How to make homemade sauerkraut
How to make homemade sauerkraut (step by step)
You may have heard that sauerkraut was a German invention, but that’s not necessarily true! Who knew!?
Do you know that the sauerkraut is a German invention? It is the most famous food in Germany and in fact the word “Sauerkraut” means “sour cabbage” in German. And now it has become famous in other areas of the world.
Many of you have tried Fermented Sauerkraut before and may not and some of you have tried but now the same way which i am about to tell you.
how to make homemade sauerkraut in 4 steps
In this guide, I am going to tell you how to make sauerkraut with as many cabbages as you want. You can use one cabbage or you can use hundreds of cabbages. It’s up to you.
The main thing which you want to understand is that this sauerkraut is done at two percent. So basically you are gonna need to get two things: one is salt and the other is cabbage
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Slice the cabbage
The first thing which you need to do first is slice the cabbage. You can do it with the knife but to make this process easy, fast and safe you can use a cabbage shredder/slicer.
There are some of the best Cabbage Shredder for Sauerkraut and you can check it on cookwarespace.
We recommend you to cut them into half and into quarters with a knife and then slice it with a shredder so you will get very thin pieces.
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Weigh the cabbage
After getting finished cutting, take your sliced cabbage, weigh it and once you have the weight of that in grams you are then going to multiplying that by point zero to the number that you get after that is the weight of salt that you need to use that is 2% of the weight of the cabbage.
If you don’t get my point then use this example if the total weight of the cabbage is 2000 grams -
Mix with the Salt & Massage the cabbage
Now once you have got the number, sprinkle the salt all over the cabbage and toss it and squeeze and knead cabbage, almost like a lettuce ido. This is because you want to get the liquid to release as much as possible. Don’t worry about bruising because that is the kind of the whole point here and you are gonna need to do that for about 2 to 5 minutes, depending upon how strong you are.
Once your cabbage is released a lot of water and it is then going to an appropriate sized glass jar or glass container. For me, I use a half-gallon mason jar.
And then really firmly press it in there.
I used a muddler to sort of really press it out and expel those juices and the whole point here is to press it down hard enough so the juice rises above the actual vegetable to cover it in a brine of its own liquid.
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Pack the sauerkraut
Next, once you have got the liquid just go ahead and cover it with something like plastic wrap or plastic bag filled with water and then add a little pinch bowl on top to help weigh it down. You have to also figure out a mason jar with an airlock.
After going through all the processes keep it at room temperature for two to three weeks. If you ask from me what time is preferred then I will say I prefer 2 weeks. Some people go even longer but I would say two to three weeks is the sweet spot.
After making it with which food it suits most?
You can use it on a nice broth with some whole-grain German mustard in a bun and that’s always nice. You can use it on a Reuben or wherever you want, the list goes on and on.
Where to store?
Once it’s done make sure to screw the lid on and store it in your refrigerator and it will stay good for quite a while. By the way, Refrigerator plays an important role in our daily life.
Things to remember when making sauerkraut at home:
- It is best to use High-quality salt and Filtered water for making homemade sauerkraut.
- Try to avoid using regular table salt. Instead, you should use Pickling salt, grey salt and Himalayan Pink Salt.
- In order to pack Sauerkraut, you can use a Mason Jar.
Benefits of Fermented Sauerkraut:
Like any other fermented food, fermented sauerkraut is also becoming a part of daily food, it is because there are alot of benefits of using Fermented sauerkraut. When cabbage is massaged with salt and when kept for a week or few days, lactobacillus gets start to populate.
Lactobacillus is the type of bacteria that is beneficial and is found in many other fermented foods For Example yogurt.
This bacteria helps in increasing the gut bacteria. It has been observed that when you consume Fermented Sauerkraut daily, then it will improve your digestion system, reduce the risk of cancer, increase immunity and help decline inflammation.
You may not know but it contains k2 mk7 vitamins. This is the vitamin that no one is getting enough. But you can have it if you use sauerkraut.
Homemade sauerkraut VS STORE BOUGHT
Of Course, there is a great difference when it comes to cost and Saving. But there are other thighs involved like satisfaction, creativity, and quality especially when you make it your own at home.
Homemade Sauerkraut is full of probiotics” and that is beneficial for the digestion system and it boosts your immune system as well.
On the other hand, if we talk about store-bought sauerkraut then it has sugar and that devastates the keto diet plan, and if you want to confirm that you can read the labels.
Conclusion
Homemade sauerkraut has a lot of benefits when it comes to improving the digestion system, immune system, and it in fact can cope with anxiety also.
If you have never tried it before and want to see the results by yourself then you can. But we strongly recommend you to give it a try.