You don't really need to chop cabbage head to make sauerkraut. The way we make it in Serbia: we core the cabbage head like an apple, and fill the hole with salt. We then put cabbages in a barrel (salt side up so it doesn't spill), and fill the barrel with water. Occasional stirring is required in the beginning of the fermentation, so that salt doesn't settle in the bottom. This way leaves stay firmer and crispier than in German style sauerkraut. Chop it, put some oil and paprika on it, and it's a wonderful side dish with roasted meats, for example.
Jas. Townsend and Son, Inc. Thank you for replying! You are a first youtuber to reply to one of my posts, i feel really honoured. Keep up the good work!
408Magenta Not really. Fermentation starts naturally, though it takes some time; about a month until it's completely soured. It's winter food, so it is supposed to last long, and there is no need to speed things up.
Yes, many people do not realize that sauerkraut needs to be cooked. I drain and rinse it. I then saute onions in a pan, add fresh chopped herbs, white wine or chicken broth and the sauerkraut. I let it cook on low for 30-40 minutes. It is then delicious serve with roast pork and baked apples.
Just a little warning. Perhaps you said it and I missed it, but I would warn viewers that they MUST allow gases to escape or it might explode. You mention mason jars, but people must not leave the lids sealed. Also, avoid bare metal lids (get the coated ones) as it reacts to the acids produced during fermentation. Thanks for awesome videos! Love them!
@@tarabooartarmy3654 I found that those fail for me. I have the airlock system in a plastic lid. I use the pickle pebbles to hold it down because I couldn't find the right sized rock. I'd make much more of it if anyone else in my house would eat it. I could eat it every day!
+Rodney Terry Have you ever had home-made sauerkraut? It's a world of a difference to what you can buy. I'm making my own kimchi and sauerkraut now, and I can't say which i like more
i think that depends on the time of the year. I've seen people make it and bury it to keep it from freezing because it was left outside traditionally. but i could see t happening just to help regulate the temperature year round because fridges or root cellars were used.
Really happy to see this comment here! Interestingly, up until just a few centuries ago, kimchi was supposedly mainly produced without any chili pepper at all, so it was probably even more akin to sauerkraut at that time. The Japanese and Chinese sure as heck also pickle cabbage in a similar manner, although it's not anywhere as emblematic of their traditional cuisines as kimchi is for the Koreans, likely because they both will gleefully pickle just about ANY vegetable they can get their hands on. Hahah. Shoutouts to otsukemono. (And yes, if anyone is curious, I do love a good sauerkraut too!!!)
A tip that I use is that after shredding the cabbage and before packing it in the fermenting vessel, massage the cabbage with the salt and let it sit for an hour or two (longer is fine as well). This will help to draw out a lot of the liquid from the cabbage so that you can tightly pack it in the fermenting vessel. Pour all the liquid that extracted out of the cabbage on top of the cabbage in the fermenting vessel.
Not sure of the head smell as it was over grates going into the sea and was washed down with sea water regularly. The air below deck equal to the campaign tents. Both areas were of high germ reproduction.
From wikipedia: The head (or heads) is a ship's toilet. The name derives from sailing ships in which the toilet area for the regular sailors was placed at the head or bow of the ship. In sailing ships, the toilet was placed in the bow somewhat above the water line with vents or slots cut near the floor level allowing normal wave action to wash out the facility. Only the captain had a private toilet near his quarters, at the stern of the ship in the quarter gallery. Rank smells were most likely emanating from the bilges, which collected all matter of effluent.
It also depends alot on the design of the ship, I saw some Tudor era ships that had what I can only describe as a shelf along the bottom of the ship that used for mooring and such. That shelf was where the would relieve themselves and not everything got washed off by the sea. They'd send down younger sailors to swab it out every once in awhile and even burn certain strongly scented things since the miasma theory of disease was popular at the time.
The smell might have not been much nothing, and farts was not much. When I turned to eat organic, I noticed, I rarely farted, and that did not smell much nothing. I think the smelling and all that came, when people started to put poison on fields, chemical fertilizer and pestisides and other poisons. The poisons will kill the bacteria in the gut, and only the bad bacteria survives, and those bad bacterias make the smell.
I helped grandma make hundreds of gallons of sauerkraut over the years. She had several 20 gal. crocks and we pickled everything I think. we made just as shown in layers ramping till juice came up then adding more. We did one extra added bonus though Hungarian wax bananna peppers just a few to each layer have it a touch of heat a little kick that really made difference in the flavor.
Add some apples to cabbage while souring it. But use sour (sweet varieties not very usable for this) cultivars, in russia we often use Antonovka (one of better varieties of apple for this) or kinda of that. This sauerkraut may taste better and gonna have much more vitamins in it. To do it just add one good midsized apple per two pound of cabbage. Wash apple, clean it (peel skin off if you like). Slice to pieces about quart inch thick. Add apple slices between layers of cabbage after you mashed cabbage and waited 3-4 days (as you say to do after mashing). (sorry i don't remember exactly) P.s. try to poke cabbage to the bottom with stick every day. This can make your sauerkraud less bitter.
Sauerkraut, Bratwurst, German Mustard, and a nice crusty bun! My oh my I think that's my favorite meal in the world. I love Sauerkraut my great grandmother was a German immigrant and made if for my grandmother and her husband and they made it for me, have loved it ever since. Its great on any-kind of sausage with some mustard.
Being a "Kraut", born and raised and having grown up with Sauerkraut, needless to say that I LOVE this stuff! My grandpa used to put Kümmel (caraway seeds?) inside. I assume to aid digestion? My mother prepared it in rendered Speck (Bacon?) and served it with the cracklings mixed in, Bratwurst and mashed potatoes... I think this is how to learn to love Sauerkraut Jon, hehe 😊 Thank you for this wonderful episode!! You guys are amazing, I'm sure none of us know how much work you're actually putting into these episodes! Just wonderful! Thank you!!
+dimpleza Thanks for sharing that great comment. I was a pretty picky eater as a kid but now it's not so bad. Even as a kid I liked sauerkraut better than asparagus :) This fresh / uncooked sauerkraut is definitely not the same stuff you buy in the store. I think a person should really try it like this before they write it off. Thanks for watching!
+Jas. Townsend and Son, Inc. I really love this channel but this episode was a bit pain. Making of sauerkraut is like producing a cheese or wine, and it requires a certain procedure. Once you let anything open for three days you would get compost not an edible product. The sliced cabbage with salt should be massaged outside the final pot. The water goes off in minutes not days! The softened cabbage (mixed with all ingredients below) will allow you to cram your jar and get rid of all air pockets. The final sauerkraut should be crisp and WHITE! The lactobacillus needs some sugar. The cabbage has some but it is advised to add something sweet inside (like apples). One small apple (shredded) is enough for about six pounds of cabbage, some Kummel (be careful it can ruin all batch) and some onion. Bit of dill would be fine too. The balance between the sugar (fructose) will attract the lactobacillus and and salt prevents other germs. But don't worry repetition is the mother of wisdom ;)
the Kümmel is indeed for digestion.OK...it adds also a Kind oft more full flavor to the Sauerkraut. Speck is also necessary. i hope u also tried the fried version with Spätzle.gosh i could eat that everyday.regards Form one kraut to another one 😁
@@metal87power as a veteran of the US Navy, and have traveled all over. Some of the poorer nations have some of the best people. Here in the USA , we have our share of poor as well. And I grew up one of those and wouldn’t change it for the world. Money doesn’t make the person, it’s there attitude towards others that matters. Enjoy your day
Try adding 1 large red onion and several sweet carrots to two large cabbage when cutting up the cabbage. We like a tsp. of fresh oregano and sometimes caraway seeds added as well. Save a couple of the large leaves from the outer part of the cabbage (make sure they are clean and not damaged). Pack kraut tightly into a crock and leave a little room at the top for a weight, brine cover, and some expansion. Place the cabbage leaves over the kraut to hold down the loose floaters and weight the leaves. It is always safest to cover with a brine to make sure no air can get to it. If you use a lid like Jon did I would suggest also placing a piece of cloth over the top of the lid and jar and securing it around the top of the jar with a string. It will prevent maggots from the tiny little fruit flies that can crawl in and around lids and cracks and lay eggs.
This is pretty much how we've been making it for years. I haven't had store-bought kraut in over 35 years (since I married my wife) and she grew up making this with her mom. We use a 10 gallon crock and do a big batch every four or five years. When it is ready, we hot-pack can it in mason jars (not USDA approved, but nobody's gotten sick yet). We've opened jars of kraut that were packed 5+ years previously and it still tastes better than store-bought, great texture and flavor. Wonderful with smoked sausage or kielbasa!
I have central European roots, where Sauerkraut is a staple with countless dishes. My grandmother and mother always used to prepare and store large amounts of it. I have grown up loving it. But over the years I have learned that not all Sauerkraut is created equal. A good one can be a light dish on its own, mixed with a bit of sunflower oil and eaten with bread. But much of the commercially available stuff, is simply bad, as they take the "Sauer" in the Sauerkraut too seriously and end up with extremely acidic and sour products (this is because they extremely often add catalysts to the product, instead of allowing a natural fermentation). My grandmother also used to add things like Dill, Coriander, Black Pepper (whole), and Laurel leaves. These often substantially improve the taste of the Sauerkraut, without really altering its properties.
The commercially prepared stuff is usually just pickled cabbage not actually fermented. Its not exactly the same thing as sauerkraut and that's why it can be so nasty. Fermented kraut can be just as sour though.... it depends on how long it gets to ferment. I make real kraut all the time and I enjoy the how the taste changes over the days/weeks/months.
I tried to make sauerkraut once with this method but it turned to mush, the smell and flavor were fine, but the consistency was that of mashed potatoes. Maybe too hot (summer) or too much salt? I make kimchee easily enough though (minus the fish sauce).
I've made my own kraut for 50 years as my grandmother taught me. One thing I did add is taking the heart of the cabbage that is cut out before slicing and add it in a blender with water and salt and use that to top off the liquid. No waste. I just add the liquid when making it assuring there is plenty of liquid. A slice of home made bread with good butter and a cup of kraut makes for a wonderful quick lunch.
My grandma told me when she was young they made big barrels for the whole family. To smash it down her cosin did first thoroghly wash his feed and then danced in the barrel to his harmonica while the girls where cutting the cabbage and thorwing it in.
Sauerkraut... very nice. Norwegians call it (surkål) Sauerkraut is best with mash potatoes,homemade gravy and norwegian meatballs.(bigger ones then swedish) also with pork chops to and Sausage. (surkål) are a very old traditional food here in Norway and mostly allways a side dish and served on the table whole december Christmas time.The more fatty meat like pork belly and so on the best sauerkraut taste in my opinion.But moose and deer steak is great to .Turkey meat are best with red Sauerkraut. I personal like red Sauerkraut as its best in taste. but white are just as good.We use apples,honey and some other stuff in our red sauerkraut.And its allways Kumina spice in white sauerkraut also dried juniper beeries...Great channel btw.
I'm Polish and my family always added cumin to sauerkraut in quite liberal quantities, you might want to try that James, I would imagine the taste is considerably different, compared to straight salting. Also, if you're ever interested in Polish cuisine of the era you talk about, I would be more than happy to help translate any sources you might come across. I'm also quite curious about the influence Polish immigrants may have had on the emerging cuisine of the US. Any thoughts on that?
WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE FOR THIS PROCESS AND I'LL MAKE SOME. I SUCCESSFULLY FERMENTED 5 GALLONS WITH HIMALAYAN SALT/LOTS OF FRESH DILL/20 CABBAGE HEADS AND 10 POTENT PROBIOTICS FROM DR. OHHIRA'S 900 MILLION MULTI PROBIOTIC CHAIN AND FIVE MONTHS LATER CRUNCHY AND ADDICTIVE.
It's very similar to the one described here. You take a large container put in a layer of shredded cabbage, add a thin layer of salt and cumin over top of it and start pounding, once you get the juices going and the spices mix in add the next layer of cabbage salt and cumin and keep pounding. Repeat the process until your chosen container is about 3/4 full with juice on top of the cabbage. You can either do it in a barrel, which you cover over once you're done, or you could distribute your cabbage and juice into jars, seal them and let them sit for a while. As a general rule, the later you open your jars, the less crunchy and more sour your kraut will be, but it can keep for a good long time in sealed jars in a cool place. After a while it will reach a certain taste and crunchiness, it will then keep over its shelf life. It's been well over a decade since I made some, so I don't quite remember how long it should sit, but 6 weeks + as advised in the video, sounds about right. Also unlike the sauerkraut James made, the way my family did it, involved a good few hours of pounding for an average bucket full of cabbage.
starlinguk It works for sauerkraut, of course it's all a matter of taste. I suggested it, because it's a variation on a recipe some might wish to try out.
At the time, when it appeared, it met a specific need and people weren't too concerned about their cholesterol. I remember having eaten it, my grandmother made tons of it. Yes, it goes great with rich calories and high cholesterol foods, but to get the real benefit, you have to eat it "cold turkey" and it doesn't taste very good. But the best use is after a hangover. This explains why it has become so popular with sailors.
Coming from a mostly German family I love sauerkraut and grew up eating it a lot. My grandma always made very traditional dishes that came with our family when they made the journey to Canada back in the mid 1600s. One of my favourites was sauerkraut boiled with smoked pigs feet served on kneffle noodles and boiled potatoes, it may not sound too appetizing but it's actually really great! Pigs feet are a very underrated food.
Father would make kraut often when I was growing up. He would always scald the fermentation vessel first to make sure the bad bacteria were gone. The yeasts on the cabbage itself would do the job he said. He would use a saucer that was smaller than the mouth of the fermentation vessel or a wooden "plug" that was weighted down by something. Though experience he didn't use a rock since if you accidently got a limestone one it would kill the acid!
I can't stand commercial sauerkraut, but I agree that homemade is AMAZING! I made it because I was on a serious probiotic kick, and homemade live sauerkraut is a benediction of probiotic goodness. I was steeling myself to choke it down because it was good for me, but was thrilled to find it was incredibly delicious! I scarfed it all up, and my kids loved it too.
+Marialla yea commercial stuff can be blah....but the German food maker Kuhne makes pretty pure sauerkraut. i buy it because it only has the two ingredients, they also do a wine sauerkraut. I find it a little pricey compared to the American / Canadian brands but worth it. So if you haven't got any and you need a fix Kuhne would be the one to go to.
+Marialla If you can get up to north central Pennsylvania in late fall, many clubs and organizations make and sell fresh kraut as a fund-raiser. Also go with the deli for live and avoid the canned.
+Marialla If you can get up to north central Pennsylvania in late fall, many clubs and organizations make and sell fresh kraut as a fund-raiser. Also go with the deli for live and avoid the canned.
Part of my family is from Germany. We used to make it every year. Chopped cabbage, put it in crock pots with salt, vinegar and water. We hand pressed each layer and let it set. It was sooo good.
My favorite sauerkraut recipe, (tho I love it every single way), is to brown some country-style pork ribs in some lard in a cast-iron skillet, cover them with water, add salt, pepper, caraway seeds & cover and let them cook slowly until 80-90% done, add your sauerkraut and firm apples & onions, thinly sliced. Once the kraut, onion, and apples have cooked down, you're done. You can also add an apple cider or apple juice in place of water, I sometimes add a dash of apple cider vinegar to give it a flash of brightness. Try it, you'll like it!
I prefer making sauerkraut by mashing the cabbage and salt in a big bowl first - either with your hands or with a tool, doesn't matter. But that way you know from the start how much water you get. I would also recommend adding a bit of flavoring - things like fennel seeds and pepper corns are nice. As for weighing the cabbage down, you can place one or two pieces of the outer leaves you removed over top of the cabbage in the jar - that keeps all the little pieces down that floated up around your rock. I started out using ziploc bags with water but cleaning those is annoying and if you don't reuse them that's terrible for the environment, so I got myself a set of glass fermentation weights. As you guys make your own pottery, you could probably make pottery fermentation weights too.
James, Love your channel. Awesome job! When my father made his sauerkraut he would thoroughly mix the salt and shredded cabbage to ensure full coverage. Then he would layer and tamp as you did, however, he would also place several grape leaves between each layer of cabbage as he packed it down. He said that the grape leaves would help keep the kraut "crisp" during the fermentation process. Since he liked very strong, well aged kraut, this made a big difference for longer fermentation periods that would otherwise cause the kraut to become "mushy". When the kraut was "done" to his liking, we would portion out serving sizes into plastic bags (removing the grape leaves) and flatten them out to save space, then stack them in the freezer. Granted, plastic and freezers weren't a part of 18th life, but, once he got the cabbage/salt ratio and fermentation time that he wanted, it allowed him to stop the fermentation at just the right point while providing long term storage.
The sauerkraut consistency depends on the quantity of salt you add. I weigh the shredded cabbage and add 1.5% of salt by weight, Mix it well and place it hand-full by hand-full in the fermentation container compressing it well with the fist. The cabbage and salt mix begins releasing juice immediately, so by the time you finish packing the cabbage in the fermentation container you will have juice left. Add it to your packed cabbage. If you want extra crunchy sauerkraut add 2% of salt instead of 1.5%, but the sauerkraut will have stronger taste and you may need to wash it before use. Although it may not sound traditional, I use a cylindrical food grade Polyethylene container for fermentation. A china plate Inserted the normal way up serves as lid (plate must not be placed upside down to avoid trapping air) and I use a larger mason jar filled with steel nuts as weight. The nut-filled mason jar is heavy and is easy to clean. A clean kitchen cloth is traditionally used in Europe to cover the sauerkraut surface before placing the lid and weight. Any mold forming will be removed with the cloth. I live in a tropical country with about 27-30 degree C kitchen temperature and my Sauerkraut is ready in three to four days. It is helpful to cover the fermentation container with a plastic bag and tie it with a rubber band, string or tape. That way flies and other insects carrying mold spores can't get to the sauerkraut surface.
My mom is German. I was raised on sauerkraut and sauerbraten. Here's her recipe for Sauerbraten and potato dumplings. "My German mother makes this every November and has her children, (me and my sister) the grandkids and great-grandkids over for our much awaited meal. She's older now..so my sister makes the potato dumplings and I help with the roast preparation. This is the best Sauerbraten that I've ever had and I've had Sauerbraten at a few so called German restaurants, but it never beats Mom's." 4 lbs. pot roast, chuck or rump.... 6 peppercorns..... 2 cups water ..... 1 tbsp salt.... 2 cups vinegar ...... 1/4 tsp pepper..... 2 onions sliced thin..... 2 tbsp. sugar...... 3 bay leaves...... flour... 10 whole cloves ...... 3 tbsp. vegtable oil for browning 2 14 oz cans of beef broth.... 15 gingersnaps, crushed... POTATO DUMPLINGS 3 loafs of white bread with the crust cut off... 1 tsp salt.... 6-7 medium russet potatoes, pealed. ... chopped parsley.... 6 eggs ...... 1 14.5 oz can of chicken broth..... 1/4 cup of flour Sauerbraten Place meat in a large bowl; cover with mixture of water, vinegar, onion, bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns, salt, pepper and sugar. Cover and refrigerate for 36 to 48 hours, turning meat once or twice each day. Remove meat, pat dry; pat lightly with flour, shake off excess flour, and brown well in hot oil. Drain the grease from the pot or skillet that you browned the meat in. Strain vinegar mixture; add to the pot that you browned the meat . Scrape the mixture to get the browned particles. Pour this into the roaster with the meat. Cover and bake at 350 degrees about 3 hours. (check it a little before the 3 hour mark..depending on the size of your roast it may be a little longer or a little shorter. when you stick a fork into the roast, it should feel tender.) Remove meat; keep warm. For gravy, add 2 cans beef broth to the roaster that still contains the vinegar mixture . Stir in crushed ginger-snaps, cook over low heat stir constantly until thickened. Add more beef broth if too thick or more crushed ginger snaps if too thin. Put gravy in a large serving bowl.. Serve the gravy over the potato dumplings and sliced meat. Potato Dumplings Boil a large pot of slightly salted water. Cook the whole potatoes until, potato salad soft. Drain and let cool. Place in the refrigerator for 5 hrs or until completely cold. In a large bowl rip bread into small pieces. Moisten bread with half of the can of chicken broth. Grate the cold potatoes into the bowl of bread. Add the eggs, salt, parsley, flour. Mix well, and add, if needed, more chicken broth just to get a consistency that you can form into cue ball size balls. Place on a tray. Again bring to a boil a large pot of water. Place a few of the balls into the water..they will sink..when they float to the top, they are done, Let them drain on a tray, repeat until all the dumplings are finished. Cover with tin foil an keep them warm.
When my half irish half german mother asked me what i wanted for my birthday meal, it was always slooooowwww cooked sauerkraut and pork ribs - oh how the house smelled when i walked in. served with real mashed potatoes and butter, and applesauce. you had to put every single one of those four flavors on your fork to truly appreciate it. then we chewed the marrow out of the pork ribs. perfection.
In my country we make sour cabbage. We cut it in two, remove the base hard part, after that place it in a barrel, dilute salt(any type) in water - something like 5 liters of water to 1 kg of salt(or slowly add it to hot water until it stops diluting or slow down), cover the cabbage with the brine and press it down with a stone for instance. It needs to be covered in the brine completely. After 3, maybe 4 weeks it is ready. Leave the barrel in a cold place - between 0 and 7 degrees Celsius, maybe a little lower, but it is better if it doesn't freeze. You can eat the cabbage, drink the brine or add it to what you are cooking, drink it in the morning to wake up or after drinking. I personally love sour cabbage soup with rice and pork.
I must tell you something. I have a schoolfriend who is a cook. We are also friends on FB. My usual birthday presents to him have been links to my own work. This year, I gave him a link to two channels, food related, you and Keef Cooks. And this time he was really enthusiastic. You have made someone's day. Even if I can't cook myself right now, he can and he probably cooked some of yours and some of Keefs. He was, as said, enthusiastic.
James, try sauerkraut baked in the oven with bacon "fat pieces or bacon ends work best" or sausages on top. Then eat it with mashed potatoes and have mustard pickles on the side. My mom always makes this and I eat tons of it. I love "kraut" raw and cooked. Very delicious!
My mother makes a German-American dish where she sweats sauerkraut with onions same apple slices, then sautés sausage slices and fennel in it. So delicious!
I tried your mom's recipe. I usually don't like sauerkraut, but I liked your mom's recipe -- and so did my dad. So your mom's recipe has 2 new fans. Thanks for posting it.
Austrian here, I much prefer warm kraut salad. That is, unfermented kraut cooked in water and lots of vinegar. You can substitute it for sauerkraut in just about anything and it tastes much better.
I love sauerkraut. My momma made the best I've ever eaten. She made it in Mason jars . Packed cabbage , added salt and some water . Didn't tighten the jar lids, after it worked a while , she tightened the lid. Stewed potatoes , sauerkraut and cornbread; a wonderful cold winter supper.
We found the proper food safe crocks at ace hardware online to make kraut in. They work great! They also have proper lids and weights there too. also in many gallon sizes 1-10. Best part is they are made in the USA! Perfect for making barrel pickles and salt pork in too.
We make this every year around christmas. We add salt, bay leaf, whole black and white pepercorns, sliced onions and couple slices of quince or another nice smelling apple. Needs to ferment at least one month. Also the thiner you manage to slice your cabage the better. When ready it can be used as a side dish / condiment to pork, sausages, ribs or as an ingredient in soups with mushrooms, chorizo or similar meat sausage, or smoked ham.
One of my co-workers makes sauerkraut, and puts a small amount of ghost pepper into it while it is fermenting - just enough to give it a bit of spice, but not enough to burn your face off. She gave me a container of it, and it was SOOO much better than the store bought stuff.
Coffeehound I like that idea. Tossing in a single scotch bonnet pepper would probably season the whole batch. There is a Jamaican dish I've cooked before that has a cabbage as the base with a scotch bonnet, carrots, onions, bell peppers, garlic, cloves.
In my family runs a recipe with sauerkraut called "Ruppsel", which was usually a "Monday meal" made from Sundays leftovers. Traditionally Sundays meals were some kind of roast or sausage with (mashed) potatoes and sauerkraut as possible side dishes. As meat was expensive, the side dishes were usually all that was left over on Monday. The potatoes were mashed and mixed with the sauerkraut in a ratio of approx. 1:1, spiced with salt, nutmeg and black pepper, heated up and eaten with some "Hausmacherwurst" (bologna, liverwurst and/or blood sausage). Nowadays it's a fast meal, as one can simply use instant mashed potatoes and mix it with canned sauerkraut.
My family always ate a sauerkraut soup around Christmas time. When I was a kid, I hated it, but as I got older I really came to love it! My Gramma always cored her cabbages by smacking them hard against the cutting block then twisting it out! When she stopped being able to handle making the soup along with everything else, my mom took it over. Mom makes her sauerkraut from scratch and it is Fantastic! Thanks for this video! Really brought back my inspiration to try some of those old recipes again!
Used to make Sauerkraut with my family back in my childhood, i remember this as a yearly "adventure" of a sort :) We did them with iodized salt, sugar, kummel and some cranberies.... those are the only sauerkraut i could enjoy eating again and again!
Use the best damaged outer leafs as a final layer on top. When it's done you throw the top layer out and you'll lose no Krout to mold. We use a large 20 gallon crock a good washed stone works for the top with a hardwood plank underneath. It transfers a little natural yeast form one batch to the next. We do 6-8 weeks.
Two observations. My mother made kraut every year. She used a slaw cutter just like the one you used. She fermented in a crock, ith a gallon jar on a plate to weight it, and the canned it, but we always got some fresh. And I once had the misfortune to have scurvy. My housemate was a doctor. He sent me out to buy a head of cabbage. I ate it as salad with dressing!
First, I'd like to say I like your channel very much! I found it through artisanvideos subreddit. A lot of people from Central and Eastern Europe are making own sauerkraut, so does my family. We have a bit dfferent techniques that I'd like to share. I don't think it's better, just another look at the process. This one it's not with the spirit of this channel, but if you are lazy, for slicing you can use electric slicer (the type with a big, rotating blade). Instead of layering salt and cabbage, you can mix it with salt before putting in to the container, wait 15 minutes or so and it will, because of hypertonic environment, release some fluids from the cabbage. Mixing with salt beforehand will make stuffing it to the container easier, plus you'll have something to fill up the container and submerge cabbage in it's "own sauce". For preserving it, you can put it into the jars and leave it in cooler place. We place a little plastic bag sheet between the kraut and the lid. Because of fermetnation, it might build up some pressure and leak out and it will stink, so be prepared. Pro tip: if you are making it in bigger containers (we are using two or three 20 l food buckets), you can make whole cabbage like this. Carve out the heart, put some sliced cabbage inside and surround it with sliced cabbage as well. It should be ready after no longer than 2 months. It's a surprising and tasty modification of meat-stuffed cabbage.
Having grown up in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State, we had the annual Sauerkraut Festival in Phelps. The area was also known for making Pickled Beets and Spiced Red Cabbage with Silver Floss and Greenwoods being the big producers. Love this. Absolutely going to try this.
Great video! This is Exactly the recipe my grandmother taught to me, and as I am definitely in the "Love it" category of Sauerkraut aficionados, remains my favorite recipes. I loved that you mentioned Not to use Iodized salt ( having made that mistake once myself as a teen) but one thing I would point out is in regards the choice of vessel used in the fermentation process is to Not use stainless steel or plastic containers such as 5 gallon buckets as fermentation containers. The stainless steel reacts with the acid as the sauerkraut develops and plastic seems to similarly prevent the fermentation from ever occurring . These are both lessons that I had to learn the hard way, and if this prevents anybody from having to experience a ruined batch of sauerkraut, so much the better :) Keep up the great work, I love watching every one of these!
I did it, and the assurance in the video helped me trust in continuing with it and eating it (eating it took either courage or stupidity [I'm not sure which it was], but I did rinse and cook it [and then found out that bacteria make toxins that are not affected by heat]). It took about four months to get to the color that looked like yours in the video. It was not sour, but, again, I did rinse it since I don't like it strong (although that should have been pickled [with vinegar] that we've ever bought in the store). I also found occasional residue on the whole leaves since this was also an idea to make stuffed cabbage with the fermented cabbage (as an attempt to get a missed taste). It tasted like boiled cabbage except for the whole leaves [which I rinsed less] that had a certain taste, but that may just have been from the salt. Also, I didn't have a feeling/smell/taste inside me that I have gotten from others' stuffed cabbage dishes of whom are lifetime makers of sauerkraut (maybe that is even a whole other reason within the meal). I want to try it again, but I am nervous about it even though there was not a hint of problems this time. Even though it seems simple, it seems that there is an "art" that I might be missing (or maybe not). What an experience, and I'm very happy to have done it.
Kraut is great for the digestive system. I love it with meats and veggies for spice. I am German and love kraut. Vikings brothers to the north used it a lot. Cabbage is easier to grow/compared to grain crops in northern climates.
growing up every year I helped my grandmother cut and make sauerkraut. she made it in a 20 gallon crock but we always used a third ingredient. we I used rock salt ,cabbage and a special ingredient Hungarian wax peppers which gave it a unique flavor as well as a bit of mild heat. It was awesome tasting and you can't find anything like it today.
In my homeland we have like 2-3 variations of sauerkraut. The 1st one being regular sauerkraut (we add grated carrots because it gives a nice taste) The 2nd version, which has a good amount of lard in it. Is meant to be fried on a pan. (served on christmas) The 3rd version is a national dish of the Mulgi. (a surviving livonian minority whose language is alike to ours, living in the south of Estonia) Theirs has pork in it along with groats, its also eaten warm and the most, on christmas.
I love how, even though Jon seems to be sponsored by this company, he still doesn't make his videos a glorified infomercial. This stuff is super neat, reminds me of camp cooking, especially the soldier cooking videos.
Here in Belgium, my dad and I make sauerkraut with buttermilk & dried juniper berries. We let it rest in a special pot designed for it sealed with water, with a preference for 2 1/2 or 3 months in a cool cellar. In our opinion, lactofermentation makes it far more palatable as a dish than salt or vinegar. We also use the external cabbage leaves to hold down all the sauerkraut in the pot (just before adding the clay stones) so that it avoids the majority of the little bits to float (and thus prevents the mould formation better). We also eat it relatively "raw", because we don't cook it thoroughly: we just wait near the boiling point and it's immediately off the fire. It gives it more freshness and biting consistence than just a sludgy mash of cabbage.
It's interesting how this is almost exactly the same way we Vietnamese preserve cabbage, too. The cabbage is just not chopped up as finely; the rest is exactly the same. And yes, it goes really well with fatty pork belly.
To Sauer? Here in Germany we sometimes wash the kraut. My wife makes our sauerkraut the Russian way. (So she says). I'm sure there are many ways to cook it...but she adds gravy mix and ham. Its not to sauer. I prefer very sauer flavor and blood wurst cooked in. Thanks for the great video. Brian, Odenwald Germany
Thanks for this! I've been wanting to try sauerkraut for a while now but haven't been brave enough. My favorite way to eat it is on a Reuben style grilled cheese.
Your right my mom would make a dish sauerkraut, mash potatoes and pork chops. First she would brown the pork chops. Then she would put the prokchops in dish, Then she would put her sauerkraut "drain the juice of the sauerkraut ". On top of your porkchops cook cover 45-60 mins."Cover" Make mash potatoes. Put your mash potatoe on top of the sauerkraut. Make brown gravy spoon it on top of the mash potatoes and brown a little. About 10 min until mash potatoes and the gravy is drown. That was the first dish she got us to eat sauerkraut, love it . Well, I make it my self, but it never tastes good as mom's right. Recipe from Barbara Beck Ray from Florida by way of Germany, love you mom I still can't make it as good as her, but it something I look forward to when I go home. This is the first recipe I ever wrote and posted hope you can understand it. Loved your recipe hope to make some homemade sauerkraut for this dish. Maybe my kids will like it as much as their Omies. Thanks you
EASY and QUICK Sauerkraut: Wash a head of cabbage (only on the outside), remove coarse outer leaves - you can use the stem/core. Hack cabbage (white or red) in the food processor, or cut it finely by hand, add water (if the cabbage comes from the fridge you can add warm not hot ! water, don't kill the bacteria necessary for fermentation). Nothing else is added. Or done. It must be covered by water (quantitiy will depend on the form of your container, and the volume of the cabbage which depends on how you cut it ), small bits may swim on top, that's fine. Just enough to have it covered and not more - the fluid is supposed to get sour, that will keep the mold away, so you do not want to unnecessarily dilute it. Let it sit in a closed container (I have a plastics container, glass or ceramics is fine as well, just nothing with metal in it). After 1 day it should become bubbly, after 2 or 3 days it becomes more sauerkrauty. Then transfer to the fridge. You can start eating it at any point after if became at least a little bit bubbly. DO NOT EAT MUCH for the first time, - drink 1/3 of a cup of the fluid or a small portion of sauerkraut - test your tolerance, best on a weekend when your are at home. - Your digestive system may have to adapt, or else you will spend a lot of emergency sessions on the toilet. And that applies to eating it raw but if your are sensitive even after you cooked it. - Many people are fine with it from the beginning even when eating it raw or drinking the fluid - just be warned - lol. If no fermentation happened after maximum 3 days, it was too cold, or your cabbage was too old, or whatever. Check for mold to be sure - you can use it as is, but no fermentation is going to happen. That happened to me once when the room was too cold, and I just used it up the same day. The fermentation will start on its own, since cabbage naturally has a lot of good lactobacteria on it. (Grass too, this is how the lactobacteria come into milk products). It will become bubbly, when it tastes sour you should tranfer it to the fridge (after 2 - maximum 3 days if you have a slow batch) - fermentation will continue in the fridge (although it will be slowed down), it will become stronger, more sour and will resemble more and more traditional Sauerkraut (except that the pieces are more crumb like from the food processor - if Sauerkraut is not totally your thing but you want to eat it for your health, that is good - the small parts become also soft from the higher volume of water, and are nice too eat. (No crunching down of too salty, too acidic Sauerkraut). In the fridge and when it is always covered by fluid, the good bacteria and the acid will protect it from becoming mouldy. That is why you can keep it at room temperature in the beginning * and it will not rot - the good quickly multiplying bacteria keep the bad cultures in check (like mold or bacteria that promote fouling = putrefactive bacteria). And that works without salt. * I am not sure if it would work like that in India or in other very hot regions. It may be that under such conditions the bad bacteria are more prevalent on the vegetable and in the air and could win the race with the good bacteria - having the fermenting cabbage in a cool storage room should work though . Proceed with caution. And if your batch is a success you will know it by the distinct taste and smell - It definitely works in the temperate climate zone, even on a hot summer day. Advantage: very little work with a food processor, no working or pressing of the cabbage. You prepare it without salt (good if you are on a low sodium diet) Yyou add salt and herbs and spices later as you like (especially when you cook it, spice like curry, or other pricesfrom the Indian cuisine, caraway is always nice, dill, laurel, all bitter tasting herbs or intense tasting oils like pumpkin seed or lensseed oil). I do not like it to be too strong/mature. You can eat it when hardly any acid has developed, when it is just a little bit bubbly - first signs of fermentation, lots of Acedophilus bacteria. (Then I eat it usually raw) It is a good idea to not throw the fluid away (you have more than with the traditional method), a lot of minerals and vitamin C will have dissolved in it. I usually mix it with the same quantity of water (that helps when it is from the fridge and it is not as sour too) and gulp it down when thirsty. - There are better tasting drinks our there, but hardly any healthier. - When you take out some fluid and it is sour enough you can replenish with some water, so that the surface is always covered with water. 1) yes, you let it ferment on the shelf at room temperature. It should not be too cold either, think of a sourdough or yeast cultures. 2) No, your Sauerkraut will not get moldy or dangerous in any way 3) cabbage naturally has a lot of lactobacteria, including the short-lived acedophilus bacteria (a subgroup) - whereas in all traditionally made Pickles like Sauerkaut the most beneficial bacteria will die off over time). the acid conserves the pickles Now, according to a book of a naturopath Robert Gray (The Colon Health handbook) the short lived lactobacteria are very good for our gut health. They are selling these overpriced yoghurts with acedophilus. Robert Gray objected that these bacteria (a subgroup of lactobacteria) are sensitive and will die off after a few days in considerable numbers - before the yoghurt will be eaten by the consumers. Thus he came up with this homemade drink based on cabbage which was meant to be used up quickly (the drink is based on an old ? Yugoslavian recipe - he calls if Rejuvelac). Well, I was not willing to throw out the good organic cabbage - so I used both - the drink and the cabbage. And detected that the cabbage almost tastes like Sauerkraut (a little milder) especially when you let it ferment longer. Of course then a lot of the most beneficial lacto bacteria will have gone (as is usual with fermented food) I simplified the recipe of Robert Gray and have been preparing cabbage like that ever since. 4) you can use a little bit of liquid or Sauerkraut as starter to speed up the production of a new batch. 2 teaspoons of liquid will be sufficient - they multiply like crazy. So if your goal is gut health you will make a small portion, let it sit for 2 - 3 days, and then use it up within one day. When you start from scratch calculate a preparation time of 2 or 3 days - or with a starter from the last batch the next one will be ready after 24 hours . If you just go for the taste of Sauerkraut (which is still healthy food, with a lot of B vitamins that you usually only get with meat) you can make larger batches with or without a starter and let it ferment longer. After you transferred it to the fridge it should keep for 5 days (maybe longer). As long as it is sour, tastes like Sauerkraut THERE WILL BE NO MOLD or FOULING. It will have the distinctive taste and smell and is safe to eat. And you certainly could freeze it - for instance a little bit to be used as starter, or surplus (I never did that, but it should work, the bacteria do not die off because of the freeze). 5) It has a funny smell - like all Sauerkraut. Thus keep the container tightly closed. And I cover transparent containers to protect the the vitamin C from light. I am not sure if the fermentation needs oxygen or not (more likely not). So I compromised by using a wide container with a lot of airroom. And do use a well closing lid. - I open it at the window once a day, give it a quick airing and then close it again. The lid can come off when the gas pressure builds up inside . So if you have a funny smell in your kitchen, check the Sauerkraut / Acedophilus culture. The smell does not mean it is rotten, Sauerkraut smells like that. It gets better after a few days and if you cook it. (you can eat it raw or cook it). Traditional method with "crushing" the cabbage plus salt: here you do not add water so the salt and pressure is meant to bring out the fluid of the cabbage. The cabbage will release enough fluid to cover and protect the fermented product. Back in the day they could store that fermened stuff (prepared without added water !) for months in a cool room even without fridge. My variety has to be eaten within some days and uses the fridge, but is very uncomplicated. I use the cabbage in fine pieces /slices - I guess that helps with fermentation - a lot of surface. If you do not have a food processor you could do a test run with a small batch where you have slightly coarser slices - like for a regular salad. It still should work.
That’s how I make sauerkraut and I use a rolling pin too. I have cabbage growing in the garden now that will be sauerkraut later this fall. Love it, the fermentation makes this so healthy by providing good gut bacteria for overall health and immune support. Right now I’m fermenting pickles that only take a week and they’re delicious.
With your next batch you should take a small sample of it, mix sugar into it and then fry some bacon. Mix them together and let them simmer for a while maybe adding in a little more sugar before you take it off of the heat. My dad gave me that recipe when I was little. We jsut call it sweetkraut lol
One great way to do it is salt the shredded cabbage and pound it before you transfer the kraut to your container. You wait a few hours and pound it again, this allows you to leech the good juices out before you put it in a container. It only takes a week and you have assurance that the cabbage is covered the entire time. It also should be pointed out that this is an awesome episode
Captain Cook also tried to get fresh fruit whenever he could, his voyage to view the passage of Venus (i.e., Venus passing in front of the Sun), on which he later discovered New Zealand and Australia's east coast, he managed to keep his whole crew alive.
In Germany you can get fresh sauerkraut from the butcher during the winter months. Just raw sauerkraut to do with as you please. I usually cook it with some beef broth, bay leaf, a few juniper berries, and a teaspoon of caraway seeds, depending on the amount.
In our Polish house, we sometimes shred carrots in with the cabbage or stick some carrot stick in the middle to pickle with the cabbage and add the tender core as sticks as well. and we don't smash the cabbage (I was smashing once in the beginning and broke the jar). We press firmly with our fist to encourage the juices to come out.
whoa! this is not far from how koreans make kimchi! this video brought me back to my childhood memories making kimchi with my mother. awesome video jas townshend👍
I make kraut and kimchi in big batches. I use apple cider vinegar on a small portion to make it overnight. I also make cole slaw by soaking the shredded cabbage over night in a cup of water with a tablespoon of salt and quarter cup of vinegar. Drain it in the morning and add dressing made without the vinegar. It’s tender and tangy. Goes good on a Reuben or with pulled pork sandwiches.
Did settle on a method for making sauerkraut that works for me. Using a 5 gal plastic bucket with a screw down lid (you can buy these separately at Home Depot or Lowe's big box home improvement stores), add alternate layers of chopped cabbage and salt. Use a clean fist to press the cabbage down, periodically. I used red cabbage. Fill container about 3 and a half or 4 gallons full. Get extra large zip lock bag (10 gal size, from walmart) and fill with enough water so when you add to the bucket it fills the rest of the space in the bucket. Screw down the lid and let ferment for 6 weeks or longer. Had mold with previous methods, and although expected, and easily scraped out, I prefer not to see mold or loose a layer of cabbage to it. I didn't have any mold problems when I did it this way. I realize this isn't using 18th century methods, but it works for me. After 3 weeks of fermentation, you could see if it is sour enough for you. When it has fermented long enough for your taste, we put it into 2 qt. widemouth jars with plastic lids, and then keep them in the refrigerator to maintain the level of sourness that we chose.
I'm curious. When fermenting something it releases gasses, jars and bottles will explode with a tight lid. So how exactly did it ferment with a lid screwed down on it and no problems? The ONLY way this could work was if you added a fermentation lock to the lid. Otherwise it would have blown up. So this is either BS, it didn't really ferment, or you forgot to add some details.
In the deep South our pottery was alkaline glazed more often than either salt or lead. It works as my aunt used to make kraut in an old alkaline glazed crock. New stoneware crocks made with traditional glaze are widely available in this living pottery tradition.
Maybe you will know. The method my grandpa who was from Germany had told me. Was salt and cabbage like you mentioned. However difference comes is the end stage. They would put a a heavy layer of salt. Then the lid, followed by a good amount of salt on top of lid. They then proceeded to bury it in the ground and let it ferment through the winter. Not sure if this is just farmers way of doing it or if it is a specific method.
there is precious little that's improved as much as home made kraut. if you enjoy store bough,,,or can even tolerate it, the improvement that home made makes will have you loving it. it is just that much better.
I made my own kraut more out of curiosity than anything else, and it changed my culinary world. I made about a kilo in the first batch and it lasted a week. I have 5 kilos of kraut sitting under my bed now, I can't wait for it to ferment
So true! As a boy I was used to kraut from a can, usually heated for serving. I hated it! Then I had the opportunity to try fresh kraut made by my sister's mother-in-law, a very Germanic former ranch harvest cook. It was delicious. I pulled it out of the crock strand by strand and ate it it cold. So savory!
Sauerkraut comes in cans? I've only ever had preserved kraut from jars, I would guess, especially from these comments here, that the can modifies the flavor significantly
I recall homemade sauerkraut. A ceramic crock a wooden board, with a weight on top was used. Salt and cabbage was the only ingredients. It was very good.
7:00 take a whole cabbage leaf on top of the jar and put the stones on that leaf. I find its easier then fiddling with seran wrap, plastic bags, boards, etc.
For most dishes Sauerkraut as an ingredient is often given a short wash in a bowl with fresh water before processed. That takes away the sourness, which may be appeal to your taste a lot more. Yes, couldn't be simpler but that's how it's done.
If you want a delicious use for your sauerkraut, look for recipes of a sausage/pork dish called Bigos. It's a hunter's sauerkraut stew with roots in eastern Europe. They serve a version of this stew at Feast of the Hunters Moon. There is no single correct recipe, because everyone's grandmother had her own recipe, but most bigos has sausage, pork, beef, mushrooms, fruit, wine, carrots, potatoes, and lots of sauerkraut.
+John Doe I love adding sauerkraut to a bowl of meaty venison or moose stew. A word of warning though, don't add salt to the stew in the pot. A good idea anyway, people can add salt to their choice in their own bowl but sauerkraut does add a real salty flavour to any foods.
My grandmother used to make kraut. The whole family would show up at "kraut making time" and help. She called it "scrunch" to us kids because we had to "scrunch" it down into tbe crocks! They were huge crocks with big wooden lids that fit inside and pushed the cabbage down. Then she would can it in mason jars. Hard work but now happy memories!😍
Jon, hope you and the family are well. Back in the NWTA in the 1980s whoever dreamed you would be doing 18th Century cooking shows. Keep up the good work...and old friend now in Florida.
I am SO glad you guys did a proper fermented sauerkraut video (and I had no idea the slicer was that old!). I tried to make Sauerkraut (based on Alton Brown's instructions) about a year ago. Woefully, I had a massive problem with the crock attracting fruit flies. I tried to cover the thing with muslin once I saw them hanging around. However, I still found a few dead flies floating in it when doing my periodic checks for mold. Since I didn't have any further information, I chickened out and ended up discarding the batch. Did you have any troubles with this? Do you have any advise?
Unless you make A LOT (the old way) do it in small batches in a fido jar. The rubber seal let's gas out, but nothing in, just make sure the brine covers well. No mold, nothing flies in, no weekly cleaning like we used to do, and no smell.
Try a bubbler like you use for beer making... you can drill a hole in the crock/jar lid and insert the silicon “cork”. Then insert the bubbler thru the cork and then replace the lid on the crock...
Try covering with a layer of cheese cloth then put the lid on top. The cloth will keep the lid open enough to let the gas out but not let the flies in. Change the cloth from time to time. Sauerkraut SMELLS when you make it - learn to love it. You can also leave out a couple of bowls of vinegar close by which the flies will find more interesting. I find the cheap apple cider vinegar works better than the white vinegar.
A little bit of fried pork, then cook some onions in the pork grease, then add sauerkraut to the grease and onions and let simmer under a closed lid for 5-10 minutes. Perfect dinner when served with dark bread.
You don't really need to chop cabbage head to make sauerkraut. The way we make it in Serbia: we core the cabbage head like an apple, and fill the hole with salt. We then put cabbages in a barrel (salt side up so it doesn't spill), and fill the barrel with water. Occasional stirring is required in the beginning of the fermentation, so that salt doesn't settle in the bottom. This way leaves stay firmer and crispier than in German style sauerkraut. Chop it, put some oil and paprika on it, and it's a wonderful side dish with roasted meats, for example.
Interesting variation, thanks for sharing!
Jas. Townsend and Son, Inc. Thank you for replying! You are a first youtuber to reply to one of my posts, i feel really honoured. Keep up the good work!
+Lemmy Pop agree with you. Similar is done throughout Balkans.
Sounds like Kimchi. Do you add any fermentation starter/
408Magenta Not really. Fermentation starts naturally, though it takes some time; about a month until it's completely soured. It's winter food, so it is supposed to last long, and there is no need to speed things up.
Here in Czech Republic we add raw onions, dill and caraway seeds in with our cabbage and it's very good too.
Laidart can you post your recipe please?
Adding a concord grape vine can also help keep the cabbage "crispy" if you like it firmer =3
Yes, many people do not realize that sauerkraut needs to be cooked. I drain and rinse it. I then saute onions in a pan, add fresh chopped herbs, white wine or chicken broth and the sauerkraut. I let it cook on low for 30-40 minutes. It is then delicious serve with roast pork and baked apples.
The onions make night and day difference in the taste, you guys over the big pond should try it !
Try crushed green tomatoes in your krout, super Sour !
Just a little warning. Perhaps you said it and I missed it, but I would warn viewers that they MUST allow gases to escape or it might explode. You mention mason jars, but people must not leave the lids sealed. Also, avoid bare metal lids (get the coated ones) as it reacts to the acids produced during fermentation. Thanks for awesome videos! Love them!
Also you can get plastic lids to fit mason jars and you can get aled with a gas lock.
Put a plate under the jar to catch any over flow.
I use pickle pipes. They’re silicone lids with a nipple on top that automatically vents gasses but doesn’t let air in. They work great.
@@tarabooartarmy3654 I found that those fail for me. I have the airlock system in a plastic lid. I use the pickle pebbles to hold it down because I couldn't find the right sized rock. I'd make much more of it if anyone else in my house would eat it. I could eat it every day!
I cover mine with cheese cloth an rubber band to hold in place
@@jonjacobjingleheimerschmid3798 did it work well?
It's honestly delicious when paired with rich sausages. The flavors really compliment each other.
Yep. The acid and the fat.
Ja, und wash into down with some strong lager!
...and add some nice roasted potatoes and baked apples...Yum.
How do we make rich sausages?
And not just in Europe - Korean kimchi is also pickled cabbage.
+Rodney Terry Have you ever had home-made sauerkraut? It's a world of a difference to what you can buy. I'm making my own kimchi and sauerkraut now, and I can't say which i like more
Shlomo Shekelstein oy vey you happy merchant
psammaid Was kimchi made traditionally by burying the pot?
i think that depends on the time of the year. I've seen people make it and bury it to keep it from freezing because it was left outside traditionally. but i could see t happening just to help regulate the temperature year round because fridges or root cellars were used.
Really happy to see this comment here!
Interestingly, up until just a few centuries ago, kimchi was supposedly mainly produced without any chili pepper at all, so it was probably even more akin to sauerkraut at that time.
The Japanese and Chinese sure as heck also pickle cabbage in a similar manner, although it's not anywhere as emblematic of their traditional cuisines as kimchi is for the Koreans, likely because they both will gleefully pickle just about ANY vegetable they can get their hands on. Hahah. Shoutouts to otsukemono.
(And yes, if anyone is curious, I do love a good sauerkraut too!!!)
A tip that I use is that after shredding the cabbage and before packing it in the fermenting vessel, massage the cabbage with the salt and let it sit for an hour or two (longer is fine as well). This will help to draw out a lot of the liquid from the cabbage so that you can tightly pack it in the fermenting vessel. Pour all the liquid that extracted out of the cabbage on top of the cabbage in the fermenting vessel.
Sauerkraut, peas and salt pork eaten by 100 sailors. Can you imagine the fumes below deck at night? Makes you think the crows nest isn't that bad.
+57WillysCJ Well if you can imagine the rank hold of the ship along with the "head", It must have been quite a competition of smells.
Not sure of the head smell as it was over grates going into the sea and was washed down with sea water regularly. The air below deck equal to the campaign tents. Both areas were of high germ reproduction.
From wikipedia: The head (or heads) is a ship's toilet. The name derives from sailing ships in which the toilet area for the regular sailors was placed at the head or bow of the ship. In sailing ships, the toilet was placed in the bow somewhat above the water line with vents or slots cut near the floor level allowing normal wave action to wash out the facility. Only the captain had a private toilet near his quarters, at the stern of the ship in the quarter gallery. Rank smells were most likely emanating from the bilges, which collected all matter of effluent.
It also depends alot on the design of the ship, I saw some Tudor era ships that had what I can only describe as a shelf along the bottom of the ship that used for mooring and such. That shelf was where the would relieve themselves and not everything got washed off by the sea. They'd send down younger sailors to swab it out every once in awhile and even burn certain strongly scented things since the miasma theory of disease was popular at the time.
The smell might have not been much nothing,
and farts was not much.
When I turned to eat organic,
I noticed, I rarely farted,
and that did not smell much nothing.
I think the smelling and all that came,
when people started to put poison on fields,
chemical fertilizer and pestisides and other poisons.
The poisons will kill the bacteria in the gut,
and only the bad bacteria survives,
and those bad bacterias make the smell.
I helped grandma make hundreds of gallons of sauerkraut over the years. She had several 20 gal. crocks and we pickled everything I think. we made just as shown in layers ramping till juice came up then adding more. We did one extra added bonus though Hungarian wax bananna peppers just a few to each layer have it a touch of heat a little kick that really made difference in the flavor.
Ken Jett my mouth is watering...
MMMM !!
PICKLED BANANA PEPPERS !!
DAD ATE THEM IN PAIRS !!
I TRIED TO..... NOT TWO !!
Add some apples to cabbage while souring it. But use sour (sweet varieties not very usable for this) cultivars, in russia we often use Antonovka (one of better varieties of apple for this) or kinda of that. This sauerkraut may taste better and gonna have much more vitamins in it.
To do it just add one good midsized apple per two pound of cabbage.
Wash apple, clean it (peel skin off if you like). Slice to pieces about quart inch thick. Add apple slices between layers of cabbage after you mashed cabbage and waited 3-4 days (as you say to do after mashing). (sorry i don't remember exactly)
P.s. try to poke cabbage to the bottom with stick every day. This can make your sauerkraud less bitter.
Sauerkraut, Bratwurst, German Mustard, and a nice crusty bun! My oh my I think that's my favorite meal in the world. I love Sauerkraut my great grandmother was a German immigrant and made if for my grandmother and her husband and they made it for me, have loved it ever since. Its great on any-kind of sausage with some mustard.
*crusty bun*
Yes! The classic!
Omg, you are making me hungry now. 😜
Alsatian chou croute garni ... Sauerkraut rinsed, cooking in a little sweetish white wine, garnished with smoked pork, sausages, even smoked salmon.
Being a "Kraut", born and raised and having grown up with Sauerkraut, needless to say that I LOVE this stuff! My grandpa used to put Kümmel (caraway seeds?) inside. I assume to aid digestion? My mother prepared it in rendered Speck (Bacon?) and served it with the cracklings mixed in, Bratwurst and mashed potatoes... I think this is how to learn to love Sauerkraut Jon, hehe 😊
Thank you for this wonderful episode!! You guys are amazing, I'm sure none of us know how much work you're actually putting into these episodes! Just wonderful! Thank you!!
+dimpleza Thanks for sharing that great comment. I was a pretty picky eater as a kid but now it's not so bad. Even as a kid I liked sauerkraut better than asparagus :) This fresh / uncooked sauerkraut is definitely not the same stuff you buy in the store. I think a person should really try it like this before they write it off. Thanks for watching!
+Jas. Townsend and Son, Inc. I really love this channel but this episode was a bit pain. Making of sauerkraut is like producing a cheese or wine, and it requires a certain procedure. Once you let anything open for three days you would get compost not an edible product. The sliced cabbage with salt should be massaged outside the final pot. The water goes off in minutes not days! The softened cabbage (mixed with all ingredients below) will allow you to cram your jar and get rid of all air pockets. The final sauerkraut should be crisp and WHITE!
The lactobacillus needs some sugar. The cabbage has some but it is advised to add something sweet inside (like apples). One small apple (shredded) is enough for about six pounds of cabbage, some Kummel (be careful it can ruin all batch) and some onion. Bit of dill would be fine too. The balance between the sugar (fructose) will attract the lactobacillus and and salt prevents other germs.
But don't worry repetition is the mother of wisdom ;)
the Kümmel is indeed for digestion.OK...it adds also a Kind oft more full flavor to the Sauerkraut. Speck is also necessary. i hope u also tried the fried version with Spätzle.gosh i could eat that everyday.regards Form one kraut to another one 😁
dimpleza Yes I love the addition of Caraway seeds,not only to sauerkraut,but to my own homemade coleslaw.It just adds that perfect flavor!
dimpleza wer nennt sich schon selbst “Kraut“?
Townsends: Sauerkraut is an acquired taste.
Eastern european: U mean breakfast, lunch and dinner?
All :) We eat it any time:) The best with a pinch good cold pressed oil and some drops of honey.
Yes, because Europe is poor and U.S.A. rulezzz.
@@metal87power Europe lol no. Maybe some countries poor in money but in food quality and diversity US would need 1000 years to catch up to them.
American here.... I'll eat fresh sauerkraut by itself any time of day. Maybe I've got some eaten European in me somewhere back in time .. Lol
@@metal87power as a veteran of the US Navy, and have traveled all over. Some of the poorer nations have some of the best people. Here in the USA , we have our share of poor as well. And I grew up one of those and wouldn’t change it for the world. Money doesn’t make the person, it’s there attitude towards others that matters. Enjoy your day
I've said it once I will say it always. "The controlled spoilage of food is awesome."
Sum Arbor Well said!!
There's some natives that have some fish pudding for you.... if you pay them well... they might share.
Try adding 1 large red onion and several sweet carrots to two large cabbage when cutting up the cabbage. We like a tsp. of fresh oregano and sometimes caraway seeds added as well. Save a couple of the large leaves from the outer part of the cabbage (make sure they are clean and not damaged). Pack kraut tightly into a crock and leave a little room at the top for a weight, brine cover, and some expansion. Place the cabbage leaves over the kraut to hold down the loose floaters and weight the leaves. It is always safest to cover with a brine to make sure no air can get to it. If you use a lid like Jon did I would suggest also placing a piece of cloth over the top of the lid and jar and securing it around the top of the jar with a string. It will prevent maggots from the tiny little fruit flies that can crawl in and around lids and cracks and lay eggs.
Love, love, love sauerkraut. We're Southerners yet my mom grew up making it on the farm. With sausage or pork chops, so so good.
This is pretty much how we've been making it for years. I haven't had store-bought kraut in over 35 years (since I married my wife) and she grew up making this with her mom. We use a 10 gallon crock and do a big batch every four or five years. When it is ready, we hot-pack can it in mason jars (not USDA approved, but nobody's gotten sick yet). We've opened jars of kraut that were packed 5+ years previously and it still tastes better than store-bought, great texture and flavor. Wonderful with smoked sausage or kielbasa!
How long do you process it for? Pressure can or waterbath can? I want to do this!
I have central European roots, where Sauerkraut is a staple with countless dishes. My grandmother and mother always used to prepare and store large amounts of it. I have grown up loving it. But over the years I have learned that not all Sauerkraut is created equal. A good one can be a light dish on its own, mixed with a bit of sunflower oil and eaten with bread. But much of the commercially available stuff, is simply bad, as they take the "Sauer" in the Sauerkraut too seriously and end up with extremely acidic and sour products (this is because they extremely often add catalysts to the product, instead of allowing a natural fermentation).
My grandmother also used to add things like Dill, Coriander, Black Pepper (whole), and Laurel leaves. These often substantially improve the taste of the Sauerkraut, without really altering its properties.
I agree! Store bought sauerkraut is way too sour.
+Rachel Schell I always rinse sauerkraut first. Cook with chopped apple and black peppercorns until apple disappears.
The commercially prepared stuff is usually just pickled cabbage not actually fermented. Its not exactly the same thing as sauerkraut and that's why it can be so nasty. Fermented kraut can be just as sour though.... it depends on how long it gets to ferment. I make real kraut all the time and I enjoy the how the taste changes over the days/weeks/months.
I tried to make sauerkraut once with this method but it turned to mush, the smell and flavor were fine, but the consistency was that of mashed potatoes. Maybe too hot (summer) or too much salt?
I make kimchee easily enough though (minus the fish sauce).
waterandafter The longer you let it ferment the softer the vegetables get. It was the same with some pickles I made.
I've made my own kraut for 50 years as my grandmother taught me. One thing I did add is taking the heart of the cabbage that is cut out before slicing and add it in a blender with water and salt and use that to top off the liquid. No waste. I just add the liquid when making it assuring there is plenty of liquid. A slice of home made bread with good butter and a cup of kraut makes for a wonderful quick lunch.
eckankar, would you post your grandmother's method?
My grandma told me when she was young they made big barrels for the whole family. To smash it down her cosin did first thoroghly wash his feed and then danced in the barrel to his harmonica while the girls where cutting the cabbage and thorwing it in.
Sauerkraut... very nice. Norwegians call it (surkål) Sauerkraut is best with mash potatoes,homemade gravy and norwegian meatballs.(bigger ones then swedish) also with pork chops to and Sausage. (surkål) are a very old traditional food here in Norway and mostly allways a side dish and served on the table whole december Christmas time.The more fatty meat like pork belly and so on the best sauerkraut taste in my opinion.But moose and deer steak is great to .Turkey meat are best with red Sauerkraut. I personal like red Sauerkraut as its best in taste. but white are just as good.We use apples,honey and some other stuff in our red sauerkraut.And its allways Kumina spice in white sauerkraut also dried juniper beeries...Great channel btw.
You are really making me hungry!!
I'm Polish and my family always added cumin to sauerkraut in quite liberal quantities, you might want to try that James, I would imagine the taste is considerably different, compared to straight salting. Also, if you're ever interested in Polish cuisine of the era you talk about, I would be more than happy to help translate any sources you might come across. I'm also quite curious about the influence Polish immigrants may have had on the emerging cuisine of the US. Any thoughts on that?
WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE FOR THIS PROCESS AND I'LL MAKE SOME.
I SUCCESSFULLY FERMENTED 5 GALLONS WITH HIMALAYAN SALT/LOTS OF FRESH DILL/20 CABBAGE HEADS AND 10 POTENT PROBIOTICS FROM DR. OHHIRA'S 900 MILLION MULTI PROBIOTIC CHAIN AND FIVE MONTHS LATER CRUNCHY AND ADDICTIVE.
It's very similar to the one described here. You take a large container put in a layer of shredded cabbage, add a thin layer of salt and cumin over top of it and start pounding, once you get the juices going and the spices mix in add the next layer of cabbage salt and cumin and keep pounding. Repeat the process until your chosen container is about 3/4 full with juice on top of the cabbage. You can either do it in a barrel, which you cover over once you're done, or you could distribute your cabbage and juice into jars, seal them and let them sit for a while. As a general rule, the later you open your jars, the less crunchy and more sour your kraut will be, but it can keep for a good long time in sealed jars in a cool place. After a while it will reach a certain taste and crunchiness, it will then keep over its shelf life. It's been well over a decade since I made some, so I don't quite remember how long it should sit, but 6 weeks + as advised in the video, sounds about right. Also unlike the sauerkraut James made, the way my family did it, involved a good few hours of pounding for an average bucket full of cabbage.
My mom adds cumin when she cooks it. Very tasty.
Ewwww, cumin. Y'all Polish put it in *everything*!
starlinguk
It works for sauerkraut, of course it's all a matter of taste. I suggested it, because it's a variation on a recipe some might wish to try out.
At the time, when it appeared, it met a specific need and people weren't too concerned about their cholesterol. I remember having eaten it, my grandmother made tons of it.
Yes, it goes great with rich calories and high cholesterol foods, but to get the real benefit, you have to eat it "cold turkey" and it doesn't taste very good. But the best use is after a hangover.
This explains why it has become so popular with sailors.
Coming from a mostly German family I love sauerkraut and grew up eating it a lot. My grandma always made very traditional dishes that came with our family when they made the journey to Canada back in the mid 1600s. One of my favourites was sauerkraut boiled with smoked pigs feet served on kneffle noodles and boiled potatoes, it may not sound too appetizing but it's actually really great! Pigs feet are a very underrated food.
Father would make kraut often when I was growing up. He would always scald the fermentation vessel first to make sure the bad bacteria were gone. The yeasts on the cabbage itself would do the job he said. He would use a saucer that was smaller than the mouth of the fermentation vessel or a wooden "plug" that was weighted down by something. Though experience he didn't use a rock since if you accidently got a limestone one it would kill the acid!
We always use rocks in Poland :) No limestone of course - nice roundish chunks found on fields.
I can't stand commercial sauerkraut, but I agree that homemade is AMAZING! I made it because I was on a serious probiotic kick, and homemade live sauerkraut is a benediction of probiotic goodness. I was steeling myself to choke it down because it was good for me, but was thrilled to find it was incredibly delicious! I scarfed it all up, and my kids loved it too.
+Marialla yea commercial stuff can be blah....but the German food maker Kuhne makes pretty pure sauerkraut. i buy it because it only has the two ingredients, they also do a wine sauerkraut. I find it a little pricey compared to the American / Canadian brands but worth it. So if you haven't got any and you need a fix Kuhne would be the one to go to.
+Marialla If you can get up to north central Pennsylvania in late fall, many clubs and organizations make and sell fresh kraut as a fund-raiser. Also go with the deli for live and avoid the canned.
+Marialla If you can get up to north central Pennsylvania in late fall, many clubs
and organizations make and sell fresh kraut as a fund-raiser. Also go
with the deli for live and avoid the canned.
Marialla you should try kefir. .water and milk..probiotics are off the charts especially the milk kefir..eat real food!!!
Part of my family is from Germany. We used to make it every year. Chopped cabbage, put it in crock pots with salt, vinegar and water. We hand pressed each layer and let it set. It was sooo good.
My favorite sauerkraut recipe, (tho I love it every single way), is to brown some country-style pork ribs in some lard in a cast-iron skillet, cover them with water, add salt, pepper, caraway seeds & cover and let them cook slowly until 80-90% done, add your sauerkraut and firm apples & onions, thinly sliced. Once the kraut, onion, and apples have cooked down, you're done. You can also add an apple cider or apple juice in place of water, I sometimes add a dash of apple cider vinegar to give it a flash of brightness. Try it, you'll like it!
I prefer making sauerkraut by mashing the cabbage and salt in a big bowl first - either with your hands or with a tool, doesn't matter. But that way you know from the start how much water you get. I would also recommend adding a bit of flavoring - things like fennel seeds and pepper corns are nice.
As for weighing the cabbage down, you can place one or two pieces of the outer leaves you removed over top of the cabbage in the jar - that keeps all the little pieces down that floated up around your rock. I started out using ziploc bags with water but cleaning those is annoying and if you don't reuse them that's terrible for the environment, so I got myself a set of glass fermentation weights. As you guys make your own pottery, you could probably make pottery fermentation weights too.
Mix the salt and the cabbage gently and let it rest for ten minutes before packing it. That way, the cabbage softens and don't break when you pack it.
James, Love your channel. Awesome job! When my father made his sauerkraut he would thoroughly mix the salt and shredded cabbage to ensure full coverage. Then he would layer and tamp as you did, however, he would also place several grape leaves between each layer of cabbage as he packed it down. He said that the grape leaves would help keep the kraut "crisp" during the fermentation process. Since he liked very strong, well aged kraut, this made a big difference for longer fermentation periods that would otherwise cause the kraut to become "mushy". When the kraut was "done" to his liking, we would portion out serving sizes into plastic bags (removing the grape leaves) and flatten them out to save space, then stack them in the freezer. Granted, plastic and freezers weren't a part of 18th life, but, once he got the cabbage/salt ratio and fermentation time that he wanted, it allowed him to stop the fermentation at just the right point while providing long term storage.
Great info from experience!
The sauerkraut consistency depends on the quantity of salt you add. I weigh the shredded cabbage and add 1.5% of salt by weight, Mix it well and place it hand-full by hand-full in the fermentation container compressing it well with the fist. The cabbage and salt mix begins releasing juice immediately, so by the time you finish packing the cabbage in the fermentation container you will have juice left. Add it to your packed cabbage. If you want extra crunchy sauerkraut add 2% of salt instead of 1.5%, but the sauerkraut will have stronger taste and you may need to wash it before use.
Although it may not sound traditional, I use a cylindrical food grade Polyethylene container for fermentation. A china plate Inserted the normal way up serves as lid (plate must not be placed upside down to avoid trapping air) and I use a larger mason jar filled with steel nuts as weight. The nut-filled mason jar is heavy and is easy to clean. A clean kitchen cloth is traditionally used in Europe to cover the sauerkraut surface before placing the lid and weight. Any mold forming will be removed with the cloth.
I live in a tropical country with about 27-30 degree C kitchen temperature and my Sauerkraut is ready in three to four days. It is helpful to cover the fermentation container with a plastic bag and tie it with a rubber band, string or tape. That way flies and other insects carrying mold spores can't get to the sauerkraut surface.
You can also ferment it in canning jars. You can stop the fermentation process when you're happy with the taste.
This channel deserves so many more subscribers... I have been binge watching their videos for a full week now.
So... Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food?
I started a batch this afternoon, fingers crossed!
thanks for all the information contained in all your videos
My mom is German. I was raised on sauerkraut and sauerbraten. Here's her recipe for Sauerbraten and potato dumplings. "My German mother makes this every November and has her children, (me and my sister) the grandkids and great-grandkids over for our much awaited meal. She's older now..so my sister makes the potato dumplings and I help with the roast preparation. This is the best Sauerbraten that I've ever had and I've had Sauerbraten at a few so called German restaurants, but it never beats Mom's."
4 lbs. pot roast, chuck or rump.... 6 peppercorns.....
2 cups water ..... 1 tbsp salt....
2 cups vinegar ...... 1/4 tsp pepper.....
2 onions sliced thin..... 2 tbsp. sugar......
3 bay leaves...... flour...
10 whole cloves ...... 3 tbsp. vegtable oil for browning
2 14 oz cans of beef broth....
15 gingersnaps, crushed...
POTATO DUMPLINGS
3 loafs of white bread with the crust cut off... 1 tsp salt....
6-7 medium russet potatoes, pealed. ... chopped parsley....
6 eggs ...... 1 14.5 oz can of chicken broth.....
1/4 cup of flour
Sauerbraten
Place meat in a large bowl; cover with mixture of water, vinegar, onion, bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns, salt, pepper and sugar. Cover and refrigerate for 36 to 48 hours, turning meat once or twice each day. Remove meat, pat dry; pat lightly with flour, shake off excess flour, and brown well in hot oil. Drain the grease from the pot or skillet that you browned the meat in. Strain vinegar mixture; add to the pot that you browned the meat . Scrape the mixture to get the browned particles. Pour this into the roaster with the meat. Cover and bake at 350 degrees about 3 hours. (check it a little before the 3 hour mark..depending on the size of your roast it may be a little longer or a little shorter. when you stick a fork into the roast, it should feel tender.) Remove meat; keep warm. For gravy, add 2 cans beef broth to the roaster that still contains the vinegar mixture . Stir in crushed ginger-snaps, cook over low heat stir constantly until thickened. Add more beef broth if too thick or more crushed ginger snaps if too thin. Put gravy in a large serving bowl.. Serve the gravy over the potato dumplings and sliced meat.
Potato Dumplings
Boil a large pot of slightly salted water. Cook the whole potatoes until, potato salad soft. Drain and let cool. Place in the refrigerator for 5 hrs or until completely cold. In a large bowl rip bread into small pieces. Moisten bread with half of the can of chicken broth. Grate the cold potatoes into the bowl of bread. Add the eggs, salt, parsley, flour. Mix well, and add, if needed, more chicken broth just to get a consistency that you can form into cue ball size balls. Place on a tray. Again bring to a boil a large pot of water. Place a few of the balls into the water..they will sink..when they float to the top, they are done, Let them drain on a tray, repeat until all the dumplings are finished. Cover with tin foil an keep them warm.
When my half irish half german mother asked me what i wanted for my birthday meal, it was always slooooowwww cooked sauerkraut and pork ribs - oh how the house smelled when i walked in. served with real mashed potatoes and butter, and applesauce. you had to put every single one of those four flavors on your fork to truly appreciate it. then we chewed the marrow out of the pork ribs. perfection.
In my country we make sour cabbage. We cut it in two, remove the base hard part, after that place it in a barrel, dilute salt(any type) in water - something like 5 liters of water to 1 kg of salt(or slowly add it to hot water until it stops diluting or slow down), cover the cabbage with the brine and press it down with a stone for instance. It needs to be covered in the brine completely. After 3, maybe 4 weeks it is ready. Leave the barrel in a cold place - between 0 and 7 degrees Celsius, maybe a little lower, but it is better if it doesn't freeze. You can eat the cabbage, drink the brine or add it to what you are cooking, drink it in the morning to wake up or after drinking. I personally love sour cabbage soup with rice and pork.
I must tell you something.
I have a schoolfriend who is a cook. We are also friends on FB.
My usual birthday presents to him have been links to my own work.
This year, I gave him a link to two channels, food related, you and Keef Cooks.
And this time he was really enthusiastic. You have made someone's day.
Even if I can't cook myself right now, he can and he probably cooked some of yours and some of Keefs.
He was, as said, enthusiastic.
James, try sauerkraut baked in the oven with bacon "fat pieces or bacon ends work best" or sausages on top. Then eat it with mashed potatoes and have mustard pickles on the side. My mom always makes this and I eat tons of it. I love "kraut" raw and cooked. Very delicious!
+Cyber EMR Estrella It sounds wonderful, thanks for the suggestion.
My mother makes a German-American dish where she sweats sauerkraut with onions same apple slices, then sautés sausage slices and fennel in it. So delicious!
I tried your mom's recipe. I usually don't like sauerkraut, but I liked your mom's recipe -- and so did my dad. So your mom's recipe has 2 new fans. Thanks for posting it.
How can one "hate" sauerkraut? It's delicious and healthy!
No
I don't like it, although I am German
Austrian here, I much prefer warm kraut salad. That is, unfermented kraut cooked in water and lots of vinegar.
You can substitute it for sauerkraut in just about anything and it tastes much better.
Street sausage with heaps of sauerkraut 😛
I knew some folks that hated sauerkraut as well, until they tried the fermented old style, now they love it.
I love sauerkraut. My momma made the best I've ever eaten. She made it in Mason jars . Packed cabbage , added salt and some water . Didn't tighten the jar lids, after it worked a while , she tightened the lid. Stewed potatoes , sauerkraut and cornbread; a wonderful cold winter supper.
We found the proper food safe crocks at ace hardware online to make kraut in. They work great! They also have proper lids and weights there too. also in many gallon sizes 1-10. Best part is they are made in the USA! Perfect for making barrel pickles and salt pork in too.
We make this every year around christmas. We add salt, bay leaf, whole black and white pepercorns, sliced onions and couple slices of quince or another nice smelling apple. Needs to ferment at least one month. Also the thiner you manage to slice your cabage the better. When ready it can be used as a side dish / condiment to pork, sausages, ribs or as an ingredient in soups with mushrooms, chorizo or similar meat sausage, or smoked ham.
One of my co-workers makes sauerkraut, and puts a small amount of ghost pepper into it while it is fermenting - just enough to give it a bit of spice, but not enough to burn your face off. She gave me a container of it, and it was SOOO much better than the store bought stuff.
Sounds like a very interesting addition!
That's partly what kimchee is.
Coffeehound I like that idea. Tossing in a single scotch bonnet pepper would probably season the whole batch. There is a Jamaican dish I've cooked before that has a cabbage as the base with a scotch bonnet, carrots, onions, bell peppers, garlic, cloves.
In my family runs a recipe with sauerkraut called "Ruppsel", which was usually a "Monday meal" made from Sundays leftovers.
Traditionally Sundays meals were some kind of roast or sausage with (mashed) potatoes and sauerkraut as possible side dishes. As meat was expensive, the side dishes were usually all that was left over on Monday. The potatoes were mashed and mixed with the sauerkraut in a ratio of approx. 1:1, spiced with salt, nutmeg and black pepper, heated up and eaten with some "Hausmacherwurst" (bologna, liverwurst and/or blood sausage).
Nowadays it's a fast meal, as one can simply use instant mashed potatoes and mix it with canned sauerkraut.
I had no idea mandolins had been used that long! Just amazing. This is a great way to make sauerkraut.
My family always ate a sauerkraut soup around Christmas time. When I was a kid, I hated it, but as I got older I really came to love it!
My Gramma always cored her cabbages by smacking them hard against the cutting block then twisting it out! When she stopped being able to handle making the soup along with everything else, my mom took it over. Mom makes her sauerkraut from scratch and it is Fantastic!
Thanks for this video! Really brought back my inspiration to try some of those old recipes again!
Used to make Sauerkraut with my family back in my childhood, i remember this as a yearly "adventure" of a sort :)
We did them with iodized salt, sugar, kummel and some cranberies.... those are the only sauerkraut i could enjoy eating again and again!
Use the best damaged outer leafs as a final layer on top. When it's done you throw the top layer out and you'll lose no Krout to mold. We use a large 20 gallon crock a good washed stone works for the top with a hardwood plank underneath. It transfers a little natural yeast form one batch to the next. We do 6-8 weeks.
When you put the shredded cabbage in the jar put a whole cabbage on top of it and then put the weight on top of that. No floaters.
Two observations. My mother made kraut every year. She used a slaw cutter just like the one you used. She fermented in a crock, ith a gallon jar on a plate to weight it, and the canned it, but we always got some fresh. And I once had the misfortune to have scurvy. My housemate was a doctor. He sent me out to buy a head of cabbage. I ate it as salad with dressing!
First, I'd like to say I like your channel very much! I found it through artisanvideos subreddit.
A lot of people from Central and Eastern Europe are making own sauerkraut, so does my family. We have a bit dfferent techniques that I'd like to share. I don't think it's better, just another look at the process. This one it's not with the spirit of this channel, but if you are lazy, for slicing you can use electric slicer (the type with a big, rotating blade). Instead of layering salt and cabbage, you can mix it with salt before putting in to the container, wait 15 minutes or so and it will, because of hypertonic environment, release some fluids from the cabbage. Mixing with salt beforehand will make stuffing it to the container easier, plus you'll have something to fill up the container and submerge cabbage in it's "own sauce". For preserving it, you can put it into the jars and leave it in cooler place. We place a little plastic bag sheet between the kraut and the lid. Because of fermetnation, it might build up some pressure and leak out and it will stink, so be prepared.
Pro tip: if you are making it in bigger containers (we are using two or three 20 l food buckets), you can make whole cabbage like this. Carve out the heart, put some sliced cabbage inside and surround it with sliced cabbage as well. It should be ready after no longer than 2 months. It's a surprising and tasty modification of meat-stuffed cabbage.
Having grown up in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State, we had the annual Sauerkraut Festival in Phelps. The area was also known for making Pickled Beets and Spiced Red Cabbage with Silver Floss and Greenwoods being the big producers. Love this. Absolutely going to try this.
Great video! This is Exactly the recipe my grandmother taught to me, and as I am definitely in the "Love it" category of Sauerkraut aficionados, remains my favorite recipes. I loved that you mentioned Not to use Iodized salt ( having made that mistake once myself as a teen) but one thing I would point out is in regards the choice of vessel used in the fermentation process is to Not use stainless steel or plastic containers such as 5 gallon buckets as fermentation containers. The stainless steel reacts with the acid as the sauerkraut develops and plastic seems to similarly prevent the fermentation from ever occurring . These are both lessons that I had to learn the hard way, and if this prevents anybody from having to experience a ruined batch of sauerkraut, so much the better :) Keep up the great work, I love watching every one of these!
+izonker Great addition - Non-reactive container. Nice catch. I might even add an annotation. Thanks for the input.
Jas. Townsend and Son, Inc.
No problem! Always glad to be of assistance!
Sauerkraut.....
I love sauerkraut, I'll eat it right out of the jar! And it's saved many a hot dog!
Nothing better on a real hot dogs, mustard and kraut
You got try a Chicago style hot dog.
GOD BLESSES YOU WITH MEEKNESS !!
@@josephdennison4890 A personal favorite of mine as well.
I did it, and the assurance in the video helped me trust in continuing with it and eating it (eating it took either courage or stupidity [I'm not sure which it was], but I did rinse and cook it [and then found out that bacteria make toxins that are not affected by heat]). It took about four months to get to the color that looked like yours in the video. It was not sour, but, again, I did rinse it since I don't like it strong (although that should have been pickled [with vinegar] that we've ever bought in the store). I also found occasional residue on the whole leaves since this was also an idea to make stuffed cabbage with the fermented cabbage (as an attempt to get a missed taste). It tasted like boiled cabbage except for the whole leaves [which I rinsed less] that had a certain taste, but that may just have been from the salt. Also, I didn't have a feeling/smell/taste inside me that I have gotten from others' stuffed cabbage dishes of whom are lifetime makers of sauerkraut (maybe that is even a whole other reason within the meal). I want to try it again, but I am nervous about it even though there was not a hint of problems this time. Even though it seems simple, it seems that there is an "art" that I might be missing (or maybe not). What an experience, and I'm very happy to have done it.
Kraut is great for the digestive system. I love it with meats and veggies for spice. I am German and love kraut. Vikings brothers to the north used it a lot. Cabbage is easier to grow/compared to grain crops in northern climates.
I've been looking for my mothers recipe for short ribs and kraut.anyone know this dish.unfortunately it died with her
I am not German and I love sauerkraut. :)
growing up every year I helped my grandmother cut and make sauerkraut. she made it in a 20 gallon crock but we always used a third ingredient. we I used rock salt ,cabbage and a special ingredient Hungarian wax peppers which gave it a unique flavor as well as a bit of mild heat. It was awesome tasting and you can't find anything like it today.
Love this channel. But then I've always loved the 18th century.
In my homeland we have like 2-3 variations of sauerkraut.
The 1st one being regular sauerkraut (we add grated carrots because it gives a nice taste)
The 2nd version, which has a good amount of lard in it. Is meant to be fried on a pan. (served on christmas)
The 3rd version is a national dish of the Mulgi. (a surviving livonian minority whose language is alike to ours, living in the south of Estonia) Theirs has pork in it along with groats, its also eaten warm and the most, on christmas.
I love how, even though Jon seems to be sponsored by this company, he still doesn't make his videos a glorified infomercial. This stuff is super neat, reminds me of camp cooking, especially the soldier cooking videos.
Here in Belgium, my dad and I make sauerkraut with buttermilk & dried juniper berries. We let it rest in a special pot designed for it sealed with water, with a preference for 2 1/2 or 3 months in a cool cellar.
In our opinion, lactofermentation makes it far more palatable as a dish than salt or vinegar. We also use the external cabbage leaves to hold down all the sauerkraut in the pot (just before adding the clay stones) so that it avoids the majority of the little bits to float (and thus prevents the mould formation better).
We also eat it relatively "raw", because we don't cook it thoroughly: we just wait near the boiling point and it's immediately off the fire. It gives it more freshness and biting consistence than just a sludgy mash of cabbage.
It's interesting how this is almost exactly the same way we Vietnamese preserve cabbage, too. The cabbage is just not chopped up as finely; the rest is exactly the same. And yes, it goes really well with fatty pork belly.
To Sauer? Here in Germany we sometimes wash the kraut. My wife makes our sauerkraut the Russian way. (So she says). I'm sure there are many ways to cook it...but she adds gravy mix and ham. Its not to sauer. I prefer very sauer flavor and blood wurst cooked in. Thanks for the great video. Brian, Odenwald Germany
Thanks for this! I've been wanting to try sauerkraut for a while now but haven't been brave enough. My favorite way to eat it is on a Reuben style grilled cheese.
+stampified Go for it. It could not be easier!
This channel should get the youtube awards for its awesomeness, and its amazing lessons
I just put together two mason jars full of sauerkraut the other day and I can't wait to enjoy the result.
Your right my mom would make a dish sauerkraut, mash potatoes and pork chops. First she would brown the pork chops. Then she would put the prokchops in dish, Then she would put her sauerkraut "drain the juice of the sauerkraut ". On top of your porkchops cook cover 45-60 mins."Cover" Make mash potatoes. Put your mash potatoe on top of the sauerkraut. Make brown gravy spoon it on top of the mash potatoes and brown a little. About 10 min until mash potatoes and the gravy is drown. That was the first dish she got us to eat sauerkraut, love it . Well, I make it my self, but it never tastes good as mom's right. Recipe from Barbara Beck Ray from Florida by way of Germany, love you mom I still can't make it as good as her, but it something I look forward to when I go home. This is the first recipe I ever wrote and posted hope you can understand it. Loved your recipe hope to make some homemade sauerkraut for this dish. Maybe my kids will like it as much as their Omies. Thanks you
EASY and QUICK Sauerkraut: Wash a head of cabbage (only on the outside), remove coarse outer leaves - you can use the stem/core. Hack cabbage (white or red) in the food processor, or cut it finely by hand, add water (if the cabbage comes from the fridge you can add warm not hot ! water, don't kill the bacteria necessary for fermentation).
Nothing else is added. Or done.
It must be covered by water (quantitiy will depend on the form of your container, and the volume of the cabbage which depends on how you cut it ), small bits may swim on top, that's fine. Just enough to have it covered and not more - the fluid is supposed to get sour, that will keep the mold away, so you do not want to unnecessarily dilute it.
Let it sit in a closed container (I have a plastics container, glass or ceramics is fine as well, just nothing with metal in it). After 1 day it should become bubbly, after 2 or 3 days it becomes more sauerkrauty. Then transfer to the fridge. You can start eating it at any point after if became at least a little bit bubbly.
DO NOT EAT MUCH for the first time, - drink 1/3 of a cup of the fluid or a small portion of sauerkraut - test your tolerance, best on a weekend when your are at home. - Your digestive system may have to adapt, or else you will spend a lot of emergency sessions on the toilet. And that applies to eating it raw but if your are sensitive even after you cooked it. - Many people are fine with it from the beginning even when eating it raw or drinking the fluid - just be warned - lol.
If no fermentation happened after maximum 3 days, it was too cold, or your cabbage was too old, or whatever. Check for mold to be sure - you can use it as is, but no fermentation is going to happen. That happened to me once when the room was too cold, and I just used it up the same day.
The fermentation will start on its own, since cabbage naturally has a lot of good lactobacteria on it. (Grass too, this is how the lactobacteria come into milk products).
It will become bubbly, when it tastes sour you should tranfer it to the fridge (after 2 - maximum 3 days if you have a slow batch) - fermentation will continue in the fridge (although it will be slowed down), it will become stronger, more sour and will resemble more and more traditional Sauerkraut (except that the pieces are more crumb like from the food processor - if Sauerkraut is not totally your thing but you want to eat it for your health, that is good - the small parts become also soft from the higher volume of water, and are nice too eat. (No crunching down of too salty, too acidic Sauerkraut).
In the fridge and when it is always covered by fluid, the good bacteria and the acid will protect it from becoming mouldy. That is why you can keep it at room temperature in the beginning * and it will not rot - the good quickly multiplying bacteria keep the bad cultures in check (like mold or bacteria that promote fouling = putrefactive bacteria). And that works without salt.
* I am not sure if it would work like that in India or in other very hot regions. It may be that under such conditions the bad bacteria are more prevalent on the vegetable and in the air and could win the race with the good bacteria - having the fermenting cabbage in a cool storage room should work though . Proceed with caution. And if your batch is a success you will know it by the distinct taste and smell - It definitely works in the temperate climate zone, even on a hot summer day.
Advantage: very little work with a food processor, no working or pressing of the cabbage. You prepare it without salt (good if you are on a low sodium diet)
Yyou add salt and herbs and spices later as you like (especially when you cook it, spice like curry, or other pricesfrom the Indian cuisine, caraway is always nice, dill, laurel, all bitter tasting herbs or intense tasting oils like pumpkin seed or lensseed oil).
I do not like it to be too strong/mature. You can eat it when hardly any acid has developed, when it is just a little bit bubbly - first signs of fermentation, lots of Acedophilus bacteria. (Then I eat it usually raw)
It is a good idea to not throw the fluid away (you have more than with the traditional method), a lot of minerals and vitamin C will have dissolved in it. I usually mix it with the same quantity of water (that helps when it is from the fridge and it is not as sour too) and gulp it down when thirsty. - There are better tasting drinks our there, but hardly any healthier. - When you take out some fluid and it is sour enough you can replenish with some water, so that the surface is always covered with water.
1) yes, you let it ferment on the shelf at room temperature. It should not be too cold either, think of a sourdough or yeast cultures.
2) No, your Sauerkraut will not get moldy or dangerous in any way
3) cabbage naturally has a lot of lactobacteria, including the short-lived acedophilus bacteria (a subgroup) - whereas in all traditionally made Pickles like Sauerkaut the most beneficial bacteria will die off over time). the acid conserves the pickles
Now, according to a book of a naturopath Robert Gray (The Colon Health handbook) the short lived lactobacteria are very good for our gut health.
They are selling these overpriced yoghurts with acedophilus. Robert Gray objected that these bacteria (a subgroup of lactobacteria) are sensitive and will die off after a few days in considerable numbers - before the yoghurt will be eaten by the consumers.
Thus he came up with this homemade drink based on cabbage which was meant to be used up quickly (the drink is based on an old ? Yugoslavian recipe - he calls if Rejuvelac). Well, I was not willing to throw out the good organic cabbage - so I used both - the drink and the cabbage. And detected that the cabbage almost tastes like Sauerkraut (a little milder) especially when you let it ferment longer. Of course then a lot of the most beneficial lacto bacteria will have gone (as is usual with fermented food)
I simplified the recipe of Robert Gray and have been preparing cabbage like that ever since.
4) you can use a little bit of liquid or Sauerkraut as starter to speed up the production of a new batch. 2 teaspoons of liquid will be sufficient - they multiply like crazy.
So if your goal is gut health you will make a small portion, let it sit for 2 - 3 days, and then use it up within one day. When you start from scratch calculate a preparation time of 2 or 3 days - or with a starter from the last batch the next one will be ready after 24 hours .
If you just go for the taste of Sauerkraut (which is still healthy food, with a lot of B vitamins that you usually only get with meat) you can make larger batches with or without a starter and let it ferment longer.
After you transferred it to the fridge it should keep for 5 days (maybe longer). As long as it is sour, tastes like Sauerkraut THERE WILL BE NO MOLD or FOULING. It will have the distinctive taste and smell and is safe to eat. And you certainly could freeze it - for instance a little bit to be used as starter, or surplus (I never did that, but it should work, the bacteria do not die off because of the freeze).
5) It has a funny smell - like all Sauerkraut. Thus keep the container tightly closed. And I cover transparent containers to protect the the vitamin C from light. I am not sure if the fermentation needs oxygen or not (more likely not). So I compromised by using a wide container with a lot of airroom. And do use a well closing lid. - I open it at the window once a day, give it a quick airing and then close it again. The lid can come off when the gas pressure builds up inside . So if you have a funny smell in your kitchen, check the Sauerkraut / Acedophilus culture.
The smell does not mean it is rotten, Sauerkraut smells like that. It gets better after a few days and if you cook it. (you can eat it raw or cook it).
Traditional method with "crushing" the cabbage plus salt: here you do not add water so the salt and pressure is meant to bring out the fluid of the cabbage. The cabbage will release enough fluid to cover and protect the fermented product. Back in the day they could store that fermened stuff (prepared without added water !) for months in a cool room even without fridge.
My variety has to be eaten within some days and uses the fridge, but is very uncomplicated.
I use the cabbage in fine pieces /slices - I guess that helps with fermentation - a lot of surface. If you do not have a food processor you could do a test run with a small batch where you have slightly coarser slices - like for a regular salad. It still should work.
That’s how I make sauerkraut and I use a rolling pin too. I have cabbage growing in the garden now that will be sauerkraut later this fall. Love it, the fermentation makes this so healthy by providing good gut bacteria for overall health and immune support. Right now I’m fermenting pickles that only take a week and they’re delicious.
With your next batch you should take a small sample of it, mix sugar into it and then fry some bacon. Mix them together and let them simmer for a while maybe adding in a little more sugar before you take it off of the heat. My dad gave me that recipe when I was little. We jsut call it sweetkraut lol
One great way to do it is salt the shredded cabbage and pound it before you transfer the kraut to your container. You wait a few hours and pound it again, this allows you to leech the good juices out before you put it in a container. It only takes a week and you have assurance that the cabbage is covered the entire time. It also should be pointed out that this is an awesome episode
Captain Cook also tried to get fresh fruit whenever he could, his voyage to view the passage of Venus (i.e., Venus passing in front of the Sun), on which he later discovered New Zealand and Australia's east coast, he managed to keep his whole crew alive.
In Germany you can get fresh sauerkraut from the butcher during the winter months. Just raw sauerkraut to do with as you please. I usually cook it with some beef broth, bay leaf, a few juniper berries, and a teaspoon of caraway seeds, depending on the amount.
I could eat Sauerkraut everyday. It's especially great on hot dogs and brats.
In our Polish house, we sometimes shred carrots in with the cabbage or stick some carrot stick in the middle to pickle with the cabbage and add the tender core as sticks as well. and we don't smash the cabbage (I was smashing once in the beginning and broke the jar). We press firmly with our fist to encourage the juices to come out.
whoa! this is not far from how koreans make kimchi! this video brought me back to my childhood memories making kimchi with my mother. awesome video jas townshend👍
I make kraut and kimchi in big batches.
I use apple cider vinegar on a small portion to make it overnight.
I also make cole slaw by soaking the shredded cabbage over night in a cup of water with a tablespoon of salt and quarter cup of vinegar. Drain it in the morning and add dressing made without the vinegar.
It’s tender and tangy. Goes good on a Reuben or with pulled pork sandwiches.
Did settle on a method for making sauerkraut that works for me. Using a 5 gal plastic bucket with a screw down lid (you can buy these separately at Home Depot or Lowe's big box home improvement stores), add alternate layers of chopped cabbage and salt. Use a clean fist to press the cabbage down, periodically. I used red cabbage. Fill container about 3 and a half or 4 gallons full. Get extra large zip lock bag (10 gal size, from walmart) and fill with enough water so when you add to the bucket it fills the rest of the space in the bucket. Screw down the lid and let ferment for 6 weeks or longer. Had mold with previous methods, and although expected, and easily scraped out, I prefer not to see mold or loose a layer of cabbage to it. I didn't have any mold problems when I did it this way. I realize this isn't using 18th century methods, but it works for me.
After 3 weeks of fermentation, you could see if it is sour enough for you. When it has fermented long enough for your taste, we put it into 2 qt. widemouth jars with plastic lids, and then keep them in the refrigerator to maintain the level of sourness that we chose.
Thanks for sharing!
I'm curious. When fermenting something it releases gasses, jars and bottles will explode with a tight lid. So how exactly did it ferment with a lid screwed down on it and no problems? The ONLY way this could work was if you added a fermentation lock to the lid. Otherwise it would have blown up. So this is either BS, it didn't really ferment, or you forgot to add some details.
Plastics leach the plastic toxins.
It's best to ferment in glass or ceramic
In the deep South our pottery was alkaline glazed more often than either salt or lead. It works as my aunt used to make kraut in an old alkaline glazed crock. New stoneware crocks made with traditional glaze are widely available in this living pottery tradition.
Sauerkraut with brown sugar and caraway seed cooked with pork chops! So yummy, I could eat sauerkraut everyday😀
Maybe you will know.
The method my grandpa who was from Germany had told me.
Was salt and cabbage like you mentioned.
However difference comes is the end stage.
They would put a a heavy layer of salt. Then the lid, followed by a good amount of salt on top of lid.
They then proceeded to bury it in the ground and let it ferment through the winter.
Not sure if this is just farmers way of doing it or if it is a specific method.
I like the notion, that you took the "me" out of James, to give the whole world access to this kind of knowledge/history :D
Wow, I'm going to chew on that one a while - thanks!
dropping knowledge bombs and not even knowing
I want to pronounce it Jazz Townsend.
there is precious little that's improved as much as home made kraut. if you enjoy store bough,,,or can even tolerate it, the improvement that home made makes will have you loving it. it is just that much better.
People that have eaten commercially canned kraut only do not really know what kraut is.
That is actually kind of encouraging. Because I have never liked sauerkraut and now I am encouraged to try and make this.
I made my own kraut more out of curiosity than anything else, and it changed my culinary world. I made about a kilo in the first batch and it lasted a week. I have 5 kilos of kraut sitting under my bed now, I can't wait for it to ferment
So true! As a boy I was used to kraut from a can, usually heated for serving. I hated it! Then I had the opportunity to try fresh kraut made by my sister's mother-in-law, a very Germanic former ranch harvest cook. It was delicious. I pulled it out of the crock strand by strand and ate it it cold. So savory!
I tried it from the can once. I tasted the can more than the cabbage. The only way I will buy it is in jars or bags.
Sauerkraut comes in cans? I've only ever had preserved kraut from jars, I would guess, especially from these comments here, that the can modifies the flavor significantly
I recall homemade sauerkraut. A ceramic crock a wooden board, with a weight on top was used. Salt and cabbage was the only ingredients. It was very good.
Most sauerkraut that you buy in the store is pickled, not fermented. Once you taste the fermented stuff, you never go back...
Solid advice on the lead glaze. Very important.
if you heat the sauerkraut with a chopped up sausage or smoked or fried bacon it will be really good!.
7:00 take a whole cabbage leaf on top of the jar and put the stones on that leaf. I find its easier then fiddling with seran wrap, plastic bags, boards, etc.
For most dishes Sauerkraut as an ingredient is often given a short wash in a bowl with fresh water before processed. That takes away the sourness, which may be appeal to your taste a lot more. Yes, couldn't be simpler but that's how it's done.
Nothing better than a big helping of kraut, onions, and smoked sausage. Its been a favorite of our family since before I was born.
If you want a delicious use for your sauerkraut, look for recipes of a sausage/pork dish called Bigos. It's a hunter's sauerkraut stew with roots in eastern Europe. They serve a version of this stew at Feast of the Hunters Moon. There is no single correct recipe, because everyone's grandmother had her own recipe, but most bigos has sausage, pork, beef, mushrooms, fruit, wine, carrots, potatoes, and lots of sauerkraut.
This sounds great. I am thinking of trying this for our Thanksgiving or Xmas meal.
+John Doe I love adding sauerkraut to a bowl of meaty venison or moose stew. A word of warning though, don't add salt to the stew in the pot. A good idea anyway, people can add salt to their choice in their own bowl but sauerkraut does add a real salty flavour to any foods.
in the same vain I want him to make kapusta!
Jennifer Zwicker that sounds like it would really cut the "gamy" flavor. I'll have to try venison that way and see if I like it more
John that sound amazing. Thanks!
My grandmother used to make kraut. The whole family would show up at "kraut making time" and help. She called it "scrunch" to us kids because we had to "scrunch" it down into tbe crocks! They were huge crocks with big wooden lids that fit inside and pushed the cabbage down. Then she would can it in mason jars. Hard work but now happy memories!😍
I'm stoned and have been watching your videos for an hour, I am now hungry and have no way to make any of this tasty ass looking food.
Dude that's fuckin crazy so am I I did the same shit hahahahahaha
Oh shit dude me too ahaha
you could've spent an hour cooking something tasty instead of living up to the stoner brain dead youtube addict stereotype
Bet you make lots of friends, elmariachi.
Go upstairs and ask money to make you a hot pocket
Jon, hope you and the family are well. Back in the NWTA in the 1980s whoever dreamed you would be doing 18th Century cooking shows. Keep up the good work...and old friend now in Florida.
I am SO glad you guys did a proper fermented sauerkraut video (and I had no idea the slicer was that old!). I tried to make Sauerkraut (based on Alton Brown's instructions) about a year ago. Woefully, I had a massive problem with the crock attracting fruit flies. I tried to cover the thing with muslin once I saw them hanging around. However, I still found a few dead flies floating in it when doing my periodic checks for mold. Since I didn't have any further information, I chickened out and ended up discarding the batch. Did you have any troubles with this? Do you have any advise?
Try a chinese pickle pot，a layer of water around the lid makes it perfectly air-tight
verdatum I know I'm two years too late but look at Brad "it's alive" video series. He does alot on fermentation. A lot of tips.
Unless you make A LOT (the old way) do it in small batches in a fido jar. The rubber seal let's gas out, but nothing in, just make sure the brine covers well. No mold, nothing flies in, no weekly cleaning like we used to do, and no smell.
Try a bubbler like you use for beer making... you can drill a hole in the crock/jar lid and insert the silicon “cork”. Then insert the bubbler thru the cork and then replace the lid on the crock...
Try covering with a layer of cheese cloth then put the lid on top. The cloth will keep the lid open enough to let the gas out but not let the flies in. Change the cloth from time to time. Sauerkraut SMELLS when you make it - learn to love it. You can also leave out a couple of bowls of vinegar close by which the flies will find more interesting. I find the cheap apple cider vinegar works better than the white vinegar.
A little bit of fried pork, then cook some onions in the pork grease, then add sauerkraut to the grease and onions and let simmer under a closed lid for 5-10 minutes. Perfect dinner when served with dark bread.