Mom's sauerkraut
When life hands you multiple heads of cabbage, what do you do? I like making egg rolls and stir-fried recipes, but today I wanted to share my mom's recipe for how she creates her delicious homemade sauerkraut. There are so many different ways that you can ferment and can sauerkraut, but I find that mom's way is one of the simplest. If you like sauerkraut but don't like the process of having to ferment it for several weeks, I invite you to try mom's recipe. She ferments the kraut for three days in her crockpot and then cans it like a pro.
Ingredients you'll need to make mom's homemade sauerkraut:
Fresh cabbage, shredded
1-1/2 to 2 teaspoons of salt per pound of cabbage
Plus, add 1 teaspoon of salt to a cup of water to prepare the brine.
Instructions:
Mom uses her crockpot to ferment the cabbage, and to do this method, you'll need to use 1-1/2 to 2 teaspoons of salt per pound of cabbage. She sliced the cabbage, then placed it in her crockpot, sprinkled salt over it, and tossed it well.
Allow the prepared cabbage to sit for 25 minutes. Then you'll need to massage the cabbage with your hands for 15 minutes.
Once you've completed those steps, you'll need to pour a brine made of 1 teaspoon of salt into a cup of water. Then pour the brine over the prepared cabbage, just to cover it. Cover with a cabbage leaf. Then weigh it down. Cover with a clean dish towel. Place the crockpot lid on. Check it every day for 3 days to be sure it's staying under the brine and there's no mold. If mold occurs, dip it off with a slotted spoon.
Transfer the sauerkraut to sterilized jars and pack it down tightly as you go. Place lids on the jars, and screw ring bands on each one just until they're hand tight.
Mom uses a pressure canner for 40 minutes at ten pounds, but you can also process the sauerkraut for two hours in a hot-water bath canner.