With a little patience, you can easily make a delicious organic sauerkraut from home. The prep time is quick, but the fermenting process can take from one to four weeks. Once that’s done, you’ll have the best sauerkraut ever!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 lb head of cabbage
- 3 3/4 tsp to 5 tsp salt (or about 1 1/2 to 2 tsp per lb of cabbage)
Preparation
- Weigh your cabbage to see how much salt you should use.
- Remove and discard the outer (and any damaged) leaves of your cabbage. Cut out the core and rinse the cabbage well, allowing the water to flow between the cabbage leaves. Drain.
- Reserve 1 outer leaf of cabbage. Thinly shred the remaining cabbage with a knife or food processor. Place in a large bowl. Sprinkle the calculated amount of salt over the cabbage and toss well. Let sit for 15 minutes.
- Massage the cabbage with your hands for 5 minutes. The cabbage should release a good amount of liquid during this time.
- Pack the cabbage firmly into a very clean glass quart jar. Pour the liquid that was released during kneading on top.
- Cut a circle the same diameter as your jar out of the reserved cabbage leaf. Place it on top of the packed cabbage.
- Place a weight on top of the cabbage to ensure that it stays under the brine. If the brine doesn’t completely cover the cabbage, top off with a 2% solution of salt water (1 tsp salt per cup of water).
- Screw a plastic lid onto the jar. Place the jar in a rimmed pan (to catch any overflow) and allow to ferment at room temperature until the kraut is as sour as you like it. This can take anywhere from one to four weeks.
After it’s done fermenting, store the sauerkraut in the refrigerator.
Health Benefits of Sauerkraut
Sauerkraut provides a healthy dose of probiotics and vitamin K2. Probiotics help improve your immune system and digestion–and can even help you lose weight! Probiotics provide a healthy gut lining and as we know, gut health in an integral piece of both mental and physical health. Vitamin K2 is rare in a western diet, but should be added to yours when possible. This vitamin prevent blood clotting and chronic heart diseases. It also strengthens your bone and heart health.
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