INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

[This recipe is pretty much how my Mom used to make it- JW]
Select firm, green cabbage. (This will yield about thirty quarts of
shredded cabbage.)  Let stand at room temperature for one day. [Remove the
outer leaves-JW] Wash, quarter, remove cores. Cabbages should be dry before
grating for sauerkraut.  Shred or cut about the thickness of a dime.
Thoroughly mix the pickling salt with each 10 quarts of shredded cabbage.
As each batch is salted, get ready four-quart to six-quart crocks. Pack the
cabbage firmly, but not tightly, into the crocks, pressing down with a
wooden spoon or paddle.
Lay a clean cloth over the cabbage with a plate on top that fits just
inside the crock.  It is important that the cabbage is covered by the tight
fitting plate; it may spoil otherwise.  Weight with a stone or a gallon jar
filled with water.  The weight should be heavy enough so that the liquid
just reaches the bottom of the cover.  To vary the weight, use heavier or
lighter stones or fill or empty the jar as needed as fermentation
increases.
[Or use a plate or wooden board weighted down with a clean stone. -JW]
Allow cabbage to ferment at room temperature (68 F. to 72 F.) for nine to
14 days. (The lower the temperature, the slower the fermentation.) Change
and wash the cloth, adjust the weight, and skim off the scum daily.
Fermentation has ended when bubbles stop rising to the surface. Taste at
the end of a week and can when taste suits you.
To can your kraut, use hot, scalded quart jars.  Bring kraut to boil with
three quarts water.  Pack lightly into jars, filling spaces with liquid.
Process in a boiling-water bath for 15 minutes.
From: Sam Waring Date: 03 Jun 96
[Canning will stop the fermentation process so that the kraut won't get
stronger tasting. My mom  used to freeze hers for the same reason. A Dutch
neighbour used to just jar it and keep it in a cool cellar. Her kraut
gradually got stronger as it aged. (She also used to let it ferment 21 days
not 14.) Roslind's Dad used to put the large wooden barrels in the cellar
so his probably got pretty strong too.- JW]
More on canning the fermented kraut... From: Marianne Riolo-Minahan
Remove kraut from jars into an enameled pot and heat to 200 degrees f.
(just below boiling.) Strain kraut, reserve brine, pack into hot mason
jars. Pack jars tightly. fill the jars with brine, leaving 1/2" headspace
for all size jars.
With a table knife, remove as much air as possible. Seal jars and process
in pressure cooker @ 15 lbs. pressure for 0 min. Remove jars from cooker to
wire rack, to cool.
SUGGESTION: When packing jars with the kraut, leave 2" to the top of the
jar, then fill with the juice leaving the proper head space, as some of the
juice boils out during processing. Note: 40 lbs shredded cabbage makes 30
pints.
From: Marianne Riolo-Minahan
Sam Waring again:
If your grandmother made sauerkraut, it is likely that she used this recipe
or one very close to it.  Huge stoneware crocks of sauerkraut were a common
sight in spring houses and cellars on farms in the past, and farm children
were assigned the task of skimming bad kraut and scum off the tops of these
crocks.  From: Jim Weller                      Date: 05 Oct 97
Posted to MM-Recipes Digest V4 #2 by "Rfm" <Robert-Miles@usa.net> on Dec
21, 98

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