Wendy Van Wagner is the owner of In the Kitchen cooking school, where she and Joe Meade teach.

In our new video, How to Make Sauerkraut, Wendy Van Wagner (owner of In the Kitchen in Nevada City, California) and Joe Meade show us how simple it is to prepare sauerkraut at home.

Assemble your ingredients: a large bowl, sea salt, a pounder, and a sharp knife. If you want to add seasonings use caraway seeds or juniper berries. Use organic cabbage for two reasons: 1) it has more sugars than conventional cabbage, so the lacto fermentation gets going faster, and 2) conventional cabbage is often grown too quickly, and it can rot instead of fermenting.

Choose the small, medium or large size of our top-of-the line Harsch crocks.

Remove the outer leaves of the cabbages, and any bruised leaves, then cut out the cores.

Slice the cabbages thinly, using your knuckles as a guide—or use a traditional sauerkraut cutter, or a mandoline.

Add sea salt according to the recipe. Mix the salt and the cabbage, then bash the cabbage with the pounder, as you rotate the bowl. The bruised cabbage will begin to exude liquid.

Pack the cabbage into the clean crock and press until liquid rises about the cabbage. Then add the weighting stones and be sure the liquid covers the stones.

Place the lid on the crock and fill the rim with water to form an airtight seal. Place in a room where the temperature is 60F to 70F, monitor the water in the rim, and wait 3 to 4 weeks. If you like mild sauerkraut, eat it sooner, if you like it tangier, let it go longer.

Serve up your finished sauerkraut!

Would you like to make sauerkraut with NO salt, or low salt? For sauerkraut details and recipes, enjoy our specialty book, Making Sauerkraut and Pickled Vegetables at Home. For more on sauerkraut and other fermented foods, try Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning, and Preserving Food at Home.

Tweet