Homemade Fermented Sauerkraut
Homemade fermented sauerkraut is one of the best sources of natural probiotics and the great news is that it’s super easy to make yourself! All you need is a head of cabbage and some salt. Of course you’ll also need a jar for the fermenting process.
So why make sauerkraut yourself?
Most of the time, when you buy sauerkraut from the store, it’s overly processed or pickled using vinegar. This is not what you want if you’re looking for all the health benefits that fermented sauerkraut gives. The processing will kill all those good probiotics that you want for good gut health.
Fermentation on the other hand gives you all the goodness of good gut bacteria.
Now on the chance that you can find fermented sauerkraut in the store, the price tag will give you another good reason to make it yourself. It’s not that it’s crazy expensive but making it at home with a head of cabbage will produce quite a bit more for a lot less! Plus, you want to be eating this stuff every day to get all the great benefits! That would start to add up quick when purchasing from the store.
Number one reason is flavor! Homemade just tastes better!
Things you need to make homemade fermented sauerkraut:
- 1 head of cabbage
- Sea salt
- Quart sized glass jar (I like to use these)
- A large bowl for mixing
Things that I recommend having but are optional:
- Fermentation sauerkraut stamper (like this one)
- Plastic jar lids for natural burping
- A wide mouth funnel (makes everything less messy, but can be done without one)
- Glass fermentation weights (I use these) you can also use clean pebble rocks inside a plastic bag or save the cabbage leaves for this process.
How to make the fermented sauerkraut:
- Remove outer leaves of the cabbage, (save for later, if you do not have glass weights) and quarter your head of cabbage and cut off the core from each.
- Slice thin strips into each quarter.
- Place the strips of cabbage into a large mixing bowl and add the salt.
- Using your hands or a stamper, either massage the cabbage aggressively or stamp down, using the stamper. This process will start releasing the brine (or liquid) from the cabbage. The brine is very important to have plenty of.
- Once the cabbage has released plenty of brine (or liquid) place into your quart size jar.
- Using your stamper or a spoon, press your cabbage down beneath the brine, leaving about an inch space of air on top.
- Now place your glass weight in the jar to help hold the cabbage beneath the brine. You can also use clean pebbles in a baggie or a cabbage leaf for this as well. It’s important to keep the cabbage below the brine for proper fermentation. If any rises above it, it risks molding.
- Now place the lid on loosely.
- Place on a tray of some kind (in case of leaking) and place in a dark cool spot of your house.
- Allow to sit out at least 10 days, but you can leave it up to 1-2 months if you prefer.
- Burp your jar (by removing the lid and placing back on) at least once a day to release gasses built up.
- Once done fermenting, it is ready to eat! You can keep in refrigerator for up to 6 months.
Things to note:
I recommend using plastic lids so that the gasses can naturally release even if you forget to burp the jar. If not, the jars could potentially explode.
This can sometimes cause leaking of the brine though, so you’ll want to place your jar on a tray to catch any liquid that might leak out.
It’s important to keep the cabbage below the brine for proper fermentation. If any rises above it, it risks molding.
Most of the time a good ratio is 1 head of lettuce = 1 quart jar of sauerkraut. This will vary depending on the size of your particular head of cabbage. You may want to use a larger jar or have another small jar for extra left over that you can’t fit into your quart jar. Whatever you do, just make sure to leave that inch of air space above your brine, so that it doesn’t overflow too badly.
A pretty decent salt ratio is about 3 tablespoons salt per 5 pounds of shredded cabbage. We used about 2 tablespoons for close to 3 pounds of cabbage. Too little salt can result in not enough brine or liquid, so you can adjust as needed.
Homemade Fermented Sauerkraut
Equipment
- 1 Wide mouth quart size glass jar
- 1 Large mixing bowl
- 1 Fermentation stamper optional (can also just use your hands)
- 1 Glass fermentation weight optional (clean pebble rocks inside a baggie or cabbage leaves can be used instead)
- 1 Wide mouth plastic lid optional (for natural releasing of gasses)
- 1 Wide mouth funnel optional (for less mess, but can be done without)
Ingredients
- 1 head of cabbage
- canning salt or sea salt 3 tablespoons per 5 pounds cabbage. (We used about 2 tablespoons for close to 3 pounds of cabbage.)
Instructions
- Remove outer leaves of cabbage, (save for later, if you do not have glass weights) and quarter your head of cabbage. Remove the core.
- Slice each quarter into thin strips.
- Place the strips of cabbage into a large mixing bowl and add the salt.
- Using your hands or stamper, either massage the cabbage aggressively or stamp down, using the stamper. This will start to release the brine or liquid from the cabbage. The brine is very important to have plenty of.
- Once the cabbage has released plenty of brine or liquid, place into your quart sized jar. You can use your funnel for this for less mess.
- Using your stamper or a spoon press the cabbage down beneath the brine, leaving about an inch of air on top.
- Now place your glass weight in the jar to help hold the cabbage beneath the brine. You can also use clean pebbles inside a baggie or a cabbage leaf instead. It is very important to keep the cabbage below the brine for proper fermentation.
- Now place the lid on loosely.
- Place on a tray of some kind (in case of leaking) and place in a dark cool spot in your house.
- Allow to sit out at least 10 days, but you can leave it to ferment up to 1-2 months.
- Burp your jar daily(by removing the lid and placing back on) to release gasses built up.
- Once done fermenting, it is ready to eat! You can keep in refrigerator for up to 6 months.
Notes
