# Homemade Sauerkraut



## oldcoot (Apr 3, 2003)

That canned stuff sold in the stores is, in my opinion, a far cry from "real" sauerkraut.  I hadn't had the real stuff since leaving Missouri 15 years ago, where an Austrian neighbor farmer treated us to his excellent 'kraut, and showed me how he made it.


So, a couple of months ago, I decided to make some.  The only crock I have is a big 5 gallon job, so I wound up using ten heads of cabbage.  That will be enough to last at least a year! 

It tokk over an hour to shred all that cabbage, using my cabbage shredder (from Missouri).  Then, into that clean crock (you have to use ceramic, glass, or wood - no metals, please!!)   Tossed in a couple of inches of cabbage, then a good handful of coarse salt, then more cabbage,, more salt,  until the crock was close to full.  Filled it with water, sloshed it up and down a few times to ensure the salt water got all through the cabbage, then put a dinner plate on top and weighted it with a clean round river rock  Covered the top with a clean cotton towel, and put it outside (in a cool, shady spot) to ferment.  (Don’t try this in the house – it smells awful for the first month) 

Periodically I’d skim the crud off the surface, add a little water to make up for evaporation, but otherwise left it alone for over two months.  I tried a bite (rinsed, but raw) a while ago – yummmm!)  Nice thing is, it only gets better the longer you leave it.

So tonight we’re having bratwurst & sauerkraut, with boiled, parsley potatoes.  I guess I’d better have a glass of beer with that.


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## carnivore (Apr 3, 2003)

big surprise, but i hate cabbage   
but what really ruined sauerkraut for me was in high school biology class we made it to learn about fermentation.  Nothing kills an appetite faster than seeing & smelling fermented cabbage sitting a foot away from a disected frog.


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## leigh (Nov 1, 2003)

Now how on earth did I miss this conversation?!  Old coot, your recipe looks wonderful.  As for you, Carnivore: LOL!!  

A word to any new sauerkraut makers out there: when old coot specifies "a clean RIVER rock", he means exactly that.  

Because:

If you use a limestone rock instead of a granite river rock, your sauerkraut will SPOIL.  This is because the lime in the limestone will cancel the acidity of the salt-and-water brine, so your cabbage will be sitting there in a crockful of quarreling elements, and the result not only will not be pretty, it will be downright dangerous.  

So, one more time, gang: RIVER ROCK!  RIVER ROCK!  RIVER ROCK!  YAAAY RIVER ROCK!!!

sorry about that   . . . maybe if I'd been a cheerleader . . . ???


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