by Margaret Krome-Lukens

Sauerkraut is easy: chop cabbage, add salt, and let it sit! It’s also delicious and healthy; it is a lacto-fermented food, and so when you eat kraut you are also eating lots of lactobacillus bacteria (the same kind you find in yogurt, but in greater quantities!). These bacteria are great for your digestion and also help your immune system fight infection. Plus, you get to eat sauerkraut! It’s a triple win!

Ingredients & Supplies: (This recipe fills approx. two quart jars)
2 small or one large fresh cabbage, green or red
kosher or sea salt
water
quart-sized mason jars or other glass or ceramic
fermenting vessel
kitchen scale

Optional:
1 green garlic
3 carrots
2 tsp. mustard seeds
2 tsp. cumin seeds
ginger

Sauerkraut is a very forgiving ferment, and there are many ways to make it! Here are two:

The Classic Way:

Remove cabbage core and chop cabbage into thin slivers, and weigh. Put into a bowl.
Add the salt at a ratio of 3 Tbsp. of salt per 5 lbs. of cabbage.
Mix up the salt and the cabbage, and “massage” the cabbage a bit. The salt helps pull the water out of the cabbage.
(optional) Chop up the other veggies (I prefer thin slices or slivers) and mix in with the cabbage.
Pack the mixture densely into your mason jars or crock. Let sit for about an hour.
After about an hour there should be more liquid in your cabbage. Pack it down with your fist or a wooden spoon.
Weigh it down — I like to use a clean pint glass with some water in it.
If the brine is not covering the cabbage after 24 hours, mix up some salt water (1-2 tsp. salt to 1 cup of water) and use it to cover the rest of the cabbage. The fermentation is an anaerobic process so the cabbage needs to stay under the liquid.
Weigh it down and cover it with a cloth to keep out the dust and bugs.

The Easier Way:

Remove cabbage core and chop cabbage into thin slivers.
(optional) Chop up the other veggies (I prefer thin slices or slivers) and mix in with the cabbage.
Mix up a few cups of salt water so that it tastes like ocean water
Pack the cabbage and other veggies densely into your mason jars or crock
Pour the salt water into the jars or crock so that it covers the cabbage. The fermentation is an anaerobic process, so the cabbage needs to stay under the liquid.
Pack down the cabbage some more to remove as many air bubbles as possible.
Weigh it down — I like to use a clean pint glass with some water in it. Cover the whole thing with a cloth to keep out dust and bugs. The cabbage will “settle” and let out more liquid which may make your jar overflow. Put it on a plate if you want to keep your counter dry.

Final Instructions for Both Methods:

Check it every few days for taste and to make sure the cabbage is staying covered. If a white filmy mold begins to grow on the top, no problem — just scrape it off. It’s not dangerous, it just doesn’t taste good.
When the kraut tastes the way you want it to (for me this takes about two weeks — some people leave it much longer), put it in the fridge. It will keep there for months!
Kraut will ferment faster in when it’s warm, slower when it’s cold. Room temperature is fine.
Use glass or ceramic containers, not metal, when you are making kraut; metal reacts with the brine.