Do you think St. Patrick liked sauerkraut???

[Midnightmom]

.....because today I am taking advantage of St Paddy's Day sales to load up on cabbage to make kraut with!  

I bought 12 heads of cabbage for just a little over $10. These are 2 1/2 gallon storage bags, and there are 2 heads of sliced cabbage/bag. I think each bag might make 1 gallon of kraut.

Let's see if I get the math right (wanna' check me out @euphrasyne?

12 heads @ 2heads/bag = 6 bags

1 bag = 1 gallon of kraut

1 gallon of kraut = 8 pints

6bags x 8 pints = 48 pints! (I'm gonna have to buy more jars!!!)(Maybe I should dehydrate some of it???)

$10 / 48 pints = 21c/jar

 

Canned kraut at the store is OVER $1/can! 

I think I saved a bunch of moolah. At least I will have, once it's all processed and preserved.

 

    

 

 

 

[Littlesister]

Good buy Midnightmom, I have only checked out one store so far and it is on sale for 49 cent a head. I was going to the store today but just didn't feel like it. But the sale is through Tuesday. Need to check out a couple of other stores. I am wanting some corned beef and cabbage. 

[Midnightmom]

My guestimate was incorrect. It took all 4 heads of cabbage (both bags) to make one gallon of sauerkraut.

Hopefully you can see how much water has already bubbled out of the jar since yesterday.

 

 

 

 

Since I wanted to make 4 gallons, I had to go back to Safeway and get 4 more heads. So, the four bags shown here contain the remain12 heads if cabbage!

(Each bag is 2.5 gallons)

 

Now I have to weigh it all out and add the correct amount of salt to each bag and get it into the jars.

[Littlesister]

The sauerkraut looks really good. When I get more time, I will need to start doing that.  I do have a couple of gal. jars I can use. I have never made it before because we never really ate it that much.  But would like to make at least one gal. of it. 

[Jeepers]

That's a lot of cabbage. I like sauerkraut but I had a bad experience one time when I tried to make it. I'll spare you details but I'm not going to try it again. It was gruesome. 

 

I'm thinking about buying a huge gallon jar of it and canning it in 1/2 pint jars. 

[Midnightmom]

3 hours ago, Littlesister said:

The sauerkraut looks really good. When I get more time, I will need to start doing that.  I do have a couple of gal. jars I can use. I have never made it before because we never really ate it that much.  But would like to make at least one gal. of it. 

 

1 hour ago, Jeepers said:

That's a lot of cabbage. I like sauerkraut but I had a bad experience one time when I tried to make it. I'll spare you details but I'm not going to try it again. It was gruesome. 

 

I'm thinking about buying a huge gallon jar of it and canning it in 1/2 pint jars. 

 

Ladies - the "secret" to making sauerkraut is to get the brine correct. It needs a 2% brine. the easy way to figure this out is to weight the cut cabbage in grams, move the decimal point 2 spaces to the left, then double that number to know how much salt to add to that cabbage. Pack it tightly into a jar, put a weight on it (inside the jar) so that all of the cabbage stays submerged in the brine, and let it do its magic for a few weeks. (make sure you put it in or on something to catch the brines that bubbles up out of the jar as it ferments. It is very mild and very crunchy compared to what you can buy in the store. And, the brine has probiotics in it that are good for your gut. Repackaging what comes from the store probably won't taste that good - mushy and salty. But, if you do, I would rinse the kraut and pack it into the pint jars, pack it down, and top it off with a 2% brine before processing. Add 1Tbs of water to 1Qt of water to make sure you have enough for your pint jars, and use that to top them off.  It can be water bath canned. Recipe is in the USDA Book of Home Preservation (page 6-7)

 

This vid should help.

 

[Jeepers]

I'm on a salt restricted diet so I can't have much.  It's an occasional treat. .

 

When I tried to make it many many years ago, it got wigglie things in it. I was making a pan full and not in jars. This was in the 80's pre computers, so I'm sure it was user error. But I can't unsee that mess I had. 

 

Unlike mine, yours looks delicious! 

[Littlesister]

When I do get the time to make it, it will be the first time doing it. Hope it will come out as good as yours MidNightMom. 

[Midnightmom]

3 hours ago, Littlesister said:

When I do get the time to make it, it will be the first time doing it. Hope it will come out as good as yours MidNightMom. 

when you decide to make a batch, check out YT channel Mary's Nest. She is VERY thorough and takes you through the process in "baby steps" which is a good thing if you have never fermented anything before.

The other channel I have posted above (The Fermented Homestead) is very much more "frantic" and "jumpy" in style (she has ADHD). entertaining, but difficult to follow if you need slow and methodical.

[euphrasyne]

We love saur kraut.  My maternal grandfather used to grow cabbage and then burry it in the back yard to make saur kraut.  It was the best.  I've sense seen a lot of ways to make it, but none beats his in the taste test.  I grew up eating it most weeks.  Eating it now makes me sad because I remember his.     He and mamaw often served saur kraut and cheese weenies.  It was a weekly thing.  I lived with them oft an on.  My childhood in one swoop is suar kraut and cheese weenies and the garden.  My great aunt just died so it is so close right now.  

Edited March 19 by euphrasyne

[Littlesister]

euphrasyne, I remember the summers I spent with my grandparents and all the things they used to do when I was there. I also miss those days. Loved staying at my grandparents' homestead. I learned a lot that I would have never learned with my parents. My parents never did a garden even though they had enough of a yard to put in a good size one. And my mom never canned anything.  Growing up she was just never interested in any of that. She did a little bit of sewing but not much of that either. 

 

Midnightmom, I will check out those sites as soon as I get some free time that will last more than an hour at most right now. 

Edited March 19 by Littlesister
checking out sites

[Jeepers]

My mom served sauerkraut and weenies too. I had forgotten about that! She cut the hot dogs up into little round circles. She also put hot dogs in our spaghetti when we couldn't afford meatballs. Good old (poor) days.

 

A long time ago I saw an old-er woman chopping up cabbage to make kraut. It was outside and she used a spade like tool and the cabbage was in a big trough. She walked around it chop-chop-chopping as she went. It was lovely to watch her. Over the years I have searched and searched for that video and I can't find it. It looked like it was in the old country like Russia or one of those old eastern bloc countries. 

 

 

BTW Midnightmom, did you know The Kneady Homesteader remarried? I just learned about it last night while watching one of her videos. His name is Danny and that's all I know. 

[Midnightmom]

5 hours ago, Jeepers said:

BTW Midnightmom, did you know The Kneady Homesteader remarried? I just learned about it last night while watching one of her videos. His name is Danny and that's all I know. 

 

I had no idea! I hope they are happy together.

[Jeepers]

I didn't know either. She touched on it in a video called "In My Brokeness." It was a sad one. She certainly deserves happiness. 

[Midnightmom]

On 3/19/2024 at 1:35 PM, Jeepers said:

I didn't know either. She touched on it in a video called "In My Brokeness." It was a sad one. She certainly deserves happiness. 

 

 

I don't know when they got married, but apparently they knew each other in high school.

[Littlesister]

I didn't know this either but hoping for a very happy life together for them. I like watching her videos but haven't had time to watch anything for a while. I do get on here when I am taking a break but that is about it. 

Need to get back on to Sutton Daze also. She's good also. 

[Necie]

I do the sauerkraut in the jar. The recipe is in an old preserving book my mom gave me— Farm and Home Journal or something like that. I found another one at an estate sale and gave it to DDIL this last year for our dill pickle and bread and butter pickles recipes.
We don’t eat a lot of sauerkraut, but when I make it, I make a bunch. It lasts for years. When I need to make more, I just grow twice as much cabbage as I usually do. 

[Mother]

My Sis-in-law gave me a half gallon fermenter jar and DH and I love it.  It is just the right size for just the two of us. We cut or dice the cabbage into a large bowl, mix in two tablespoons salt per medium to large head and pound it until the brine forms.  We pack it into the jar so the brine comes up above the cabbage, leaving a good two inches of head space.  We use the divided weights that came with the jar to hold the cabbage under the brine and put on the lid with the fermenter airlock in place and set it away (on a plate just in case.). It’s ready in seven days, more or less, depending on your taste.  We store ours in the refrigerator because we like it fresh and because it is so easy to make.    I do pickles in it as well. 
 

I also have fermenter nipples that fit on canning jars.  They work too but I like the air lock better.  I think the nipples would be good for making wine but haven’t tried them for that.