Interactive lesson

Sauerkraut in a crock, step by step

Interactive lesson: a crock that feeds the house until spring — cabbage and crock, shredded kraut, packing and weight, whole heads for cabbage rolls, fermentation, taking it out and jars.

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The whole lesson as text

1. Cabbage and crock

One 80-litre crock (about 20 US gallons), filled in November, gives cabbage rolls, braised kraut and brine all the way to April.

How much cabbage — For winter, roughly 15–25 kg of cabbage per adult equivalent (AE), fresh and fermented together. A family of 3.1 AE needs a crock of 50–80 L.
Late, firm cabbage — Harvest in October and November, when the heads are firm. Dense drumhead types such as Krautman F1, Late Flat Dutch, Brunswick or Danish Ballhead are good for shredding and whole heads.
Rest and leaves — Leave the heads 1–2 days somewhere cool and airy. Keep 5–10 nice green leaves for covering.
The crock — Soak a wooden barrel for 2–3 days until it stops leaking, changing the water every day. A plastic barrel only with a food-use mark, never one that held chemicals, oil or paint.

Why: Only late, white cabbage with firm, heavy heads is good for the crock. Early summer cabbage has little sugar and too much water, so it goes soft.

Don't fill one huge crock: two smaller ones (e.g. 2 × 40 L) are easier to handle, and if one spoils, the other is still there.
Heads with rot in the heart, black spots or caterpillar damage inside don't go in the crock. Light frost down to −3 °C (27 °F) doesn't hurt cabbage.

2. Shredded kraut: salt and shredding

Shredded kraut is grated cabbage, dry-salted, that within a day or two floats in its own brine.

Trim and weigh — Trim the heads, cut out the core and weigh the cabbage after trimming.
Shred thinly — On a grater or mandoline, into strips of 1–2 mm.
Salt is weighed — 2.25 % of the cabbage weight: 225 g of salt per 10 kg (200–250 g). It isn't reduced “to taste”.
Portions and spices — Divide the salt into 4–5 equal portions, one per layer. If you like, bay leaves, black peppercorns, caraway, quince or horseradish.

Why: Salt draws juice out of the cabbage, and the exact amount decides everything. Below 150 g per 10 kg the cabbage often goes soft; above 300 g it doesn't sour properly and turns dark or pink.

The salt is non-iodised. For 10 kg of trimmed cabbage you need 12–13 kg of heads.
If the kraut is too salty for your taste, rinse it before eating; don't cut the salt in the crock.