How to ferment cabbage
Hot sauerkraut
Products for a 3-liter jar
White cabbage - half a medium-sized head of cabbage weighing 2 kilograms
Carrots - 2 pieces of medium size
Boiling water - 1.5 liters
Coarse rock salt - 2 tablespoons
Granulated sugar - 2 tablespoons
How to cook sauerkraut
1. Wash and peel the carrots, cut with a special board for cutting vegetables. If not, then cut into large strips with an ordinary knife.
2. Remove coarse leaves from cabbage and finely chop.
3. Stir the cabbage and carrots in a deep bowl.
4. Put the cabbage with carrots in a sterilized three-liter jar, carefully tamping it until the jar is full.
4. Prepare the sourdough brine: put 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar and rock salt in a measuring cup, pour boiling water over it.
5. Stir the brine and pour the cabbage into the jar so that it is completely hidden under the brine.
6. Put the jar of cabbage in a wide bowl or saucepan so that the cabbage juice does not overflow from the jar during fermentation.
7. Leave the cabbage for 2-3 days at room temperature, periodically (2-3 times a day) pressing the cabbage with a wooden stick (to reach the bottom of the can), squeezing out the gas and removing the foam.
9. Cover the jar of sauerkraut with a lid and store in the refrigerator.
Cold sauerkraut
Products for a 3-liter jarWhite cabbage - 1 small head of cabbage or half a large one, weighing about 2 kilograms
Carrots - 2-3 pieces weighing 300 grams
Rock salt - 40-50 grams to taste
How to cook sauerkraut
1. Remove the top green cabbage leaves.
2. Chop the cabbage with a board or a special cabbage grater.
3. Wash and peel the carrots, grate on a coarse grater.
4. Stir the cabbage and carrots thoroughly, adding the cooked salt.
5. While stirring, be sure to grind and crush the cabbage a little in a large container (you can take a basin), until the juice appears.
6. At the bottom of the jar, lay the cabbage, tamping well.
7. After all the cabbage is laid, cover it with cabbage leaves on top.
8. Put a plate or dish on the cooked cabbage, and put oppression on top (for example, a full kettle, jar or saucepan of water).
9. Leave the cabbage at room temperature for 3 days.
10. In order for the gases to come out, you need to pierce the cabbage with a stick 3-4 times a day during all three days. It is possible to determine that the gases have escaped by the foam that forms during fermentation. As soon as the foam disappears completely (for 2-3 days), it means that the cabbage is ready.
Fusofacts
- Kitchen inventory for preparing sauerkraut: a 3-liter glass jar, a deep plate, a cutting board and a measuring cup. To cut cabbage and carrots, you need a plate for grating cabbage, and if it is not there, then an ordinary kitchen knife.- Before slicing cabbage, wash it and remove the top green leaves from it.
- To make the cabbage softer in taste, you should add a little sugar to it (for our amount - 2-4 tablespoons).
- In order for the cabbage to turn out crispy, you do not need to crush it, it is better to just mix well. Salt for pickling must be taken large. And if you want to diversify the taste, you can add lingonberries, cranberries or bell peppers to the cabbage.
- Cabbage can be served simply with a side dish, or used as a side dish. In any case, it is recommended to chop the onions and add them to the cabbage. Then sprinkle with a little granulated sugar and vegetable oil. Leave to brew for a couple of hours. The longer it stands, the tastier it will be.Only coarse, rock salt is used in cabbage. And in order for it to be crispy, after the gases come out, it is recommended to put the cabbage in the cold.
- Cabbage is selected for pickling late varieties so that the sauerkraut is crispy. This is usually mid-autumn. You need to select cabbage in green leaves for sourdough, despite the fact that you will then remove them. They choose it this way because without green leaves it can turn out to be ice cream, and this is no longer suitable for salting.
- You can also diversify the taste of cabbage, for this, during the cooking process, you can add cranberries or lingonberries, fruits or mushrooms to it before you put it. Can be seasoned with spices.
- Sauerkraut is stored all winter until spring in the refrigerator or on an open balcony.
- Cabbage stump is not used for pickling.
- Classic proportions of sauerkraut: for 1 kilogram of cabbage, 100 grams of carrots and 10 grams of salt.
- The optimum temperature for cabbage sourdough is +2 - +15 degrees.
- If mold has formed during the infusion of cabbage, it must be removed, and the cabbage and the plate must be thoroughly washed under cold water.
- Foam when fermenting cabbage must be removed, and piercing the cabbage - too. Otherwise, the cabbage will turn out with bitterness.
- As oppression, for example, a cobblestone or a 2-liter bottle of water is suitable. The bends must be thoroughly rinsed, because with cold storage, juice is released - if it comes into contact with non-sterile oppression, it is likely that the sauerkraut will deteriorate.
- Sauerkraut is stored for 3-4 months. An open can is consumed within 2 weeks, otherwise it will become bitter (then the cabbage is allowed into cabbage soup). Since cabbage is sold throughout the year, you can cook it regularly and for a short time.
What determines the sourdough time of cabbage
- The more salt used in the recipe, the faster the cabbage ferments - from 3 days (for each kilogram of cabbage 25 grams of salt) to 5-7 days (15 grams of salt per kilogram of cabbage). After cold fermentation, cabbage must be put in jars and stored, it is finally fermented for 1 week.- The sourdough time also depends on quantity cooked cabbage. So, if you ferment a barrel of cabbage, then it will ferment for at least a month.
- It's important that leavening method with fermentation (our second recipe) is much longer than the "hot" method, when cabbage is fermented with boiled filling.