Log In
Register
Home
Topic RSS
11:48 am
But does anyone know how to make sauerkraut…my german grandma use to, but didnt ever tell me anything about it.
12:03 pm
December 28, 2008
Offline
Saw instructions for it not long ago. Hmmm. Now where was that…
It involved a huge crock, cabbage, salt, a brick and a plate. But you probably already knew that!
12:12 pm
I have my recipe at home. I can post it tonite. Okay not my recipe, my MIL's handed down through the generations. I think it's cabbage salt and vinegar. In the big crock like Pete said. You put the plate on to top weighted down so that the cabbage stays submerged and ferments. MIL makes her own kraut and the best crock dill pickles. She hasn't given that recipe up yet tho!
12:19 pm
I used to help my neighbor "around the hill" put up kraut. The only thing required of me was a confession…I couldn't be on my period while doing this – it would spoil the kraut!
I grew up planting by the moon – the signs – the best days for this and that. I still use some of it. My science project for school one year involved all of this. I did experiments – interviews – it was quite fascinating and educational.
You may be thinking – yeah – quite bizarre. Well, don't poo-poo it until you've tried it! 
2:08 pm
Ok, so I have the crock and the plate and the brick. I am ready when yall are.
2:26 pm
GeorgiaZ said:
But does anyone know how to make sauerkraut…my german grandma use to, but didnt ever tell me anything about it.
The second year I lived on a farm in Wisconsin Jim (1st husband) got a HUGE box of cabbage from someone and brought it home. There is only so much cole slaw one can eat, so I decided I'd make sauerkraut. I got out my cookbook and borrowed a crock, and started shredding. (All I had was a cutting board and a sharp knife — I really wanted a mandolin – that thing with a blade you can use to slice vegetables. Hard to explain.)
My biggest problem was that the recipe called for X amount of salt for every pound of cabbage. Well, I didn't purchase the cabbage, so I didn't get it weighed for me at the store, and I didn't even own a bathroom scale so I could step on it holding a bowl of cabbage, so I estimated the weight, and added the salt, packed it in the crock, covered the top with cheesecloth and the plate and a brick, and set it on the cool steps down to the basement. Near enough to tend to, cool enough so it wouldn't rot.
I waited, and waited, and nothing happened. Not one thing. I checked it – and checked it – and after a month it was still as fresh and squeaky as when I packed it in the crock. So I gave up and canned it anyway. It turns out I had added at least double the salt the recipe called for, and so much salt that I cured the cabbage instead of fermenting it. The canned cabbage was good – after you washed it thoroughly when you opened the jar to get most of the salt off.
Moral – get a scale. Don't ask me to help you make kraut.
3:00 pm
September 1, 2008
Offline
I never thought about making kraut but it could be interesting to try! Wait a minute I need a 10 gallon crock..just forget it!
http://www.motherearthnews.com…..kraut.aspx
3:28 pm
December 28, 2008
Offline
You could use a smaller crock, if you don't have quite 80# of cabbage… 
3:46 pm
Pete said:
You could use a smaller crock, if you don't have quite 80# of cabbage…
I don't personally have enough friends and family to consume 80# of saurkraut in the next five years!
4:12 pm
You can use any size crock, just adapt your ingredients to the size. MIL used a 25 gallon crock.
4:30 pm
Jayne said:
You can use any size crock, just adapt your ingredients to the size. MIL used a 25 gallon crock.
Wow! 25 gallons! I can't even fathom how much sauerkraut that would be. The Korean equivalent would probably be kimchi — I got to go to Korea (Seoul) for an audit in 1994. I commented to my driver about the beautiful urns on the porches of some of the homes we passed on the way to the army base. He told me they held the family's kimchi – each family had a recipe and each claimed theirs was the best of course. These urns were big enough to hold a ten-year old kid standing up! And the urn's contents would barely last the family for a year until they started the next batch.
4:31 pm
December 28, 2008
Offline
With us spread out all over the world as we are, can you imagine the smell we could generate amongst ourselves if we all started fermenting cabbage at the same time? Could get mighty interesting!
5:01 pm
WV_Hills said:
Jayne said:
You can use any size crock, just adapt your ingredients to the size. MIL used a 25 gallon crock.
Wow! 25 gallons! I can't even fathom how much sauerkraut that would be. The Korean equivalent would probably be kimchi — I got to go to Korea (Seoul) for an audit in 1994. I commented to my driver about the beautiful urns on the porches of some of the homes we passed on the way to the army base. He told me they held the family's kimchi – each family had a recipe and each claimed theirs was the best of course. These urns were big enough to hold a ten-year old kid standing up! And the urn's contents would barely last the family for a year until they started the next batch.
Oh I love kimchi!!! going in that is. Going out not so much!
MIL makes kraut for the family. Well, the family that's up there. We do get a few jars, but since we fly back and forth it's hard to transport. And I'd rather have the pickles! I love the pickles!
Most Users Ever Online: 120
Currently Online: wvhomecanner, BuckeyeGirl, mommafox, agtaglink
19 Guest(s)
Currently Browsing this Page:
1 Guest(s)
Top Posters:
Leahld22: 2676
Ross: 1950
MaryB: 1777
JeannieB: 1477
Shells: 1184
Member Stats:
Guest Posters: 13
Members: 5888
Moderators: 3
Admins: 4
Forum Stats:
Groups: 1
Forums: 14
Topics: 2994
Posts: 57778
Newest Members: christiewahlert, basketsldj, joycelorelle, Leah Beth, bwshook, Amy
Moderators: Pete (7965), wvhomecanner (3063), Flatlander (1555)
Administrators: Suzanne McMinn (7255), emiline220 (15), CindyP (7770), BuckeyeGirl (4362)
Sections
Latest Posts on the Farmhouse Blog:
- May 24, 2012 - Bread 911!
- May 23, 2012 - Get This Print!
- May 22, 2012 - Second Place Ribbon
Sign up for the Chickens in the Road Newsletter, too!
