Self Brining Sauerkraut

Probiotics, vitamin C, red pepper and garlic….what’s not to love in an era when we are all looking to boost our immune  systems? We’ll be eating some every day until late spring.

1.       Weigh your cabbage in kilograms. One pound of cabbage equals one tablespoon of salt.

2.       Shred the cabbage as thinly as possible and toss it into a big bowl.

3.       Sprinkle the salt over the veg and massage with your clean hands. Massaging  breaks down the cell walls and draws out the moisture. It squeaks and scrunches and shrinks down by half. This takes between five and ten minutes.

4.       Add 2-3 teaspoons of red pepper flakes and three to four garlic cloves and mix.

5.       Pack very firmly into a canning jar. Half a cabbage fills a quart jar; a full head packs into a larger one. Use your hands to really pack the cabbage down. The brine will slowly ease out and fill the gaps.

6.  

     Put the jar on the top of the fridge. Over the next few days, the ferment will begin to fizz and bubble.

7.        Watch the brine increase and decrease as the temperature changes. Open the jar every day to release the gasses.

8.       Taste after seven or eight days. Is it done? Not yet? Put it back up. We let ours sit for about two weeks, then put it in the fridge to eat. This is a very potent brew!