

redhawk

[Markopolo]

i do it... but most folks will laff me out of the forum....

this is me...

[Wag]

Eh. Clean feet is just as good as clean hands!

--Wag--

[kens]

ferment it?
do you add yeast to ferment?
a wine yeast?
bread yeast?
beer yeast?

[M-Tecs]

ferment it?
do you add yeast to ferment?
a wine yeast?
bread yeast?
beer yeast?

Nope. Cabbage and non iodine salt is all that is required. https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-mak...son-jar-193124

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

So, Last year I froze the Kraut, fresh out of the crock, I put the Kraut in 1 Qt jars, and left a generous head space for expansion and put them in the freezer. Best thing I ever did. Each time I thaw out a jar, it tastes fresh, like the day I took it out of the crock.

Every other year, I've processed (pasteurized) the filled jars in a hot water bath...then the Kraut gets that cooked flavor, besides having all the beneficial bacteria being killed.

[redhawk0]

JonB...I do the exact same thing. It doesn't have any heat applied to kill off the good bacteria... I weigh mine out to 16 oz...so if a recipe calls for a lb...we know what we've got. I always have some thawed out in the fridge too...just for that "emergency" snack....hahaha

redhawk

[bakerjw]

We've only hot packed ours in the past.
I might freeze some up this year though. Freeze it and then vacuum seal it.

Our big crock and little one are still blurping away.Can't wait to try the cucumbers that we put in there this go round.

[gbrown]

Similar to kimchi sounds awesome to me as well as the home fermented sauerkraut. A friend of my grandfather gave me a pint of his sauerkraut and I wish I had that recipe! As a youngster I hated sauerkraut as my mother used it from the can. Ive learned to like bavarian style from the can but it does not compare with that older recipe.

Old thread that is in the archives. From 7 years back. Some good info on it.

castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?...Anybody-else-make-Sauerkraut

[bakerjw]

I am feeling nostalgic this morning.

When I was a youngster, I wouldn't eat Sauerkraut to save my life. I had a tumultuous first year or 2 as a toddler so I was afraid of almost everything, men especially which is a long story for another time.
My mom had 4 brothers and they were all wonderful men to have known. During WWII Uncle Bub stayed home but Uncle Artie, Clarence and Joe all fought in the South Pacific. The war affected them all to a great degree. Clarence was stoic, Artie was heart warmingly friendly and Joe was larger than life. Each different but still monuments to the greatest generation. As it was, everyone in my moms family looked up to Joe like he was the rock of Gibraltar. He had been the first to leave and go travel the world and travel he did.
With my history as it were and looking back, I find it surprising that I would take to Uncle Joe as a young child. He was big with a deep voice and his presence filled the room. His visits were one of those things that was looked forward to in a manner similar to those of Santa. One particular Summer day when Joe arrived, I sat next to him in a high chair, of all things, to eat lunch. Sauerkraut was on the menu and there was no way that I was going to eat that. But... Uncle Joe was going to have some and questioned me on my refusal to try it. It didn't take much persuading from him to get me to try it and I know that it brought him great joy to know that he had gotten me to eat something that my mother never could.
It was eerily reminiscent of the latest visit of Elia, my granddaughter, where my daughter in law advised that there was no way that Elia would eat fish. She didn't like it. But... Elia had never caught a lake trout with her "John Dad" as I am called. Nor had she ever watched as John Dad cleaned a fish and explained what all of the inner parts were called and what they did. Elia ate a lot of that lake trout that evening for dinner.
Anyway, I digress a bit. I only tried Sauerkraut because of my Uncle Joe.

Fresh out of boot camp in the Army, my Uncle Joe was 17 years old and walking to the mess hall one bright December morning at a naval base in Hawaii. He did what was needed on that Day of Infamy. At Guadalcanal, he was hit by a bullet and survived. He remained in the Army, fought in Korea and was a Viet Nam era vet. He excelled at marksmanship and earned Distinguished badges in pistol and rifle. He went on to establish marksmanship ranges at one of the bases where he was stationed. After retiring from the Army, he became a federal officer. before he passed, he gave his NM1 Garand and 1911 match pistol to close friends who really cared for him and deserved them. I was supposed to get his .22 match pistol but that went to someone else. I have several of his shooting award plaques and trophies that adorn the military room in our house. Included in there are Uncle Joe's purple heart and his Pearl Harbor Survivor watch.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/...h-martin-klues

Uncle Artie joined the Marines and fought in the South Pacific as well. He would never talk about it other than to say "The things we saw."

Uncle Clarence also joined the Marines. He only spoke about it to my Aunt Gena. When Clarence passed, I received what is my most prized possession. There is no material thing in the world that I cherish as I know the sacrifice that it witnessed. It is his USMC issue Kabar knife. He carried it as he hit the beaches of Iwo Jima and carried it as they fought and took Suribachi.

So, when I am eating sauerkraut, I think of uncle Joe and other men that were true monuments of their time.

[Hardcast]

bakerjw, awesome post! Thank you for sharing.