Sauerkraut Recipes

[goeduck]

That time of year. I have traditionally made cabbage and salt sauerkraut and this year want to start adding carrots, apples, garlic or whatever. I mostly use red cabbage since I like it a bit better than green. Any good recipes out there anyone wants to post?

 

[Alan W.]

That time of year. I have traditionally made cabbage and salt sauerkraut and this year want to start adding carrots, apples, garlic or whatever. I mostly use red cabbage since I like it a bit better than green. Any good recipes out there anyone wants to post?

Do you make yours in a crock or use the jar method. I can remember my grandmother making it.
I would love to make some but Im the only one here that likes it.

 

[goeduck]

Do you make yours in a crock or use the jar method. I can remember my grandmother making it.
I would love to make some but Im the only one here that likes it.

I make it in a crock. I have not tried it in jars.

 

[thepumpguysc]

Dang, that sounds good & its 5:30 in the morning.. Lol.
As a kid, Gramps used to make Krout, cut-up hotdogs & mashed potatoes..
& any left overs were made into patties & cooked up/burnt, in a steel skillet the next day.. YUM, YUM..

 

[Ford850]

I made a small batch in a gallon jar last month. Just the plain salted recipe though. I've been enjoying it piled on sausage or hotdogs when we grill out a couple times a week. My dad worked in a pickling and canning factory as a kid, and said they always made the first batches with caraway seeds there. I've always made plain though.

 

[cqaigy2]

I tried some smoked sauerkraut, and was surprised to find it yummy. I have no idea how it was smoked though. My mom used to make it in a big deep crock, layered shredded cabbage, non-iodized salt, repeat until it reached to top. Then cheese cloth and a weight. Down in the basement. I've had sauerkraut made with just about any vegetable, including some yummy stuff with some amount of peppers in it.

 

[Bird]

I always remember my Mother talking about visiting a state prison in Alaska many years ago with some kind of ladies group and they were shown where sauerkraut was being made there, and their guide told then to just take out a sample with their fingers if they wanted to taste it. I've never had anything to do with making kraut, and my wife and daughters never would eat it, so I buy the smallest cans the grocery store has for myself.

 

[5030]

I tried some smoked sauerkraut, and was surprised to find it yummy. I have no idea how it was smoked though. My mom used to make it in a big deep crock, layered shredded cabbage, non-iodized salt, repeat until it reached to top. Then cheese cloth and a weight. Down in the basement. I've had sauerkraut made with just about any vegetable, including some yummy stuff with some amount of peppers in it.

Maybe they put the kraut next to an exhaust pipe.....lol Diesel Kraut or gas Kraut? Actually Kraut will give you gas (and other things), just like apple cider.....:licking:

Joking aside, we usually make up enough for a couple years in big crocks. My favorite is apple kraut, just add some diced apples before fermenting, or carrots, or dill or carroway seeds. I always get the job of mashing the cabbage in the crocks, have a wooden tamper I use. Wife uses Kosher salt and runs the cabbage in her food processor. We use Harsch crocks (not sure you can buy them anymore), have a 'built in water gutter' around the edge that seals the crocks while the kraut ferments and eliminates the 'Kalm' which is the mold that grows on top of an unsealed open top crock.

After it ferments for about 4 weeks and stinks up the kitchen, wife 'cold packs' it in Ball jars and off to the root cellar it goes. Like I said, we usually run enough for a couple years at a time.

Kraut is good for you and like apple cider (just made 20 gallons of cider this week), keeps your system regular.

Nice having a real root cellar and a wife that cans. We put up everything from jams and jelly's to kraut to spaghetti sauce. We store potatoes and onions in hanging mesh sacks over the winter and layer carrots in sand, dry garlic and pack meat in salted meat crocks as well. Nothing beats fresh from the garden and farm raised and butchered meat all winter.

 

[goeduck]

I have Harsch Crocks as well. I have a smaller and a larger (not sure of the sizes). For sure I am going to make a smaller batch with Gravenstein Apples and a larger batch with carrot / garlic. Or maybe the other way around. I am reading that you do not want to use less than 75% cabbage to keep the sugar content from apples, carrots, down otherwise you can create a slime.

5030,
I am jealous of you for having a wife that cans. Mine does not even cook, much less can. So whatever happens in the kitchen and garden is from my spare time after work and on weekends. Your methodology scounds fascinating.

EDIT
I just pulled out my crocks and they are 5 Liter and 10 Liter.

 

[5030]

I have Harsch Crocks as well. I have a smaller and a larger (not sure of the sizes). For sure I am going to make a smaller batch with Gravenstein Apples and a larger batch with carrot / garlic. Or maybe the other way around. I am reading that you do not want to use less than 75% cabbage to keep the sugar content from apples, carrots, down otherwise you can create a slime.

5030,
I am jealous of you for having a wife that cans. Mine does not even cook, much less can. So whatever happens in the kitchen and garden is from my spare time after work and on weekends. Your methodology scounds fascinating.

EDIT
I just pulled out my crocks and they are 5 Liter and 10 Liter.

Not sure but I do not think Harsch is in business today. We got ours years ago. We have conventional crocks too but those get used for meat crocks now. Strictly Harsch for Kraut. Much easier to deal with, no Kalm on top. No kraut this year, still have at least 10 Ball jars in the cellar.

For apple kraut we use green apples not ripe (red) ones) because the sugar content is lower. You want the apple flavor without the excessive sugar content. With onion flavor, redskin onions, not white.