Homemade Sauerkraut, Filled with Antibiotics, Fiber and Probiotics

Homemade sauerkraut is an excellent addition to your meanls. Fermented foods are filled with beneficial enzymes, b-vitamins, Omega-3 fatty acids, and various strains of probiotics

This sauerkraut recipe from WellnessMama has all the benefits of traditional fermented foods including the abundance of natural probiotics.

Important Notes:

• If you can tolerate dairy, you can speed up the fermentation by adding 1/4 cup of whey per gallon made. Here’s how to make whey.
• This recipe can be scaled up or down. I’ve made it in gallon size glass jars with 3-4 heads of cabbage, 3-4 tablespoons of salt and 1/4 cup whey.
• If you can’t tolerate dairy but want to speed up the fermentation, you can start by buying a jar of Bubbies or similar traditionally fermented sauerkraut and then use the juice from that in place of the whey.
• Once you have achieved the desired fermentation, it is very important to store in the fridge. Recipe follows...

Homemade Sauerkraut

Prep time: 20 mins

Total time: 20 mins

Author: Wellness Mama

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 25 lbs of cabbage
• 1 cup (approximate) Kosher or Pickling Salt (not table salt!)
• Large Crock or Container (around 5 gallons size, needs to be glass or enamel coated)
• 2 large plastic zip-lock bags (2-gallon freezer bags are best)

Instructions

1. Sanitize crock and utensils in the dishwasher or with boiling water
2. remove outer leaves and cores from cabbage
3. Thinly slice cabbage-using a food processor greatly speeds this up!
4. As you slice, mix 4 tbsp salt with every 5 lbs of cabbage and let stand in a bowl to wilt a little
5. When juice starts to form on cabbage/salt mixture, pack tightly into crock using sanitized utensils or clean hands
6. Repeat this until cabbage is within about 4-5 inches of the top of the container
7. Pack down until the water level rises above cabbage and all cabbage is entirely submerged
8. If there is not enough liquid to cover cabbage, make a brine with 1½ tbsp salt in 1 quart of water. add cooled brine to crock until all cabbage is completely covered
9. Once cabbage is submerged, fill a 2-gallon food-grade freezer bag with 2 quarts of water. place inside another 2-gallon bag
10. Place brine-filled bag on top of cabbage in the crock, making sure that it touched all edges and prevents air from reaching cabbage.
11. Cover crock with plastic wrap and cloth or towel. tie tightly.
12. Put crock in an area that will be between 70 and 75 degrees.
13. Fermentation will begin within a day and take 3-5 weeks depending on temperature.
14. After 3 weeks, check for the desired tartness. If you are going to can, make it slightly more tart than usual as it will lose some tartness.
15. Once fermented, it can be eaten right away, frozen or canned according to your canner’s instructions.

Notes

Do not use aluminum utensils! These quantities make enough to fill a five-gallon crock. You can adjust the recipe down and make in gallon size jars or smaller, just use a ratio of 4 tbsp salt per 5 lbs cabbage.

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Original article: wellnessmama.com/663/homemade-sauerkraut/

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