My Homemade Sauerkraut

I was inspired to make my own sauerkraut from the Homemade Sausage Making site (Wedliny Domowe). I ordered a gallon jar with an air lock. It came this morning so I went to the grocery and bought two heads of cabbage to get a batch started. I used a head and about a third of the second one. I got it sliced and in the jar, salted and stomped with water to cover. I have water in the air lock and it is on its way to becoming sauerkraut in about 30 days.

If you want you can spend about $100 US dollars for a fermenting crock there are several nice ones on the market. I chose the cheaper route and bought a gallon jar that came with a lid with a grommet in it and a plastic airlock. It also came with three glass weights to hold down the sauerkraut under the liquid.
I bought it for $26 from culturesforhealth.com and that included the shipping cost.

I decided to move it to my heated workshop to sit until done. That way no one can complain about any smell. I keep my workshop at 40 deg. F in the winter and will just have to heat it to 72 deg. until my sauerkraut is done. That will make it kind of expensive so it better taste good!

Years ago I made some sauerkraut in a five gallon crock. My Dad had given me some homegrown cabbage to use. It was good but I had to listen to my wife complain about the smell in the house.

I also remember making cherry wine. That was over 40 years ago; we lived in an old brick house with a basement. We had a cherry tree so had plenty of fresh cherries. My wife’s cousin made a lot of wine and gave me a quick recipe. He said just cover it with cloth and after two weeks it is done, cap it off and let it age. I had the gallon jug of wine sitting on an old wood chair. A few days after capping it I went to check on it. When I opened the basement I could see the jug was not on the chair. I ask my wife what she did with it; she said I never touched it. When I investigated I found cherry juice and little pieces of glass all over the chair and floor! I did make another batch that turned out good but this time I used a balloon on the jug until it stopped working.

I will update this in about 30 days when the kraut is done.

Gallon jug, air lock, and glass weights

Shredding the cabbage

Sauerkraut at day 1

Update Feb 07 2013

My sauerkraut was done today after 29 days fermenting. I got 2 3/4 quarts of kraut and a pint of extra juice. It tasted great, smelled like kraut too. It was not as sour as I would have thought. It looked good and I had no scum on top. I should have been good on the salt, I had 2 TBS to about 4 lbs of cabbage. It was about 10 hours ago when I ate the sample and drank a little of the juice. I am still alive so it must be good! I will be smoking some Kielbasa tomorrow and in a crockpot with some of this kraut.

Putting in jars

Ready for the fridge and to use