I’ve finally found the secret to great sauerkraut…..very finely shred the cabbage! I was doing it by hand before because I don’t have a thin enough blade for my food processor. But I guess cutting it into shreds by hand just wasn’t getting it thin enough. And I never thought to use my mandolin….duh 
So that’s it….now I use my mandolin to get super-fine threads of cabbage, about 2mm thick, perfect for the “best ever” lacto-fermented sauerkraut.
- 2 1/2 pounds of very thinly shredded green cabbage (from a 3 1/2 to 4 pound head)
(can also use red cabbage if you prefer, makes a milder lovely colored “pink” kraut) - 1 1/2 Tablespoons Real Salt OR fine Himalayan Salt
- Extra Brine: 1 1/8 teaspoons salt + 1 cup filtered water
You Will Also Need:
1/2-gallon (2-quart) sized wide-mouth jar (preferably with air-lock lid)
wooden dowel (food-safe) OR back of a wooden spoon
Place a few small handfuls of the shredded cabbage into the bottom of 1/2-gallon jar. Sprinkle this cabbage with a light layer of your sea salt. Gently tamp, pound, the cabbage down in the jar with a flat rolling pin or a wooden spoon. Repeat this until all the cabbage and salt is used up (this should happen at about the same time, so try to use up your salt evenly).
Loosely cap the jar, set it aside for 30 minutes to allow the cabbage to self-brine.
Press down on the cabbage, checking how much brine the cabbage made. If necessary, make up the extra brine and pour just enough over the top of the cabbage to completely cover. Keep in mind that the cabbage will soak up some of the brine during the fermenting process, and we want the cabbage to stay moist throughout.
Place lid (preferably air-lock lid) on the jar tightly. If using air-lock fill with water according to instructions. Allow to ferment, at room temperature, for 7 days.
Remove air-lock lid, if using, and replace with storage lid — transfer to cold storage (should last up to 6 months if properly stored).
Makes 1/2-Gallon.
*Sugar-Free / Grain-Free
Hello!
I made my first batch of sauerkraut in a 2 quart jar. Came out great! In fact, it’s gone. Everyone loved it. Soooo….i got a crock from my mom and put a large batch in it. It’s been 2 days. This morning the outside of crock is powdery and smells weird. Looks cloudy inside. I have plate in it. It’s an old 2 gallon crock. What’s happening?
Thanks!
Kellye
Kellye, congratulations on the sauerkraut you made in the 2 quart jar. We really love our sauerkraut here!
I really cannot say what happened to your batch of kraut in the crock. I do not use crocks for fermenting. I just use mason jars and an air-lock system, it is the method I prefer and have consistently good results with. I would suggest going back to the jar method as you have had success with that in the past.
Thank you! I have two more jars going today! Woohoo! Can’t wait!
Kellye
Thanks for the great website. I made sauerkraut last week using the recipe from your book and the bubbler covers. It seems the cabbage floats to the top and the very top turns brown. You can see this more readily with the red cabbage. Is there some way to mitigate this, or keep the cabbage down? Can you eat the browned cabbage? It does not smell bad. Thank you !
Mike, if you are having an issue with the cabbage floating you can use some sort of weight in the jar to keep it down. Some have used food-safe dehydrator screens that they cut to fit in the jar. Others have used a boiled smooth rock inside the jar.
I would not eat the browned cabbage. Remove it from the jar and discard it.