wills
06-16-2008, 10:09 PM
We got this from the Texas Wendish Festival at Serbin
http://wendish.concordia.edu/html/frames.htm
Making SAUERKRAUT at Home;0]
EQUIPMENT
• Kitchen scale.
• Cabbage grater/slicer and large bowl.
• A ceramic crock or food-grade plastic bucket for the fermentation container
• A dinner plate that fits inside the crock.
• A tamping device is helpful, but you may just use your clean hands
• Large jar filled with water or stones to serve as a weight.
• Kitchen towel and big rubber band to use as a cover.
It is best to work with 5 pounds of cabbage at a time. Cabbage heads from the grocery store usually weigh around 2 pounds each, so about 3 heads should produce the 5 pounds of cabbage. The ingredients listed are for each 5 pound batch. If you are going to load a 3 gallon crock, you will need around 12 heads of cabbage, and will process it in 4 loads of 5 pounds each.
INGREDIENTS
• Cabbage (about 12 heads)
• Pickling salt or sea salt (NOT table salt / NOT iodized salt)
PROCEDURE (per 5 lb. Portion)
1.
Remove the outer leaves from the cabbage heads (these tend to stay tough &
leathery). If using a cabbage grater, there is no need to cut up the head. If using a
vegetable grater, you must first cut the heads into halves, and then quarters.
2.
Shred the cabbage into thin shreds about the thickness of a nickel. Stay alert and do not slice your fingers!
3.
Weigh it to get 5 pounds. Accurate weighing insures the correct proportion of cabbage to salt. Place the shredded cabbage in a large container as you shred & weigh.
4.
Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of salt over the shredded cabbage.
5.
Thoroughly distribute the salt throughout the shredded cabbage, working with your (clean)
hands. The salt will cause the cabbage to release water. This is normal.
6.
Transfer the salted shredded cabbage to the fermentation container.
7.
Use a wooden tamper or your (clean) hands to press the shredded cabbage down.
Repeat steps 1 through 7 until the container ic 2/3 to 3/4 full.
8.
Place a dinner plate, that fits in the container, on top of the cabbage. The cabbage should have released enough water to submerge the plate below about a 2 inch layer of liquid If
this layer is less than 2 inches, top with additional water.
[_ 9.
Weigh down the plate with a large clean rock, or a large jar containing water or stones. The weight is necessary to ensure the layer of liquid brine as protection from the air.
U1o. Plac
the crock where the temperature remains around 72°F and it can rest undisturbed for
- at least the next 3 to 4 weeks. Cover the top with a clean kitchen towel, securing it down with a large rubber band or bungee cord.
DAILY CARE OF FERMENTING SAUERKRAUT
Lactic acid fermentation will begin and will continue for the next 3 to 4 weeks. It is a good idea to check the status at least once a day. You should see bubbles emerging, which is normal. This is the carbon dioxide produced by the fermentation process. Your daily inspection is important for at least three reasons: maintenance of liquid level, removal of kahm yeast (also called ‘scum’) that may form, and to ‘burp’ bubbles of gas that do not rise to the surface on their own.
1. Keep the liquid layer level constant by adding brine if necessary. Prepare the brine by adding 1 tablespoon of salt per cup of water.
2. It is not abnormal for kahm yeast to appear in spots on the surface of the liquid. Simply skim it off and discard it. This yeast is cream colored and has a cheesey smell. It can survive only on the surface, but not inside the salty brine. The yeast does no harm to you or the sauerkraut, as long as it is continually removed. However, if left uncontroiled, it can create a medium for molds to grow.
3. With firm pressure and just a slight rocking motion, push downward on the weight to force the release of carbon dioxide bubbles trapped in the middle of the fermenting sauerkraut. (If you had not noticed a smell before, you probably will when doing this, which is normal.) When daily ‘burping’ no longer releases bubbles, you will know that fermentation has fmally ceased.
WHEN FERMENTATION IS COMPLETE
When fermentation is complete after 3 to 4 weeks, there are two disposition options. Either move the finished sauerkraut to a cooler place or ‘can’ it so that it may last indefinitely.
1. If you wish the sauerkraut to remain “alive” for the full benefits of nutrition, vitamin content and digestive aid, move the container to a cooler place, ideally between 46° to 50°F. Remove at a time only what you need for eating, and continue the maintenance until it is eventually all used up.
2. If you wish to preserve and store the sauerkraut in sealed jars, follow the canning procedure described next.
PRESERVING (CANNING) SAUERKRAUT FOR STORAGE
1. Heat the sauerkraut to simmering (185° to 210° F). Do not boil.
2. Pack hot sauerkraut into clean hot jars and cover with hot juice leaving 1/z inch headspace. Adjust jar lids.
3. Process in boiling water bath, 15 minutes for pints, and 20 minutes for quarts. Start timer as soon as hot jars are placed into the actively boiling water.
4. Remove jars from water bath and set upright, several inched apart to cool. Store jars in cool place.
http://wendish.concordia.edu/html/frames.htm
Making SAUERKRAUT at Home;0]
EQUIPMENT
• Kitchen scale.
• Cabbage grater/slicer and large bowl.
• A ceramic crock or food-grade plastic bucket for the fermentation container
• A dinner plate that fits inside the crock.
• A tamping device is helpful, but you may just use your clean hands
• Large jar filled with water or stones to serve as a weight.
• Kitchen towel and big rubber band to use as a cover.
It is best to work with 5 pounds of cabbage at a time. Cabbage heads from the grocery store usually weigh around 2 pounds each, so about 3 heads should produce the 5 pounds of cabbage. The ingredients listed are for each 5 pound batch. If you are going to load a 3 gallon crock, you will need around 12 heads of cabbage, and will process it in 4 loads of 5 pounds each.
INGREDIENTS
• Cabbage (about 12 heads)
• Pickling salt or sea salt (NOT table salt / NOT iodized salt)
PROCEDURE (per 5 lb. Portion)
1.
Remove the outer leaves from the cabbage heads (these tend to stay tough &
leathery). If using a cabbage grater, there is no need to cut up the head. If using a
vegetable grater, you must first cut the heads into halves, and then quarters.
2.
Shred the cabbage into thin shreds about the thickness of a nickel. Stay alert and do not slice your fingers!
3.
Weigh it to get 5 pounds. Accurate weighing insures the correct proportion of cabbage to salt. Place the shredded cabbage in a large container as you shred & weigh.
4.
Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of salt over the shredded cabbage.
5.
Thoroughly distribute the salt throughout the shredded cabbage, working with your (clean)
hands. The salt will cause the cabbage to release water. This is normal.
6.
Transfer the salted shredded cabbage to the fermentation container.
7.
Use a wooden tamper or your (clean) hands to press the shredded cabbage down.
Repeat steps 1 through 7 until the container ic 2/3 to 3/4 full.
8.
Place a dinner plate, that fits in the container, on top of the cabbage. The cabbage should have released enough water to submerge the plate below about a 2 inch layer of liquid If
this layer is less than 2 inches, top with additional water.
[_ 9.
Weigh down the plate with a large clean rock, or a large jar containing water or stones. The weight is necessary to ensure the layer of liquid brine as protection from the air.
U1o. Plac
the crock where the temperature remains around 72°F and it can rest undisturbed for
- at least the next 3 to 4 weeks. Cover the top with a clean kitchen towel, securing it down with a large rubber band or bungee cord.
DAILY CARE OF FERMENTING SAUERKRAUT
Lactic acid fermentation will begin and will continue for the next 3 to 4 weeks. It is a good idea to check the status at least once a day. You should see bubbles emerging, which is normal. This is the carbon dioxide produced by the fermentation process. Your daily inspection is important for at least three reasons: maintenance of liquid level, removal of kahm yeast (also called ‘scum’) that may form, and to ‘burp’ bubbles of gas that do not rise to the surface on their own.
1. Keep the liquid layer level constant by adding brine if necessary. Prepare the brine by adding 1 tablespoon of salt per cup of water.
2. It is not abnormal for kahm yeast to appear in spots on the surface of the liquid. Simply skim it off and discard it. This yeast is cream colored and has a cheesey smell. It can survive only on the surface, but not inside the salty brine. The yeast does no harm to you or the sauerkraut, as long as it is continually removed. However, if left uncontroiled, it can create a medium for molds to grow.
3. With firm pressure and just a slight rocking motion, push downward on the weight to force the release of carbon dioxide bubbles trapped in the middle of the fermenting sauerkraut. (If you had not noticed a smell before, you probably will when doing this, which is normal.) When daily ‘burping’ no longer releases bubbles, you will know that fermentation has fmally ceased.
WHEN FERMENTATION IS COMPLETE
When fermentation is complete after 3 to 4 weeks, there are two disposition options. Either move the finished sauerkraut to a cooler place or ‘can’ it so that it may last indefinitely.
1. If you wish the sauerkraut to remain “alive” for the full benefits of nutrition, vitamin content and digestive aid, move the container to a cooler place, ideally between 46° to 50°F. Remove at a time only what you need for eating, and continue the maintenance until it is eventually all used up.
2. If you wish to preserve and store the sauerkraut in sealed jars, follow the canning procedure described next.
PRESERVING (CANNING) SAUERKRAUT FOR STORAGE
1. Heat the sauerkraut to simmering (185° to 210° F). Do not boil.
2. Pack hot sauerkraut into clean hot jars and cover with hot juice leaving 1/z inch headspace. Adjust jar lids.
3. Process in boiling water bath, 15 minutes for pints, and 20 minutes for quarts. Start timer as soon as hot jars are placed into the actively boiling water.
4. Remove jars from water bath and set upright, several inched apart to cool. Store jars in cool place.