Sauerkraut, salted fermented cabbage was
always one of the stables of food storage here in the North. In the
early days of Michigan's settlement a good supply of sauerkraut was
literally a lifesaver.
In the Saginaw valley in the early days of settlement a party of Michigan's first settlers almost died completely off because they hadn't made enough sauerkraut, to keep them through the winter. ...
Sauerkraut to keep a family over the winter is pretty easy to make. Use the firm heads of at least 30 cabbage/ 50 pounds of cabbage. You will also need at least 2 pounds of course non iodized salt.
It will take about two to three hours to make this, and you will have to salt it and ferment the sauerkraut for about 21 days plus (three weeks)
Get a good sized wooden barrel or pottery crock. Scrub it very very thoroughly, set it on boards so air will flow around it well in a cool corner of your cellar.
pick of then outer leaves off the cabbage heads , save the perfect looking leaves.
Line the bottom of the barrel with 10 to 12 of the large leaves.
Slice each cabbage head into two and cut out the cabbage hearts, (the solid core in the center) then set aside 3 or four heads of cabbage.
Now shred the cabbage heads with a sharp knife. When you are done shredding it, the cabbage should look like a mountain of small pieces of cabbage. Mix the salt together with the shredded cabbage.
Pack the salted shredded cabbage down into the barrel, pressing each layer of shredded cabbage down heavily. Cover the barrel of shredded cabbage when filled with about twenty perfect outside cabbage leaves. Top it with a lid or plate only slightly smaller then the barrel or crock. Weight this down with a heavy clean large rock weight. This is to keep the salted shredded cabbage mixture down.
After about a week, check to see if the brine is forming well. It should be covering the cabbage after ten days. If you need to at that point add more brine made up of 1 ounce of salt to 2 cups of water.
Keep the sauerkraut cabbage covered with brine and weighted down, it must not be permitted to come in contact with air.
The cabbage will ferment and in about three weeks will be ready to eat.
To store over winter keep checking your barrel every week all winter skim off the fermentation foam and if need be add more brine to keep it covered. It should keep all winter till the spring greens are coming up in the fields and will provide not only a tasty food but a very good and valuable source of vitamin C to fight off scurvy.
One of my cousins read this and told me to "Get with the times" She uses a 5 gallon food grade bucket to make her sauerkraut in. She also uses a plastic cover over the chopped salted cabbage to weigh it down and she uses water filled milk jugs on top of that. I thought I would share Melonie's little addition to modernized home sauerkraut production.
In the Saginaw valley in the early days of settlement a party of Michigan's first settlers almost died completely off because they hadn't made enough sauerkraut, to keep them through the winter. ...
Sauerkraut to keep a family over the winter is pretty easy to make. Use the firm heads of at least 30 cabbage/ 50 pounds of cabbage. You will also need at least 2 pounds of course non iodized salt.
It will take about two to three hours to make this, and you will have to salt it and ferment the sauerkraut for about 21 days plus (three weeks)
Get a good sized wooden barrel or pottery crock. Scrub it very very thoroughly, set it on boards so air will flow around it well in a cool corner of your cellar.
pick of then outer leaves off the cabbage heads , save the perfect looking leaves.
Line the bottom of the barrel with 10 to 12 of the large leaves.
Slice each cabbage head into two and cut out the cabbage hearts, (the solid core in the center) then set aside 3 or four heads of cabbage.
Now shred the cabbage heads with a sharp knife. When you are done shredding it, the cabbage should look like a mountain of small pieces of cabbage. Mix the salt together with the shredded cabbage.
Pack the salted shredded cabbage down into the barrel, pressing each layer of shredded cabbage down heavily. Cover the barrel of shredded cabbage when filled with about twenty perfect outside cabbage leaves. Top it with a lid or plate only slightly smaller then the barrel or crock. Weight this down with a heavy clean large rock weight. This is to keep the salted shredded cabbage mixture down.
After about a week, check to see if the brine is forming well. It should be covering the cabbage after ten days. If you need to at that point add more brine made up of 1 ounce of salt to 2 cups of water.
Keep the sauerkraut cabbage covered with brine and weighted down, it must not be permitted to come in contact with air.
The cabbage will ferment and in about three weeks will be ready to eat.
To store over winter keep checking your barrel every week all winter skim off the fermentation foam and if need be add more brine to keep it covered. It should keep all winter till the spring greens are coming up in the fields and will provide not only a tasty food but a very good and valuable source of vitamin C to fight off scurvy.
One of my cousins read this and told me to "Get with the times" She uses a 5 gallon food grade bucket to make her sauerkraut in. She also uses a plastic cover over the chopped salted cabbage to weigh it down and she uses water filled milk jugs on top of that. I thought I would share Melonie's little addition to modernized home sauerkraut production.
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