The Mighty Sauerkraut

Behold, The Mighty Sauerkraut!  Try making this traditional sauerkraut made in a salt water brine.  It is enriched with beneficial bacteria, probiotics, vitamins, and minerals.  This is one of the best ways to create your own probiotics that will in no doubt work wonders to improve your gut health!  Because this is a classic sauerkraut recipe, it is one of the easiest ones to get started fermenting.

This recipe makes 1 quart.

– Recipe by Bill Hettig

Ingredients for The Mighty Sauerkraut:

• 2 1⁄4 pounds of green cabbage, finely shredded.  Save 2-3 whole leaves to cover the top of the cabbage.
• 1⁄2 teaspoon of caraway seeds.
• 1 tablespoon of Celtic Sea Salt or other premium brand for the brine.

Directions for The Mighty Sauerkraut:

1. Put your shredded cabbage into a large bowl and sprinkle your salt over it.
2. Massage the cabbage with your hands for 5-15 minutes until brine has been produced from the cabbage juices.  The cabbage juices have merged with the salt, thus creating your salt water brine.
3. To determine if there is an adequate amount of brine, press the cabbage down to see if the brine covers the top of them.  If not, make enough salt water brine to cover the rest of the cabbage.  To do this, dissolve salt in filtered water at a ratio of 1 tablespoon of salt to 2 cups of water for this one quart batch.
4. Add your caraway seeds.
5. Load a one quart jar with your cabbage mixture, tamping and submerging the cabbage after each addition.  Fill the jar with cabbage until about 3⁄4 full.  Tear or cut circles out of the remaining cabbage leaves you saved to create a cover for the top of the shredded cabbage.
6. Now strain any remaining brine liquide from the mixing bowl and pour it over the cabbage leaves in the jar, also make sure the brine liquid is about 1 inch from the jar rim.
7. Use some sort of weighty object to hold the cabbage under the brine solution. Be sure to place the jar in your sink as you do this as there is sure to be spillage. We sell our brine overflow cup as a weight here: Brine “Catch” Cup – Wide Mouth
8. Remove the cup and wipe any debris on the lip of the cup and the jar, then put the cup back in. Install a Lid Gasket inside a Wide Mouth Fermenter Lid. Tighten the lid on until its snug.
9. Add tap water to a ClearView Airlock to the max line. Now gently insert the airlock into the hole of the fermenter lid until snug. Make sure not to push too deeply into the lid. As the fermentation happens, the water should move back and forth, and bubbles should move through the airlock, this is correct and indicates a tight seal.
10. Write down the date you began fermentation on the lid using a Lid Marking Pen. After 4 days, check to see if the Sauerkraut is sour enough for you. If it is not, just add a day and re-check.

Enjoy your Mighty Sauerkraut!  For even better and more delectable recipes, check out our Fermentation Recipe Booklet, where you will find many recipes, tips and tricks to brine pickling, and so much more!