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Farm Kitchen:  Help with Sauerkraut  |
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 07 2006 : 1:38:22 PM
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I have some huge cabbages and would like to try my hand at making and canning homemade sauerkraut. I have a heavy pottery crock...can I use that?? Can one of you folks tell me where to begin...and maybe the rest of the process too?? 
Thanks!
Di |
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Mollie
True Blue Farmgirl
88 Posts
88 Posts |
Posted - Jul 07 2006 : 5:45:50 PM
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| Listen, go to http://www.canningpantry.com/index.html, they have ALL the scoop on crocks and canning sauerkraut. I still have my grandmother's crocks from Germany. I have heard that the American company that used to make crocks is out of business and you have to order crocks from Germany. I have several recipes but please check out this site. |
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - Jul 07 2006 : 9:56:51 PM
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Thanks Mollie, will do!
Di |
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abbasgurl
True Blue Farmgirl
1262 Posts
Rhonda
USA
1262 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2006 : 12:06:38 AM
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This is one my Gram taught me too! I'm not sure there was anything she couldn't do!
We started by washing out the huge stoneware crocks (10 gal.) with hot sudsy water with a little bleach added. Rinse well. Then we lined the crock with a clean heavy flour sack rolling the top down to the lid of the crock. Clean & sort your raw cabbage, taking off any spots or bad leaves. Remove all the dark outer leaves too. Cut the heads of cabbage into chunks. You will then need to coarsely grate the cabbage. You can use a krout cutter (gram's pick), a hand held shredder/grater or (my favorite) a food processor!
Next, you rub the shredded cabbage with coarse salt and place it in the flour sack. No measurements were ever used-just sprinkle the top liberally. You use salt to get the juices running from the cabbage, so add a bit more as needed, rubbing it in your hands until you see liquid forming. The cabbage/salt mixture will get foamy & very wet. Continue on in this way until you run out of cabbage, fill the crock to withing about 6 inches of the top-or have all you want.
Next you are going to close the flour sack up by twisting the top closed and tying very tighty with clean heavy string.
Now you want to find a dinner plate that will fit into the crock when inverted. Again wash the plate in hot soapy water, adding a bit of bleach. Rinse well. Turn the plate upside down to cover the cloth bag & push it down until the bag is completely submerged. Now is the kinda crazy part-at least I thought so at first. Go out to your yard & choose a nice heavy stone-the kind you might use to line a garden path. A smooth stone is best because you are going to scrub it clean, again using the hot soapy water/bleach. Use a scrub brush to get it really clean. This rock will be put in on top of the plate to keep it submerged under all that good juiciness.
You want to put your crock somewhere cool where you will remember to check on it every week. We usually did kraut in the fall when the cabbage crop came in and the weather was natually cool. You need to make sure the liquid level stays over the top of the bag. If it doesn't, you may add a teeny bit of boiled water. I personally have never seen it dry out. You will want to keep this away from critters and DEFINATELY do not want it indoors, as it will begin to smell pretty bad (like a giant stinky diaper). You can loosely cover the top of the crock with a second flour sack to keep debris out of the crock-but it needs to breath.
You may notice that black mold begins to grow around the sides of your crock. That's completely normal and does not affect the quality of the finished product. It might startle you at first, especially if you are like me, a town girl turned country.  Anyway, in about 5 weeks you should have kraut. To remove it from the crock you will ever so carefully untie the sack & roll the bag back, opening it to expose the clean white kraut inside. You can then can it or freeze it, which ever you prefer. I always freeze mine because it's easiest & I've had great results. This kraut is nothing like what you buy in the store. It is crisp & oh so mild! Other that the terrible odor it's a really fun thing to try!
Rhonda
...and I will sing at the top of my lungs, and I will dance, even if I'm the only one! |
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - Jul 08 2006 : 12:23:53 AM
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Rhonda you are the best...thank you so much, this is exactly what I was looking for.
Hugs!
Di |
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santa_gertrudis_gal
True Blue Farmgirl
198 Posts
Kim
Groesbeck
Texas
USA
198 Posts |
Posted - Jul 12 2006 : 1:38:19 PM
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Thanks for the tips, too! I made the mistake of not spending time in the kitchen with my paternal grandmother, so I have no idea about any of her German receipes. She was first generation American. I have been touching lightly into german cooking and have always wanted to make sauerkraut.
Kim
Heaven is a day at the ranch with my Santa Gertrudis! |
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abbasgurl
True Blue Farmgirl
1262 Posts
Rhonda
USA
1262 Posts |
Posted - Jul 12 2006 : 3:14:51 PM
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Glad to help ladies! I was certainly and abundantly blessed to have my Gram. It really is enjoyable for me to be able to pass on some of the things she taught me. Glad someone is still interested in doing these things!
Rhonda
...and I will sing at the top of my lungs, and I will dance, even if I'm the only one! |
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Farm Kitchen: Help with Sauerkraut |
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Help with Sauerkraut
