How to Make Sauerkraut-Simple Step-by-Step Tutorial + Video
Sauerkraut is super easy to make and it’s only two ingredients, cabbage and salt! I added garlic and siracha just to add a little asian kick but this recipe is perfect just plain!
There’s only a few tips to making sure this turns out.
Use the right about of salt: Use 1.5-2 tsp Kosher salt per lb of cabbage.
Keep everything sanitized. Sterilize all your equipment in dishwasher. Or spray with half and half vinegar/water solution (Rinse, and let dry).
Store in optimal temperature. A temperature range of 65-70°F (18-21°C) degrees is ideal.
Make sure your cabbage is packed down nicely with no air pockets, and tamp down kraut every day after 2nd day to make sure air pockets are released.
You may also encounter the below:
-In the first few days of fermenting your kraut can taste overly salted. Don’t worry, our first inclination is to want to fix this but let the fermentation do it’s thing and the salt level will mellow out.
-You may also think there’s not enough liquid in there but just make sure you tamp your kraut down every day after second day. Also, more liquid will be created and released from the cabbage during fermentation. Your jar may overflow with liquids even with a lid on, just pour some of the liquid off the top (if this happens) and always try to keep at least 1” of air space on top of the jar.
INGREDIENTS
2 lbs Cabbage
3 tsp of Kosher salt
1 smashed garlic clove (optional, if you don’t want it more funky, leave this out)
1-2 tbs of Siracha (optional, I used two for a nice kick)
PREPARATION
Weigh your cabbage to figure out how much salt is needed.
Remove the outer dirty leaves of your cabbage and any outer leaves that are damaged or browned and discard.
Cut out the core, cut and rinse & drain the cabbage & cut into quarters and into small slices.
Place in a large bowl. Sprinkle the calculated amount of salt over your cabbage. Use your hands and lightly toss and let sit for 5 min. Then lightly toss again and let sit for another 5 min.
Massage the cabbage with your hands for a few minutes. At this point your cabbage should release a good amount of liquid, keep on kneading and massaging cabbage until your cabbage has lost about half of its mass. You should be able to pick up a handful of kraut, squeeze, and see its juices squeeze out (if this happens, your ready to go to next step).
Add Siracha and garlic and lightly mix with hands until all the Siracha has been evenly coated and distributed.
Pack the cabbage firmly into a very clean glass container or fermenting vessel and pour all the remaining liquid from bowl on top.
Place some weights, or a layer of Syran wrap to top of cabbage so that there is no air between top of cabbage and plastic film.
If for some reason you don’t have brine doesn't completely cover the cabbage you can top off with a 2% solution of salt water (1 teaspoon salt per cup of water).
Screw a plastic lid onto the jar (don’t use metal, it will eventually rust). Let ferment at room temperature for about a week or until your kraut is as sour as you like it. This can take anywhere from 1–4 weeks. Mine is usually done in about a week and a half at optimal room temp.
Daily tamp: down jar. Some pockets of air will be natural is the ferment produces bubbles and they get trapped. Just give it a tamp everyday after the 2nd day and press down to release extra air bubbles.
A note about surface growth & mold. If you do everything correctly you shouldn’t encounter any mold. I’m not an expert about mold, so refer to the below or google to troubleshoot, and if in doubt through it out.
The most important thing I can say is that if you see any colored molds like black, green or any other colors other than white, THROW it out immediately.
The most common problem with fermenting vegetables is surface growth. This yeasts and/or molds are created by oxygen. If this scum like surface is produced, our first inclination is to think it’s bad mold and throw it out (don’t do that, you can remove as much of the scum and discolored or soft kraut from the top and toss). From Sandor Katz, the king of wild fermentation, “The fermented vegetables beneath will generally look, smell, and taste fine. The surface growth can break up as you remove it, making it impossible to remove all of it. Don’t worry.”
The most common growth with saurkraut is Kahm yeast. This typically shows up on the surface of a kraut top (Kahm yeast can appear as a flat, thin, white to cream-colored powder on the surface) when ferment hasn’t reached enough acidity.