Making kraut is one of the easiest things we learn to do when we start canning. Making it one jar at at time just made it better...Hope you all enjoy this simple, easy way of making a traditional favorite.
How to Make Sauerkraut
How to Make Sauerkraut
You will need
Cabbage
Canning Salt
Water
Jars, Lids & Rings
Wash your jars in hot, soapy water. Boil a pot of water, turn off the heat and put your lids and rings in this to set until you are ready to put them on the jars.
Shred your cabbage and pack it tight but not to tight in your jars. Add one tbsp of canning salt on top of the cabbage. Cover with room temperature water leaving just 1/4 inch headspace. If your water has chlorine, it will leave a bad taste on the kraut.
(I Use distilled water purchased from a store)
Put on lids and Rings, but don't tighten them down real tight. You want some air to escape during fermentation.
Store in a dark room that stays around 70 degrees (sit in a pan of some kind in case of overflow during fermentation) Check jars after about 10 days and if needed add more brine (salt water) to them. Tighten lids and turn jars to mix the brine since you added more water.
Kraut should be ready in about 3 more weeks.
If you have fermentation lids that allow air to escape. These work wonderfully.
Check jars
You may notice that your lids bulge out a little, this is caused by the fermentation. It is normal.
Put on lids and Rings, but don't tighten them down real tight. You want some air to escape during fermentation.
Store in a dark room that stays around 70 degrees (sit in a pan of some kind in case of overflow during fermentation) Check jars after about 10 days and if needed add more brine (salt water) to them. Tighten lids and turn jars to mix the brine since you added more water.
Kraut should be ready in about 3 more weeks.
If you have fermentation lids that allow air to escape. These work wonderfully.
Check jars
You may notice that your lids bulge out a little, this is caused by the fermentation. It is normal.
If you want to keep all the good bacteria, then you don't want to process your kraut. If your lids bulged out to where you can't press them down then store in a cook, dark room. If they pop back up then you need to store in the refrigerator or water bath before storing.
Steps for Water Bathing Kraut
Replace your lids with new ones and process in a boiling water bath. 20 minutes for pints or 25 minutes for quarts.
If you prefer the Hot Pack Method, you can bring kraut to a boil , remove from heat and put into clean jars before processing. Process pints for 10 minutes and quarts for 15 minutes
For both methods, When processing time is up, turn off heat, remove lid from canner and wait 5 more minutes before putting jars on counter to cool.