Preface

Connoisseurs of sauerkraut will learn which heads of cabbage and how to choose them. And then they will get acquainted with the recipes in detail and how to properly ferment this vegetable so that it turns out tasty and crispy.

Of course, you can ferment absolutely any cabbage. However, to prepare a truly tasty dish, you should follow some recommendations for choosing this vegetable. First of all, it should be noted that it is best. Moreover, not every variety is suitable, and when purchasing or selecting a head of cabbage cut from the garden, you need to pay attention to its appearance.

You should use mid-late, or better yet, late varieties of white cabbage. The early ones are worse in that their heads are loose and contain much less sugar, which is necessary not only for the good taste of the product, but also for fermentation during pickling. Therefore, the best period for fermenting cabbage is mid-to-late autumn, when the forks of late varieties of this vegetable ripen and acquire the required density.

You should only choose really well-ripened forks - they will contain sufficient sugar. It is best to take larger heads of cabbage, slightly flattened and almost pure white. Their impressive size will indicate sufficient maturity. However, the head of cabbage should not be too large either. Firstly, it will not be very convenient to cut it, and secondly, it is possible that such a vegetable was “fed” with fertilizers that accelerated its growth.

When choosing forks, you need to pay attention to the upper outer leaves covering them. They should be light green. If they are almost white, then most likely the heads of cabbage were frozen, and the seller, wanting to hide this, removed the top leaves.

The stalk should be without damage or signs of rot, dense and white. The leaves should be free of any inclusions, spots or holes. The smell of the head of cabbage should be vegetable and fresh. If it smells rotten, you need to choose another fork.

Video: About the benefits of sauerkraut

Selection of utensils for fermentation

The best utensils for fermenting any vegetables are wooden. Previously, oak barrels or tubs were used. If cabbage is fermented in such a container, it will additionally acquire a pleasant aroma and taste.

A worthy replacement for oak dishes is enameled. An important condition for its use is that the enamel on the entire inner surface of the container should not have any chips or cracks. You can use enamel tanks, pots and even buckets. Clay containers are also suitable.

If you have a basement or cellar, you must definitely take dishes of impressive size. Only in large quantities can cabbage be fermented truly well.

Steel, aluminum and plastic containers are completely unsuitable.

The lactic acid released from cabbage during pickling and the brine itself will react with metal or plastic. Because of this, the workpiece will have an unpleasant aftertaste, and the formation of harmful and even dangerous substances may occur.

When there is no basement or cellar and you have to ferment cabbage in the apartment, it is best to use glass jars. Their volume must be at least 3 liters.

Video: Sauerkraut in a barrel according to an old recipe

Ingredients and their ratio

The main ones are cabbage, carrots and salt. We take as much cabbage as we are going to ferment. Carrots - at your own discretion. It gives sauerkraut a sweetish, pleasant taste and makes it more aromatic, juicy and crispy, and the appearance of the dish served on the table is more attractive. In the classic recipe, you take 1 kg of carrots per 10 kg of cabbage and that’s enough. But you can do more, as is offered in various other cooking options. If you use too many carrots, they will overwhelm the taste of the cabbage.

Salt is a separate conversation. The main thing is that it should not exceed 25 g per 1 kg of vegetables. Otherwise, the result will not be fermentation, but pickling. The second requirement for salt is that it must be non-iodized. It is better to use coarse, but fine grinding is also possible. Iodized salt will make the cabbage not very tasty, not as crispy, and may become unpleasant to eat - slippery.

You can ferment cabbage with the addition of various spices and seasonings: dill seeds, bay leaves, black pepper, cloves, horseradish and others. They will give the preparation a pleasant aroma and piquant taste. However, you need to be careful when adding them. If you overdo it, the spices will overwhelm the natural flavor of the cabbage.

Sugar is often added, especially if the cabbage is unripe or of early varieties. It is usually taken in the same proportions as salt - up to 25 g per 1 kg of vegetables. Firstly, sugar improves fermentation, and secondly, cabbage sauerkraut with it turns out to be more pleasant and delicate in taste, sometimes even sweetish, and also less sour.

Some people sauerkraut with the addition of fruits and/or berries, for example, plums, apples, lingonberries, cranberries. These ingredients give the product a pleasant sour taste. You can add beets. The cabbage will acquire a ruby ​​color and an unusual taste.

Video: The main rules of classic sauerkraut

How to properly cut vegetables

You can ferment cabbage whole by dividing the head of cabbage in half or into several parts, cutting the leaves into large or small squares, triangles or rectangles, and also chopping it into narrow strips. The last option is most often used. This way the vegetable ferments faster and more evenly. Moreover, you need to chop it quite finely, but you shouldn’t chop it too much either. Otherwise, the chopped pieces will soften during fermentation and the cabbage will turn into porridge and will not be crispy.

You can shred with a sharp knife. Even better - a special shredder designed for chopping cabbage. With its help, this vegetable will be cut correctly and quickly.

Using a grater to chop heads of cabbage is strictly not recommended. The pieces of leaves will turn out too small and crushed, they will no longer be crispy and juice will be released from them prematurely.

Regardless of the recipe, carrots can be grated on a regular grater with large or medium meshes. Korean-style carrots are often used for cooking.

If the recipe requires adding other products, then the berries are left whole, the plums too, or they are cut in half, but in any case the seeds are removed. and the beets are cut at your discretion: in half, into several parts or into slices, plates. Small and small ones are best left whole.

Methods and temperature conditions for fermentation

There are two main methods, conventionally called wet and dry. In the first case, the cabbage is mixed with carrots and spices when they are used, and then placed tightly in a fermentation container or placed in layers with other products (apples, berries or others), if they are in the recipe. Then everything is poured with boiled brine, cooled or hot. If sugar is added, it is dissolved along with salt during boiling.

Using the dry method as the basis for the recipe, first mix or even grind the cabbage with salt and mash it a little so that it releases juice. Then mix with carrots. This is usually done in an enamel cup in portions. Take 1 proportional part of cabbage, salt and carrots, mix them and place them in a fermentation container, compacting them as shown in the video. Then do the same with the next portions. At the same time, other products (apples, berries, or others) are placed in the container in layers, if they should be present. The cabbage is not filled with water or brine, but is fermented in its own juice, which is released during fermentation.

If the recipe calls for sugar or spices, they are added while mixing the cabbage and carrots. You should not crush or compact the vegetables too much, otherwise the preparation will not turn out crispy.

Regardless of the method and recipe for fermentation, the next thing to do is cover the cabbage with clean gauze or cloth and press down with pressure (weight). To do this, place an enamel lid or plate of a suitable size on it in a wide container, and place a load on top - a washed natural stone or a jar of water. Metal objects will not work. If the cabbage is fermented in a jar, then you can leave nothing in at all or use a small jar of water.

The first few days - usually three days, sometimes more - the cabbage should be fermented at room temperature. During this period of vegetable harvesting, constant monitoring is required. It is necessary to regularly remove the foam formed as a result of fermentation and pierce the cabbage in several places with a clean wooden kitchen utensil to allow the gases released to escape. If you don’t do all this, then you can forget about a tasty, and even more so, crispy snack. The preparation will turn out bitter and soggy.

Video: Sauerkraut with mustard and adjika

When the foam stops forming and the brine becomes lighter in color, the cabbage can already be eaten, although it is still under-fermented. The container with it should be placed in a cool, dark place. It’s better to go to the cellar, but in the absence of one, you can go to the refrigerator. To ferment completely, the cabbage must stand there for about another month. And then it is stored there for up to 9 months. The optimal temperature for further fermentation and subsequent storage is 0–+2 o C.

Sauerkraut is the favorite winter food for millions of people. And not only here in Russia, but also in other countries of Europe and Asia. As soon as the first frost sets in outside, it’s time to prepare this vegetable.

Before starting the description of the recipe, let me tell you what happens during the sourdough process itself. This is important for understanding the process as a whole. When you do something consciously, knowing why it is needed, it is much more difficult to make a mistake. And the result in this case is more predictable.

It is believed that if we salt a certain product, the salt is a preservative and helps protect the product from spoilage. In part, this is true. But not in this case.

When we ferment it, the preservative is lactic acid, which accumulates in vegetables. And this acid is formed thanks to lactic acid bacteria that are found on the surface of fresh cabbage leaves. Their food is sugar, which is also found in the leaves of the vegetable.

Therefore, for pickling you need to choose large, light-colored heads of cabbage. They are juicy, tasty, and at the same time elastic. When you cut their leaves, fresh juice literally splashes out of them. These leaves taste slightly sweet, you want to eat them even fresh, without stopping.

And only autumn varieties are suitable for pickling, best caught by the first frost. All summer the heads of cabbage gained weight, juice, various vitamins and nutrients, and accumulated sugar. Which is simply necessary for successful fermentation.

Therefore, when you buy cabbage, choose large, white forks. No wonder its name is cabbage white. This is exactly what will make the most delicious winter snack.

And so, it is now clear that sugar contributes to a good fermentation process. But this will not be enough without the required air temperature. In order for the fermentation processes to start and it to ferment in the best possible way, a temperature of 15 - 22 degrees is needed. If the temperature is below this value, the fermentation processes will proceed sluggishly and for a long time. The cabbage will overcook and we won’t get the desired taste. If the air temperature is higher than the desired value, then it will quickly soften, lose its appearance and become useless to anyone.

You can identify delicious fermented cabbage without even trying it, just by its appearance and smell. It is light and elastic, has such an aroma that it will be difficult to pass by.

This is the preparation I propose to prepare today using the simplest classical method.

I suggest calculating the products for 1 kg of cabbage. I do this for convenience. This way it will be easier to create a proportion for any weight. After all, everyone ferments it in different volumes, some ferment a whole barrel, while others only ferment a three-liter jar.

We will need:

• white cabbage – 1 kg
• salt - 10 - 15 g (1 - 1.5 teaspoons)
• carrots - 1 piece (small)
• bay leaf - 1 - 2 pcs
• black allspice - 3 - 4 peas

Preparation:

At the beginning of the article, I already said that for fermentation you need to choose large white forks. They should be tight and elastic to the touch. Now in the season there is simply a huge offer of different varieties. So, you should separate the varieties, some of them are better suited for storage, while others are better for salting and fermenting.

Among the first there are varieties that are not particularly intended for pickling. Some of them gain strength only a month or two after they were collected. These are the so-called hybrid varieties. Only by this time does the amount of sugar required for fermentation accumulate in their leaves. And it’s clear that if you salt such a vegetable immediately after harvesting, it will be difficult, and perhaps even impossible, to obtain the desired taste.

Some varieties have thick, coarse veins, and the leaves have very little juice. They also store well, but you can’t salt this one well. You can’t even make a tasty salad from it.

Varieties such as Slava, Podarok, Gribovskaya, Belarus, Sibiryachka... and others are considered traditional for pickling. But, in principle, you can determine whether it is suitable for pickling or not without knowing the variety, but simply determine it by appearance and taste.

When they start selling this vegetable in large quantities, bringing it to markets directly by car, I look first of all at its appearance. If it suits me, I buy a head of cabbage and take it home. I try it there, and if it’s juicy, sweet and tasty, then you can go and buy as much as you need. Try to choose the largest and whitest specimens.

Why am I explaining this in such detail, because choosing the right cabbage is almost the main key to success in pickling. Therefore, pay due attention to your choice.

Now let's move on to the recipe itself.

1. Remove the top leaves of the vegetable, the so-called outer leaves. Rinse the head of cabbage with cold water, holding the stalk with your hand. This way, the water will only wash the top layer and will not get inside the fork. Place the heads of cabbage on the table to drain, then wipe with a dry towel.

2. Cut the head of cabbage into two parts and chop each of them into long thin strips. To do this efficiently you need to stock up on a good sharp knife. And if you have a special shredder, which has two or three sharply sharpened knives at once, you can shred everything very quickly and without much difficulty. There are currently a great variety of such shredders.

And before it was simply chopped in wooden troughs with a special chop. And even now such devices are still in use. I also have something like this somewhere. But I prefer chopped sauerkraut, so I don’t use these devices.

Do not chop the stalk, just throw it away. Previously, when my mother salted cabbage, we, as children, stood in line for them. Now we don’t give them to children. It is believed that they accumulate a large amount of nitrates, and this product is harmful to health. Maybe so, but no, no, I peel the stalk for myself and eat it with pleasure.

3. Salt the chopped vegetable and lightly crush it with your hands. But only lightly, so that the juice stands out. And some, especially juicy varieties, do not even require this. You can immediately see such a head of cabbage; as soon as you start cutting it, the juice squirts out from under the knife.

These varieties of cabbage simply need to be salted and mixed, then compacted tightly into a pickling container. After quite a bit of time, a sufficient amount of juice will appear.

Sometimes it turns out to be too salty. This is because some people believe that the more salt they put in, the better it will keep.

So, I know that you can ferment cabbage without any salt at all. Of course, it doesn’t last as long as salted one, and it’s not as tasty. But it still ferments and is stored! We remember that the fermentation process is caused not by salt, but by sugar. Therefore, add not much salt, but only as much as required by the recipe. Or rely on your taste. You can try the chopped product, it should taste the same as cabbage salad usually turns out.

4. Grate the carrots on a coarse grater. Add it to the total mass.

Do not crush cabbage with carrots. Without this procedure, it will remain white and beautiful for the entire shelf life.

5. Add allspice and bay leaf. Stir again.

6. It can be prepared in jars, in large enamel pots, in tubs and barrels. Later I’ll tell you how to prepare tubs and barrels for pickling.

Jars and pots just need to be thoroughly washed and dried. Please ensure that there are no chips in the pan or rust stains that appear in these places.

Remove the top leaves of the vegetable and line the bottom with them. You can skip this procedure. But I’m used to doing this, and I’m sharing my experience with you. In general, I consider this procedure necessary and mandatory for pickling in barrels and tubs.

7. Place the cabbage in a pickling container, pressing it lightly with your hands.

When you salt it too much, for example in large twenty-liter pans or tubs, it is better to do it in small batches. We chopped one head of cabbage, salted it, lightly mashed it, mixed it with carrots, put it in a saucepan and compacted it tightly. Then we proceed to the next game, and so on until the end.

Large volumes will be more difficult to compact. It is important for us that the vegetable releases juice, which will be enough for a good fermentation process. And for better juice formation, it is better to process it in not very large portions.

8. When all of it is in the container, you should press it down well with your hands, lay out the cabbage leaves and cover with a double or triple layer of gauze or a linen napkin. Tuck the edges in so that the chopped vegetable does not protrude.

Place a flat plate of suitable volume on the cheesecloth; the larger it is, the better. This will ensure that the entire contents are covered with juice. My grandmother had a wooden circle specially cut to fit the volume of the pan. It was both oppression and “cover.” Thanks to him, there was no need to be afraid that mold would appear on the surface.

9. Place pressure on top. This can be a thoroughly washed and scalded cobblestone, or a jar of water. The good thing about cobblestone is that you can later cover the pan with a lid. The jar can only be used for a few days while the fermentation process takes place. At this time, the pan does not need to be covered. Then you will need to find something more suitable.

Oppression is needed so that all the juice constantly covers the entire contents. It is important. If this is not done, then mold will appear on top; it will not take long to appear. But we don’t need it at all, it spoils the taste and appearance. Mold causes the workpiece to turn gray, that is, it loses its appearance. Naturally, this also affects its taste.

Therefore, do not ignore oppression. It is definitely needed. And preferably for the entire storage process.

10. Leave the pan with the preparation at room temperature for 1 - 2 days. The time depends on the room temperature. If it is very hot, then one day is enough, but if it is cooler, then two days will be needed.

At this time, we must under no circumstances forget about our preparation. She will need attention several times a day. Namely, armed with a long wooden stick, pierce it in several places to the very bottom three to four times a day. Young children especially like to do this. They take this assignment with full responsibility. It is very interesting for them to observe how, after the next piercing, the bubbles formed from the fermentation processes rise out.

In addition to escaping gas bubbles, foam also forms on the surface. Don't let this scare you, everything is fine with the workpiece. Consider this as an excellent signal that the fermentation processes are proceeding as they should.

It is imperative to pierce the contents with a stick. If the gas bubbles do not have access to the surface, they will make the finished product taste bitter.

Do not store at this temperature for longer than this time. Just one extra day is enough and the cabbage will turn sour. And there will be no saving her. It will become soft and have an unpleasant aftertaste. You can’t even make a stew from such a product, you will feel it all.

11. After these 1 - 2 days of standing at room temperature, the pan with the workpiece will need to be placed in a cooler room, where the temperature should be 16 - 18 degrees. This is the ideal temperature for further fermentation. It ends in 2 - 3 weeks. During this time, you can pierce the contents with a stick at least 1-2 times a day.

Each time, removing the oppression and gauze. And then putting everything back in place again.

If such a nuisance does occur and mold appears on the surface, then it must be carefully removed. Rinse the napkin, weight and plate in hot salted water.

12. When the fermentation process is over, and this will be evident by the fact that bubbles will no longer rise and foam will form, the contents must be moved to a cold place and kept at all times at a temperature of 0 - 2 degrees.

Usually it is stored on loggias and balconies, and if such conditions do not exist, then they are transferred to three-liter jars and stored in the refrigerator. You should also store it by covering the contents with gauze and figuring out how to organize the oppression.

The refrigerator temperature is approximately 4 degrees. For storage, this is slightly more than needed. But if there is a sufficient amount of brine in the jar and good pressure, then it will be stored.

By the way, this clever way of using oppression is used for cans. Simply insert the nylon lid into the jar and press the contents with it.

The snack prepared in this way is delicious without any additives. You can eat it simply without anything. Well, if you chop onions into it and season it with vegetable oil, then you simply won’t find a better salad.

It is also indispensable for preparing vinaigrettes and many first and second courses. Should we remind you that it is a source of various vitamins and nutrients? Probably not, everyone knows this already, from early childhood. And no one even has to be persuaded to eat it. As soon as she appears on the table, she becomes its queen. And so all winter... She doesn’t get tired of it either in the fall, or in the winter, or in the spring.

Now, of course, very tasty cabbage can be bought both at the market and in the store. The specialists who prepare it know a lot about this. But not all! If you have already found a path to a good supplier, then you can buy and buy. But this path is not always available. Half the winter may pass before we trample it.

And having prepared it yourself, you don’t even have to waste time searching. Simply, when you want, take out the cabbage from the loggia or from the refrigerator, and enjoy its taste as much as our body requires.

The proposed method is not the only classic option. This is the so-called brine-free method. But you can also prepare it using brine.

Cabbage pickled in brine in a 3 liter jar

This method is often used for sauerkraut in an apartment. It is very convenient for salting the product in jars. It is most convenient to prepare it in a three-liter jar. It is convenient to store it in the refrigerator and cook in small batches.

Basically, this cooking method differs little from the first recipe. The main difference is that brine is also prepared, and it is poured into pre-chopped cabbage and placed in a jar. Since the brine contains both salt and sugar, it is this that contributes to the onset of fermentation. It also makes it possible for the entire product to ferment faster.

And I must say that this method is quite fast. Already on the third day the product is completely ready for use. You don’t have to wait two or three weeks before it’s time to enjoy its taste.

That is, in the first option, natural fermentation occurs, but here we help it with this.

This recipe is very loved by housewives, and men are not averse to using it for cooking. We now live in a fast time, and it is very highly valued. Therefore, if the same product can be prepared faster, then it is often chosen.

Time-tested recipe. The result is always predictable and always pleasing. Therefore, choose it and prepare a snack based on it. He definitely won't disappoint you!

What can you ferment with?

In different regions of Russia, pickling methods may vary. The recipe is almost the same, but the methods differ. In the European part of Russia, very little carrots are added, and the final product has a distinct white color. Bright cranberries are often used as an additive for flavor and color.

In the Far East and Siberia, more carrots are added. The cabbage tastes sweeter and has a slight carrot tint in color. By the way, in Central Asia they also add more carrots (that’s how we salted them when we lived there).

However, these are not all the ingredients that are used for pickling. They ferment it with these additional ingredients

• apples, the Antonovka variety is best suited. They are served whole, in halves, and in quarters. In general, who likes it more?
• carrots
• hot capsicum
• beets
• parsnip. It can be used both with carrots and instead of it. It turns out very tasty!

Of course, berries do not occupy the last place in this process;

• already mentioned cranberry
• cowberry
• juniper berries

Added as spices

• allspice peas
• Bay leaf

Pickled heads of cabbage are very, very, very tasty. Never cooked like this? Then take note quickly. Cook it once, and then you will always cook only with them. I'll tell you how to do it.

Everything is done exactly as described in the recipe. The only thing is that in this case you can’t get by with a kilogram of vegetables. You need to salt the heads of cabbage in a saucepan of at least 5 liters, and of course a larger volume is also welcome.

The first layer must be cabbage. It is better that the layer is at least 10 cm thick.

Then cut the head of cabbage into large pieces, at least 15 cm in size. And if the heads of cabbage are small in size initially, then you can only cut them into two halves, or even cut them crosswise. Each of them should be rubbed with a small amount of salt, literally rubbing it inside. Then lay tightly with the next layer. Press well.

And the next layer is again the usual one, made from cabbage cut into strips and mixed with carrots.

This way you can alternate layers as long as the pickling container allows. Pack everything tightly. Achieve the formation of juice. Similarly, cover the top layer with cabbage leaves, gauze or a napkin. Place a flat plate on top and apply pressure.

Also pierce with a stick, carefully bypassing the forks.

How to prepare containers for pickling

In villages they used to salt in tubs and small barrels. There were no refrigerators, and the cold cellar was the only place for storage. Moreover, the barrel was buried 30 - 40 centimeters into the ground in order to maintain the required temperature.

But since this was done year after year, and the barrel served its purpose for many years, the container had to be specially treated before salting.

Although we do not live in the village now, I have two oak barrels. In one of them I salt and in the other cabbage. And every year I process the containers using the method I found in one of my books. And now I will share the methods that I know with you. Maybe it will be useful to someone.

To begin with, I would like to note the fact that in barrels and wooden tubs you get incredibly tasty sauerkraut. In addition to taste, it also receives an incomparable aroma.

But new barrels, and even old ones, often dry out, and brine can leak out through the cracks. Oak barrels are better in this regard; the wood is more durable and dries out less. But they also require treatment to prevent mold from appearing.

Therefore, the container must be processed so that it does not dry out and is thoroughly disinfected.

To prevent all the brine from leaking out of the barrel, they need to be soaked so that the wood swells. To do this, you need to place the keg in a basin and pour water into it. Leave for some time. If water flows out through the cracks, add it again. Continue this way until the tree absorbs the water and the flow stops. At the final stage, you can bring several branches of heather from the forest. Place them in a barrel and pour boiling water over them. It is useful for aroma and disinfection.

To disinfect barrels, you can also fumigate them with sulfur. Just like pits before storing vegetables there, they are fumigated with sulfur bombs. And in the case of a keg, special wicks are used, which are set on fire and left in the container until complete combustion.

You can also disinfect a barrel by placing cobblestones heated over a fire, or one large stone, inside. This should be done extremely carefully so as not to get burned. And so that the cobblestone does not cool down longer, it is still poured with boiling water, and the tub is tightly closed with a lid.

In the future, this stone can be used as oppression.

So tubs and barrels are a good thing, but they require careful treatment and attention.

At the end of the article, I want to tell you that in addition to the described methods of fermentation, there are also other ways of preparing it. For example, these include: There are many such methods, and I can offer you 7 of them in an article that you can find by following the link provided.

These are also fairly quick cooking methods that are also delicious. One “Pelustka” with beets is worth it!

I hope that the recipes written today, and most importantly the tips, will serve you well, and you can always prepare very tasty and aromatic cabbage for the winter.

I wish you excellent preparations and bon appetit!