Saturday, January 10, 2015

The Homemade Sauerkraut Experiment

We received the book Fermented Vegetables by Kirsten and Christopher Shockey for Christmas last year, and Zach's first experiment was sauerkraut. We've tried to make sauerkraut in the past but never succeeded in yielding anything close to tasty. They were always too salty or too funky. We didn't want to risk kidney failure or die from ingesting mold, so those batches of failed sauerkraut always ended up in the garbage disposal.

One of the best part of Shockey's recipe, is that it allows you to make fermented vegetables in small batches. Other great things? You add ingredients, like salt, to taste. You don't need any fancy equipment or containers either. A simple mason jar would do. Since our local grocery store sells cabbage for $0.39 a head, we decided it was worth trying to make some sauerkraut again.

First things first ... thinly slice your head of cabbage.


Then add some salt, and work the cabbage until brine develops.


Pack cabbage tightly in a mason jar so there is no air pockets.


We used some water in a ziplock bag to weigh the cabbage down.


A week later, we conducted a taste test. And ...


it was perfect! So we ate some, and packed the rest back into the jar for storage in the refrigerator.


And just like that, our first kitchen experiment for the year is declared a success!

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