The recipe for homemade sauerkraut is very tasty. Sauerkraut for the winter at home
Good afternoon. With this article I am closing the summer season and preparing winter supplies.
I would like to offer you recipes for sauerkraut, which will certainly appear on the New Year's table as a main appetizer and which guests will praise as long as they are able to talk.
So take your time and stock up. I’m sure they will be useful to you, because the new year is just around the corner.
I selected recipes for preparations only in jars, since in apartment conditions, fermenting cabbage in barrels and huge pans is not very convenient.
Classic recipe for cabbage for the winter with brine for a 3-liter jar
Let’s start, of course, with, as they say, “grandmother’s” recipe, which requires a minimum of ingredients.
Ingredients:
- White cabbage - 2.2-2.5 kg
- Medium sized carrots - 2 pcs.
For the brine:
- Water - 1.5 l
- Salt - 2 tbsp
- Sugar - 2 tbsp
- Peppercorns and bay leaves - optional
The quantities of ingredients are indicated to fill one 3-liter jar.
Preparation:
We start by preparing the brine. Boil water in a kettle and pour it into a saucepan. Add salt and sugar.
If you want to add spices, you can throw in a couple of bay leaves and literally five peas of allspice
We leave the future brine to cool.
While it cools, we do the vegetables.
Take the cabbage, remove the top green leaves and cut off a piece of the weight we need.
Cabbage should be sweet. If it is bitter, then the bitterness will remain when fermented.
Cut it into small strips and put it in a deep bowl, in which we will mix it with carrots.
Peel the carrots and grate them on a coarse grater. Add it to the cabbage and mix.
There is no need to mash or grind the vegetables; regular but thorough mixing is sufficient.
After this, put the carrots and cabbage in a jar. We lay it tightly, but do not compact it.
Now you can pour the cooled brine into the jar.
Do not pour boiling water under any circumstances; the brine should be at room temperature so as not to destroy a lot of useful substances contained in cabbage.
If you have followed all the proportions, the brine will fill the jar right up to the neck.
Now the longest but inevitable process begins - fermentation. It will last three days, during which the jar should remain open at room temperature. To protect the jar from midges and other small insects, cover the neck with gauze.
During these three days, carbon dioxide will form in the jar, which, coming out, will push out part of the brine. Therefore, the jar needs to be placed in a basin in which this brine will accumulate. And you will fill it back every day.
In addition, twice a day (morning and evening) it is necessary to pierce the sauerkraut with a wooden stick (for example, chopsticks) to facilitate the free release of carbon dioxide.
By the end of the third day, fermentation ends. This is easy to understand by the fact that the brine stops bubbling.
Now you can close the jar with a nylon lid and store it in the refrigerator.
Don't forget: the shelf life of sauerkraut in the refrigerator is 8 months
Cabbage prepared according to this recipe turns out crispy and very juicy. And you yourself know very well how to use the brine after the holidays.
Delicious instant sauerkraut covered in boiling water
It’s a stretch to call this recipe “sauerkraut,” since it skips the fermentation process, which, in general, makes the cabbage sauerkraut. This is more of a marinating option. But thanks to this, you spend not three days on preparation, but only one.
Overall, this is a recipe for those who need something quick, but still crispy and delicious.
Ingredients for a 3 liter jar:
- Cabbage – 2kg
- Carrots - 2 pcs.
- Garlic - 2-3 cloves
For the marinade:
- water -3 glasses
- sugar - 1 glass
- refined vegetable oil - 1 cup
- salt - 3 level tablespoons
- vinegar 9% - 1 glass
Preparation:
Chop the cabbage, grate the carrots on a coarse grater and mix together in a deep bowl.
When stirring, you can mash and grind the cabbage a little, but this is not important.
Place the cabbage in a jar. We place it very tightly, compacting it well and pressing it with our hands. When all the cabbage is laid, place garlic cloves on top, cut into 3-4 parts.
Prepare the marinade. Pour water into a saucepan and place it on high heat. Pour sugar, salt, vegetable oil into a saucepan.
As soon as the marinade boils, turn off the stove, pour vinegar into the pan and mix well.
Carefully pour the hot marinade into the jar with cabbage up to the neck.
The marinade is hot, the jar is cold. Pour in a little at a time so that the jar has time to warm up and does not burst.
We pierce the cabbage with a wooden stick many, many times so that the marinade is evenly distributed throughout the jar.
Now the cabbage should cool down. But this is not done very quickly. Therefore, we take a nylon lid and close the jar. Just not completely, but “on one side” so that there is a gap.
In this form, leave the jar at room temperature for a day or a little less, until it has completely cooled.
After cooling, the cabbage is ready to eat.
It should also be stored in the refrigerator with a tightly closed lid for no longer than 8 months.
Cabbage, sauerkraut for the winter as a barrel, pieces in a jar
And now a very original recipe that will allow you to feel the taste of barrel sauerkraut, although it will be prepared in an ordinary glass jar.
Ingredients:
We will need cabbage, half a loaf of black “capital” bread and salt.
It’s difficult to say exactly how much cabbage to take; it all depends on what pieces you will cut it into to put in the jar. For a three-liter jar you will need from 1.2 to 1.5 kg of cabbage.
For the brine:
- 2 liters of water
- Salt - 5 tbsp
Preparation:
We make crackers from bread. Cut it into pieces, place it on a baking sheet and put it in the oven, preheated to 150 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
At this time, prepare the brine. Everything is simple with this: pour water into a pan, add salt and put it on high heat.
When the water boils, turn off the stove and wait until the brine cools down. Ready.
Cut the cabbage into pieces. You can make the size of the pieces arbitrary, as long as these pieces fit into the neck of the jar.
Now the important step is placing the ingredients in the jar. The order is as follows: place crackers on the bottom of the jar. Then comes a layer of cabbage. Then again crackers and again cabbage.
By this point, the jar should already be finished and put another piece of cracker on top of the neck.
Then fill the brine to the very top.
The jar should be covered with a saucer and stored in a warm, dark place for a whole week. During this time, it will ferment well, acquire the taste of barrel cabbage and be ready for use.
For further storage, you need to transfer the cabbage to another jar, strain the brine and pour it into the cabbage. We don’t add bread to it; it has already played its role. We store the jar in the refrigerator.
Delicious recipe for cabbage with apples
One of my favorite recipes is sauerkraut with apples. A very tasty combination of sourness and sweetness cannot be expressed in words. Need to try.
Ingredients:
- Cabbage - 2 kg
- Carrots - 2 pcs.
- Apples - 3 medium sized pieces
For the brine:
- Water - 2 liters
- Salt - 4 tbsp
- Sugar - 2 tbsp
Preparation:
We clean the cabbage from green leaves and chop it.
For this, by the way, it is very convenient to use a vegetable peeling device.
We also clean and grate the carrots.
Cut the apples into 4 parts and remove the core.
When all the ingredients are ready, put them in a jar.
The sequence is as follows: put the mixed cabbage and carrots in the first layer and fill the jar a quarter full. Then we put 4 pieces of apples in the corners. Fill the jar with cabbage and carrots and add 4 more pieces of apples. Then again cabbage almost up to the shoulders of the jar, the remaining apples and again cabbage up to the neck.
We do not compact the cabbage into the jar, because... you will need to add more brine
Speaking of brine.
It is prepared in the same way as in previous recipes: water is poured into a pan, salt and sugar are stirred in it. Place the pan over high heat until the water boils. Then remove the pan from the stove and let the brine cool to room temperature.
After that, pour it into a jar with cabbage.
Then the cabbage will begin to ferment, so we put the jar on a saucer and leave it at room temperature for a couple of days. As in the first recipe, it is advisable to pierce the cabbage with a wooden stick a couple of times a day for better release of carbon dioxide.
On the third day, the almost finished sauerkraut with apples can be put in a cool place (for example, on a loggia), and on the fourth day it will be completely ready, you can close it with a lid and put it in the refrigerator.
Video recipe for sauerkraut with horseradish and bell pepper
And finally, a video recipe for those who still have questions. It shows a method for making sauerkraut with horseradish, but the basic steps remain the same.
That's all for me today. I hope you found something new and interesting for yourself.
Thank you for your attention.
Hello dear readers and blog subscribers! Do you think that I usually make the last of the preparations? Of course, sauerkraut. Because the most delicious cabbage, as they say, should be cut from our gardens at the first frost, which means that it falls on such a time period as October, or November, depending on where you live.
Without this treasure, you can’t cook a single one, or rich cabbage soup, which my whole family simply adores. Therefore, today I dedicate this article to pickling sauerkraut for the winter.
Choose any recipe you like and make this dish, because compared to other types of preparations, it is the simplest and fastest to prepare. Minimum effort, maximum pleasure from such work. And then you can not only make soup from it, but also use it in pies; I also really like to make bigus or fry it with potatoes.
This is my favorite version of cabbage, since it was prepared according to the GOST technology of those times, namely 1956, back then in the USSR. Probably every home has such recipes, so I have this old book that I treasure, this is how my mother and grandmother cook.
The most important thing is that this option does not require much time from you, and a lot of different products. It perfectly combines only cabbage, carrots and salt. Without any seasonings and spices, and without adding vinegar.
We will need:
- cabbage - 3 kg
- carrots - 300 g
- salt - 75 g
Cooking method:
1. Shred the cabbage by hand or on a special grater, depending on how much you are going to prepare.
2. Grate the carrots on a coarse grater.
Important! According to GOST carrots, 10 percent of the total mass of cabbage is taken. Therefore, consider for yourself that 1 kg of cabbage equals 100 g of carrots. Salt is taken 2 - 2.5 percent by weight of cabbage; 1 kg of cabbage will require 25 g.
Mix the shredded cabbage with salt and mash it well with your hands.
4. Once the cabbage has released its juice and started to shine, it’s time to mix it with the carrots.
5. Now transfer all the vegetable mass into the pan. Take a lid with a diameter smaller than the pan itself. Place it in a plastic bag or bag and cover the cabbage with it.
6. Place a pressure on top of the plate or lid. Typically a three-liter jar of water is used.
7. In this form, the cabbage should stand for 3 days at room temperature.
Important! To make sauerkraut tasty, you need to release carbon dioxide with a wooden stick. That is, make punctures on the surface of the cabbage several times during the day. And most importantly, if you don't know why your cabbage tastes bitter, here's the solution, it's all because of this chemical process.
Therefore, it is very important that carbon dioxide escapes and the finished dish does not become bitter.
8. After three days, place the cabbage in a jar or jars. But remember that you must first stir the whole mass with your hands again so that the carbon dioxide is completely released.
Using a special funnel, pour into jars.
9. Fill the jars with juice, or you can say brine, marinade that has separated.
10. Close with nylon lids and put in the refrigerator. You need to store such cabbage in a cool place, a cellar or refrigerator is best, so that the fermentation process does not resume and the finished sauerkraut does not become over-acidified.
This is such a simple and cool cooking option! Bon appetit!
Video: Cooking crispy and juicy sauerkraut at home
I found a similar cooking option in this video, so you can once again see live how and what is done. But, remember one more trick: if you take a lot of carrots, according to the wrong proportions, such as by eye, then the result may not upset you much. Because if you transfer carrots, the cabbage will lose its crispness, will not be as crunchy and will become soft.
Recipe for quick sauerkraut in a jar
So easy and one of the best options for pickling cabbage at home in a very quick and instant way. This, of course, does not take 15 minutes, but on the third day you can already use it, can you imagine?! Add your favorite spices to add variety and enhance flavors.
The secret and super trick here is that the brine will be prepared separately, but don’t be afraid there’s nothing difficult about it, everything is very simple and easy. Well, of course, as soon as the brine or marinade gets into the cabbage, the same phenomenon called fermentation or pickling will begin, with this method I speed up this process and the dosage of salt will be slightly higher than always. That's the whole trick of science))).
We will need:
- cabbage - 2-3 kg per 1 three-liter jar
- carrots - 2 pcs.
- bay leaf - 2 pcs.
- salt - 4 tbsp
- dill seeds - optional
- pepper - to taste
Cooking method:
1. First of all, do the prep work of the vegetables. Wash the cabbage and carrots well.
Next, shred the cabbage or cut it with a knife, usually it looks like a thin strip, although I have seen other options for pickling with petals and pieces, but it seems to me that this is not appropriate if used for general use somewhere in dishes, although anything is possible. It depends on what purpose you are making this blank for.
2. Next, grate the carrots using a grater or using a special attachment in a food processor.
3. Mix the cabbage with carrots, don’t be afraid to knead, the mass should be uniform so that the juice begins to appear.
It is in this that the cabbage will be fermented. Add allspice, bay leaf and dill seeds. The cabbage should lie quite tightly in the container. In this case, a 5 liter container is used.
Important! Use only rock salt, coarsely ground, and not fine.
Stir the jar of water until the salt is completely dissolved. And then pour this solution over the cabbage. Since all vegetables must be completely covered with brine, make another identical jar of brine. Or you could take a 2-liter jar at once and add 4 tablespoons of salt and water into it.
6. Well, the water completely covered the cabbage. Take a lid or plate and place a weight on it, place a jar of plain water. The next day, after it has been kept warm for a day, fermentation will begin.
And then you will need to use a spoon or stick to push the cabbage apart and release the gas so that it does not become bitter. This needs to be done several times during the day. So all the days until the end of fermentation.
7. On the third day it will completely ferment and gases will no longer be released.
Important! I also forgot to say, place another one under any container, since during the fermentation process it will additionally begin to release its brine, which means that the liquid will increase and it will run.
8. Here’s another interesting, original cooking option, try it, it’s very tasty! Store in a cool place in the refrigerator to prevent it from becoming sour and pungent.
Delicious sauerkraut in 3 liter jars for the winter
Do you want to make tender, juicy and crispy cabbage? Then here is a step-by-step description with photos that will just help you. The recipe is tried and true.
We will need:
- cabbage - 1 head 2 kg
- carrots - 2 pcs.
- salt - 2 heaped tablespoons
- sugar - 1.5 tbsp
- water - 1.5 l
Cooking method:
1. First of all, cut the cabbage in half and remove the stalk. Chop very, very finely, or at least try to cut it that way.
Important! If you take young cabbage, then the preparation will only be juicier and more tender. Because old cabbage tends to be tough.
Next, take carrots from the current harvest, not the old one, so that they are juicy. You can grate the carrots on a regular coarse grater, but in general it’s better to grate them on a Korean carrot grater so that it comes out fine. Mix the vegetables with your hands, squeezing the cabbage so that it releases its juice.
2. After this, take a 3 liter jar. And morning with the help of improvised means, such as a rolling pin))). So that there is a maximum of cabbage and carrots in the jar and a minimum of air.
3. Make a marinade or brine. Add 1.5 tbsp sugar and 2 tbsp salt to 1.5 liters of water. Stir with a spoon, or put a lid on the jar of water and stir until all the dry ingredients have dissolved.
4. Pour this mixture over the cabbage, just to the maximum, just like in the picture. Leave in a warm place, after one day bubbles will appear. This means that the fermentation process has begun.
5. Therefore, take and speed up this process yourself, pierce it with a stick or other object, in the form of a knife, to release the gas. You will immediately see that the brine is sinking.
Do this procedure at least 3-4 times a day. As soon as the bubbles appear, pierce it immediately))). After three days, close the lid and place in a cool place.
6. This is such a nice cabbage, then you can season it with vegetable oil and onions, and use dill as a decoration. Bon appetit!
Sauerkraut with apples
Well, this option, just a hero, so to speak, immediately brings to mind our Rus' and my great-grandmother’s stove. The cabbage will be fermented in a Russian barrel, like in the good old Slavic days, and even with apples.
We will need:
- cabbage - almost 20 kg
- Antonovka or Bogatyr apples - 2 kg
- carrots - 1.5 kg
- salt - 70 g per 3 kg of cabbage
Cooking method:
1. Finely chop the cabbage, cut the carrots into strips or grate. Then mix everything in a deep container and add salt, mash well to release the juice. Next, place it in a barrel.
2. Next, cut the apples into thin slices. Stir gently to avoid damaging the fruit.
Important! Before slicing apples, wash them well and remove the cores.
3. Then cover with a lid and put a stone or something like that.
4. Leave in a warm place, after a while you will see bubbles, this is how it should be.
Important! The main thing is not to miss this moment, because if you do not remove the bubbles in time, an unpleasant smell and aroma will appear, and, accordingly, taste.
5. To do this, remove the pressure and pierce the cabbage with a stick.
After three days, put the sauerkraut in a cool place in the cellar or on the balcony. And after two weeks you can eat it! Yum-yum, simply delicious! The longer it stands, the better it will ferment.
Cabbage, pickled with heads of cabbage
Impressed? When I first tried this thing, I said “cool!” This is Serbian technology, it is light and time-saving, you don’t need to chop anything, but you will have to wait much longer than usual for it to be ready. Then cabbage rolls are prepared from such whole cabbage; in Serbia they are called sarma.
As they say, live and learn, and that’s true))). For 20 kg of cabbage, take approximately 1.5 kg of salt. Carrots are not used in this form.
We will need:
- cabbage - 12 kg
- non-iodized salt - 800 g
Cooking method:
1. Wash the cabbage well, remove bad contaminated leaves.
2. Cut out the stalks. Take a head of cabbage and use a knife to cut this place as shown.
3. Hold the knife slightly at an angle to make a pyramid-shaped cut. You will not remove the entire stalk, only the top.
4. Place the head of cabbage in a tank or large pan and fill the cut area with salt. Do this with all the heads of cabbage. And leave them like this until tomorrow, until the next day.
5. After this time, the salt will change a little, it will absorb cabbage moisture.
6. Now cut the cabbage in half and place it in a bowl or pan. For 10 kg of cabbage, take 0.5 kg of salt, of which 300 g will be used to fill the holes in the stalk and 200-250 g for brine; fill the container with water (5 l). Place a weight (5 kg) on top and let it stand for a couple of days (2 days) in a warm place.
Interesting! You can put a few apples in there too.
7. During this time, gurgling will begin in the pan and it will begin to ferment. Therefore, after two days, drain the brine into another container. This is done so that the brine is enriched with oxygen and fermentation occurs more actively. Next, place the cabbage again in the same poured brine and apply pressure. This procedure is done once a day. It will be completely ready in 2 weeks.
8. Store it in the cellar and you will need to eat it before spring.
Bonus: Sauerkraut with beets
Ecologically clean and very tasty cabbage without vinegar with beets and carrots. Well, just lick your fingers, and look how it looks on a plate, just fantastically beautiful and awesome:
I can also advise those who have very little space in the cellar to store cabbage not in jars, but in bags, but the air will need to be removed from them using a special device, that is, done under vacuum. That's all for me, I hope now you have learned how to properly make sauerkraut for the winter in different ways.
Have fun and delicious discoveries! See you all! Bye bye!
Greetings to all cooking lovers! Today I’m writing not one, but 9 recipes for classic sauerkraut. It would seem that there could be something new here: chopped, salted, crushed and compacted into a suitable container. And then wait for everything to ferment there. But there are some nuances that you definitely need to know about when you start such a responsible task. And I described everything in detail, read on carefully.
In the classic version, cabbage is fermented with a small amount of carrots and salt. Carrots contain natural sugars that speed up the fermentation process, so there is no need to use granulated sugar. In most cases, this white vegetable is quite juicy, so it is fermented in its own juice without using water. But there are recipes when the workpiece is filled with brine. These options will also be discussed in this article.
Ingredients:
- cabbage - 3 kg, shredded (about 3.5 kg forks)
- carrots - 300 gr.
- salt - 3 tbsp. no slide
Cooking method:
1. Don’t take too many carrots, one large one will be enough. If you do not use this root vegetable at all, the finished salad will be bitter. Grate the peeled carrots on a coarse grater.
2. The cabbage needs to be chopped. Ideally, the pieces should be of medium thickness, about 5 mm. It is convenient to use special knives with two blades for these purposes.
3. Place the chopped vegetables in a large bowl and add salt. With clean hands, crush the contents of the dish well so that the juice begins to release (salt will speed up the process of juice separation).
You can mash the cabbage on the table, and then put it in a saucepan.
4. Place the mashed fruits in a saucepan (or in a jar) and press them firmly with your hand (or a masher). Apply in portions and press down. When the vessel is filled to the top, enough juice will already be released to completely cover the entire cabbage.
5.If you do it in a saucepan, then you definitely need pressure so that all the vegetables are covered with liquid. Place a plate on top and place any weight on it (a stone, a jar of water or c).
6.In the first hours, it is important to place the workpiece in a warm place so that the fermentation process begins. To activate this process, you can place a container with vegetables in warm water (about 30 degrees). And then just leave the cabbage to ferment in the kitchen, maybe not far from the stove, for 3 days.
7. To avoid bitterness in the finished dish, you need to release the gases that form. To do this, twice a day, remove the plate and pierce the cabbage with a wooden stick to the very bottom in several places. At the same time, you will see bubbles of carbon dioxide coming out. After a day, the brine will become cloudy and foam will appear, this is normal, don’t worry.
When fermenting in heat, lactic acid is actively produced, which will act as a preservative and preserve vegetables for several months. The main thing is to store the cabbage in a cool place after fermentation is complete.
8.If the starter is in a jar, place the glass in a deep plate. During fermentation, the juice will foam and flow out of the container. And if you leave the jar just on the table or on the floor, then in the morning you will get a not very pleasant surprise in the form of a puddle. If you make the preparation in a pan and fill it to the top, then also place it on a tray or baking sheet with sides.
9.After three days, the juice should drop, fermentation ends, there are no more bubbles, the brine becomes more transparent. This means it’s time to refrigerate the cabbage. It’s better to put it in jars and cover with nylon lids.
The fermentation time will depend on the room temperature. If it’s hot, then everything may be over in 2 days; if it’s cool, it may take 5 days. To preserve this yummy food all winter, place it in a sterilized container.
10. Keep the snack in a jar in a cold place for another 2-3 days and you can eat it. The easiest way to eat it is a crispy salad with onions and sunflower oil. Also cook delicious - a very satisfying dish for winter and autumn days.
Ferment delicious homemade cabbage in a saucepan: recipe with caraway seeds
By adding caraway seeds to sauerkraut, you will get a new pleasant aroma. It is this spice that is often placed in this preparation. If you wish, you can also add some dill seeds, bay leaves and allspice. Too many different spices can ruin the taste of the finished dish, so it’s better to stick to minimalism in this matter.
Ingredients:
- cabbage - 4 kg
- carrots - 3 pcs. average
- cumin seeds - 2 tsp.
- salt - 1 tbsp.
- sugar - 1 tbsp.
Preparation:
1.If you read the previous recipe, then you already know that all the steps are very simple. The carrots need to be grated on a coarse grater, and the cabbage should be chopped in any convenient way.
2. Place the white cabbage in a large basin or simply on the table. Sprinkle with sugar and salt. With clean hands, knead everything well. Add cumin seeds and stir again. At the end, add the carrots to the total mass and remember a little more so that the juice begins to stand out.
3.Place the vegetable mixture into an enamel pan, compacting it.
Vegetables should lie very tightly. Cover the entire surface with cabbage leaves to protect it from dust.
4.Now you need to put the workpiece under pressure. To do this, place a plate on the cabbage and place a jar of water. Almost everything, wait for the ripening to finish. This may happen in 2-5 days. At a temperature of 22 degrees you will need to wait three days.
5.But every day, morning and evening, it is necessary to release gas bubbles so as not to end up with a bitter product. This is done with a long wooden stick or a thin knife; the cabbage is pierced in several places. After piercing, put it under pressure again.
6.When the gas stops being released, transfer the fermented vegetables into jars, cover with lids and put in the refrigerator. After cooling, you can eat this snack. But after a few days the taste will be more intense. So it makes sense to wait a little.
Sauerkraut in jars with beets without sugar - step-by-step recipe
Recently I wrote how to do it. And in that case, the cutting of vegetables was large. In this recipe, the white cabbage is cut into fairly thin, long strips. And beets paint it a bright pink color, very appetizing.
Ingredients:
- Late varieties of cabbage - 1 large cabbage
- beets - 1 pc. average
- carrots - 1 pc. average
- garlic - 1 clove
- dill seeds - 1 tbsp.
- salt - 1 tbsp.
- cranberries or lingonberries - optional for decoration before serving
Cooking method:
1. Peel the carrots and beets and grate them on a fine grater (you can also use a coarse one). Chop the cabbage into strips.
By the way, it’s convenient to do this with a vegetable peeler, but first you need to practice a little. The result is beautiful, long stripes.
2. Place all the cuttings in a large bowl, add dill seeds and a finely chopped clove of garlic (you don’t have to add garlic). Add salt to taste. In fact, enough salt is added so that the salad is slightly saltier than when prepared fresh.
3. Using your hands, stir all the products until smooth, remembering them well.
4.Place the mashed vegetables into a jar, compacting them well. Cover the top with gauze or a lid (but not tightly) and leave to ferment in a warm place for 2-3 days. At least once a day, make punctures to the bottom with a knife or wooden skewer in several places.
The cabbage needs to be covered with juice. To do this, you can put a load in the form of a glass bottle of water. Or crush vegetables several times a day with a potato masher.
5.Place the finished salad in the refrigerator and after a day you can eat it. It turns out not only tasty, but also healthy. If desired, in addition to dill seeds, you can add coriander or cumin (1 tsp of these spices will be enough).
Classic recipe for making sauerkraut with cranberries in a bucket
To improve the taste when fermenting, add sour berries to the cabbage - cranberries, lingonberries. Thus, the usefulness of this workpiece increases. I suggest you try cooking vegetables with bright red berries.
Ingredients:
- cabbage - 8 kg
- carrots - 3 kg
- salt - 150 gr. (6 tbsp)
- cranberries - 0.5 kg (can be frozen)
How to cook:
1. In fact, you can ferment cabbage in any container - a jar, pan, bucket, barrel. Here are the ingredients for one ten-liter bucket. If you want to make less, please reduce the products proportionally.
About 3 kg of cabbage will fit in a three-liter jar, and 5 kg in a 5-liter pan, respectively.
2. Peel the carrots and grate them on a coarse grater. If you have a large amount of work, you can use the services of a food processor. The cabbage needs to be chopped into long strips. To do this, take a large knife (be sure to be well sharpened), a shredder, or again a food processor. Remove the top leaves, but do not throw them away, they will be useful later.
3. Wash the enamel bucket well. Place the remaining upper sheets at the bottom, which will protect the lower layers of the workpiece from pathogenic microbes.
4.Take a large bowl, mix a third of the cabbage, carrots and salt in it. While stirring, crush the vegetables well with your hands so that they begin to release juice. Transfer the resulting mixture into the prepared bucket and compact it thoroughly. Place half of the cranberries on top.
6.Cover the top with a wide dish and place pressure. In this case, the juice should completely cover the workpiece. Leave in a warm place to ferment for 3 days. The very next day the brine will become cloudy and carbon dioxide will begin to be released. To release these gases, pierce the cabbage with a wooden stick in several places, reaching the bottom of the bucket, twice a day throughout the fermentation period.
7.When the gases have ceased to be released, you need to put the vegetables in the cold, because in the heat they will simply spoil. On average, this happens on the fourth day (everything will depend on the temperature). To store, transfer the cabbage into glass jars, cover them with lids and put them in the cellar or refrigerator. Can be served after 2 days of cooling.
Before placing the cabbage in a glass container, it is recommended to lay it out on a table or in a basin and fluff it up. Ventilate to get rid of the unpleasant odor.
8. Sauerkraut can be added to vinaigrette, cabbage soup, or made into salads with the addition of green and onions, herbs, sugar, and vegetable oil. As you can see, preparing such a preparation is not difficult, and you will get a lot of benefits and taste.
By the way, we recently tested store-bought sauerkraut for quality. It turned out that almost all of it contains additives that are harmful to health. Therefore, draw your own conclusions and cook for yourself.
A quick way to ferment cabbage with brine in a 3-liter jar
Classically, cabbage ferments for about 3 days, give or take, depending on the temperature in the room. This is a quick recipe; the finished salad can be eaten within a day. And its difference from previous recipes is the presence of brine with the addition of water.
Ingredients:
- white cabbage - 1 pc. large
- carrots - 1 pc.
- sahra - 1 tbsp.
- salt - 1 tbsp.
- black peppercorns - 10 pcs.
- bay leaf - 3-4 pcs.
- boiled water - 1 l
Preparation:
1. Wash and chop the vegetables. Carrots - on a coarse grater or grater for Korean dishes. Chop the cabbage into long strips, about half a centimeter wide. Place the prepared foods in a bowl and remember them carefully. At the same time, they will decrease in volume and release juice.
2.Add spices, bay leaves and peppercorns to the overall suppressed mass and stir. If you don't like the flavor of these seasonings, don't use them. Place the vegetable mixture in the jar, pressing it down.
It is advisable to pour boiling water over the glass before laying it.
3.Make the simplest brine. For it you need to dissolve salt and sugar in cold boiled water. Pour this marinade over the cabbage and press down well again. Cover the top with a lid or napkin and leave in a warm place for a day.
4.The next day, try what happened. But know that sauerkraut is getting tastier every day, you may need to wait a little longer. Store this preparation in the refrigerator.
How to ferment cabbage for the winter in its own juice. Classic recipe for 10 kg
This is a classic recipe for sauerkraut, which ferments in its juice. A large quantity is prepared at once to provide for the winter. This preparation is stored well, but only in a cold place. I recommend preparing this recipe in November, when stable cold weather sets in and you can move the jars to the cellar or to an unheated loggia.
You can add all the additives that I mentioned in this article according to your taste and desire: bay leaf, peppercorns, caraway seeds, sour berries, apples, beets, dill seeds.
Ingredients:
- cabbage - 10 kg
- carrots - 1.5 kg
- salt - 250 gr.
Cooking method:
1. Peel all the carrots and grate them. Shred the cabbage. Since the amount of vegetables is large, to speed up the work you can use a food processor or a special grater, as in the photo.
2.Take a large container for fermentation. This can be a bucket or a large pan with a capacity of 10-20 liters. In a bowl, mix cabbage, carrots and salt in parts. There is no need to crush it too much, just stirring will be enough. Pour the vegetables into the prepared clean container and press them well with your hand so that they lie tightly. Continue placing the vegetables into the bowl in parts, compacting them.
There won’t be any juice right away; it will appear a little later, the next day. But the snack according to this recipe will turn out very crispy.
3.Do not fill the container to the top. During fermentation, the cabbage will rise and juice may leak out, so leave some free space for these processes. Cover the top of the workpiece with cabbage leaves, place a plate and place a weight.
4.Keep the cabbage warm for two days. When bubbles begin to appear (within a day or less), pierce the workpiece with a wooden stick daily to release the gas. If this is not done, the finished product will taste bitter.
5.After 2-3 days, place the fermented vegetables in clean jars and put them in a cool place, maybe on the balcony. Keep it in the cold for another 5 days, after which you can already eat this juicy, tasty and crispy snack. Also use this cabbage to make pies, stew it, put it in vinaigrette and cabbage soup. In general, bon appetit!
Recipe for sauerkraut in a barrel without brine with sugar
If you have a wooden barrel, then use it to ferment vegetables, as our grandmothers did. This recipe uses black bread to speed up the fermentation process, which adds a pleasant aroma to the finished snack. Take only late varieties of cabbage, and when ready, store it in a cold place, but make sure that the temperature does not fall below zero degrees.
Ingredients:
- cabbage - 10 kg
- carrots - 1 kg
- salt - 250 gr.
- sugar - 50 gr.
- black peppercorns - 15 gr.
- rye bread - 50 gr.
Preparation:
1. The barrel needs to be prepared in advance. To do this, wash it and fill it with warm water (up to 40 degrees) overnight. This way the wood will swell and be as airtight as possible.
2.Now proceed to the most labor-intensive process - chopping the vegetables. The cabbage needs to be chopped, but not too finely or thinly, otherwise it will be too soft when finished. Grate the carrots on a coarse grater or cut into strips using a food processor.
Do not chop all the vegetables at once, do it in parts and mix, as the volume is large.
3. Now you have chopped one cabbage (without the top leaves and stalks) - put the pieces in a basin (a little more than kg). Add a couple of carrots, a tablespoon of salt and a teaspoon of sugar. Also add 3-5 peppercorns. Mix with your hands and you can try. If you want, add salt or sweeten to taste.
4. Place a piece of stale rye bread at the bottom of the barrel. It can also be replaced with a tablespoon of rye flour.
5. Cover the entire surface of the bottom with cabbage leaves, covering the bread.
6.Place the mixed vegetables into the barrel and press down very well with your hands, compacting. Thus, continue to make the preparation, mixing cabbage with carrots and spices in parts. Do not fill the barrel to the very top, leave room for oppression.
When the entire container is filled, press down the future snack with your hand. If juice comes out, it means everything is done correctly and well.
7. Cover the entire workpiece with gauze folded in two layers or with cabbage leaves. Cover with the small lid that comes with the barrel or plate. Place the pressure and close the barrel with its original lid. After 12 hours, vigorous fermentation will begin (you just need to leave the vegetables warm), carbon dioxide will begin to be released and lactic acid will form.
8. Once a day, pierce all the vegetables to the bottom to release gases and get rid of the unpleasant smell (before this, remove the pressure, after piercing, put it back on). Keep the workpiece warm for 2 days.
9.On the third day, take the cabbage outside or onto the balcony, where the temperature is on average 8 degrees. Keep the sour snack in this mode for another 3-4 days, remembering to pierce it daily.
10. The juice of the finished sauerkraut will subside and will not be visible on the surface. When pierced, bubbles will no longer come out, and the snack will taste crispy.
11.Now store the finished cabbage in a cool place. This could be a street, if there is no frost yet, or a cellar. Try this recipe and get valuable vitamins in winter.
Cabbage in brine, pickled with apples
If you have never made sauerkraut with apples before, then you need to correct this gap. It is apples that give this snack its special aroma and taste. In addition, according to this recipe, the fruit and vegetable mixture is filled with brine, which in about a week will be very tasty and rich. It will be done in a three-liter jar, which everyone has on the farm.
Ingredients for 3 liters:
- cabbage - 2.3 kg
- carrots - 3 pcs. average
- apples - 4-6 pcs. average
- water - 2 l
- salt - 2 tbsp.
- sugar - 2 tbsp.
The amount of water is indicated with a small reserve so that it is definitely enough.
How to cook:
1. This recipe is very simple, any novice housewife can prepare delicious cabbage using it. First, boil water, add salt and sugar and dissolve them. Let the brine cool to room temperature.
2.Mix cabbage, shredded into medium pieces, and grated carrots in a large container. Add 1 tsp. salt from the total amount, stir again, mashing the vegetables a little. There is no need to press hard, as in recipes without brine.
3.Cut the apples into large slices or halves. The method of cutting apples can be any way, it all depends on preference.
4.In a clean jar, washed with soda or mustard powder, begin laying cabbage in layers (you need to tamp it down with your hand) and apples. The top layer should be vegetable.
5.Pour the cooled brine into the filled jar. Place the mixture in a bowl or saucepan to allow the juice that will rise during fermentation to drain. Cover the top of the jar with a lid (not tightly) or gauze. Leave in a warm place for 2-3 days. During this time, twice a day you need to pierce the cabbage with a wooden skewer so that gas bubbles come out.
When pierced, the brine will go down, so you will need to add the juice that flowed out of it into the pan into the jar.
6.The cabbage should be covered with liquid throughout the fermentation process. For this purpose, you can put a small pressure - a small jar of water or a glass bottle. After two days, try what happened. If there is still not enough crunch, or too much acid, then let the snack sit for another day. Next, put it in the refrigerator for storage.
Such wonderful cabbage can be served both on a festive table and on an everyday basis. Pickled apples will also be very tasty, try it. When stored in vegetables, mucus and unpleasant odor do not appear.
How to cook sauerkraut with horseradish, beets and garlic: video recipe
This recipe differs from the others in the way the cabbage is cut. Usually this vegetable is chopped into strips. Large pieces are also fermented here. For taste, color and aroma, beets, garlic and horseradish are added. And all this wealth is filled with brine.
Let me clarify right away: first, this winter preparation needs to be put under pressure for 2 days and kept at room temperature. Next, put it in a cool place (for example, a refrigerator) for another 3 days without removing the pressure. In total, after 5 days (possibly later), the vegetables will ferment and can be eaten. After five days, remove the pressure and cover with a lid.
These are the ways to ferment cabbage in the classic way. As you can see, there are quite a lot of them, there is plenty to choose from. The main thing is not to be lazy and delight yourself with such a healthy and crispy preparation. I wish everyone a delicious winter!
Preface
Sauerkraut for the winter is one of the most delicious, healthy and popular pickles. They love it as a separate dish and without it it is impossible to prepare some others (vinaigrette, cabbage soup, etc.) that are truly tasty. Sauerkraut is healthier than fresh cabbage - not only does it retain all the vitamins and microelements present in the vegetable cut from the garden, but it also adds active healing substances formed during the fermentation of the product.
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.
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.
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.
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 it 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.
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.