sauerkraut-recipe.txt

A jar or jars big enough  to hold  a
cabbage.  Just make a second smaller  Cabbage    above   water   can   and
jar when you overflow the first jar.  generally   does  have  mould  bloom
                                      sometimes. This isn't the end of the
 A cabbage                            world if there  is a bit of a battle
Salt    ideally    without    random  with a white  mould  bloom,  and  is
additives  

  A little  bit of reliably           normal,  The mould can't bloom under
pure water                            the brine  or when  the fermentation
                                      populations are otherwise
Remove leaves, including  a few good  overpowering it.
leaves   from  the outside   of  the
cabbage, also eventually  remove the  To   start   with,   use   something
root/core  of the cabbage.   Some of  unreactive  to push the cabbage down
these will be useful later.           and minimize  water surface  area in
                                      your  jar.   A  smaller  jar,  or  a
Grate  the cabbage  using the normal  sealable  kitchen  bag of salt water
side of a cheese grater               (in  case  it breaks),  some of  the
                                      good outer cabbage  leaves  and/or a
Chop  up some other vegetables   you  reasonably clean cabbage core can be
have around,  maybe  not more than a  used to do this.
quarter the total cabbage.
                                      Put  on a lid or cover  it with some
As  you grate   and  chop  fill  the  kitchen  cling wrap. Your next mould
jar(s).   Every layer sprinkle  some  mitigations are to shake/invert/stir
salt in. The total salt should  be a  the sauerkraut roughly daily, though
about  one tablespoon  per litre  of  I  often  forget.    When  mould  or
sauerkraut   being created.   I'm in  something  appears  on the  surface,
favour   of  undersalting   a   bit,  scoop it out to the extent  possible
because you can add salt to taste as  without worrying  too much, and give
you    consume    your    fermenting  the  top layers  of cabbage  a  good
creation.                             stir. Add water if necessary, though
                                      it's  better   to have a  plug  push
You  will have noticed  that cabbage  everything under the brine.
is overflowingly  juicy when grated.
In principle you don't add any water  If there isn't much mould I've eaten
to  sauerkraut   and just  press  it  the    slightly    mouldy    surface
down, but sometimes you add a bit to  sauerkraut   before,  though on  one
make it nicely submerge.              occasion   there   was  a bit  of  a
                                      tongue-numbing-pepper    experience.

Store  at  room temperature,   in  a
reasonably     dark   place.     The
temperature     affects   what   the
sauerkraut will be like.  It takes a
week  to  clearly   be   sauerkraut.
Refridgeration   will  slow  further
fermentation.  Add salt relative  to
taste  (or conceivably   add  water)
once   you  start  eating   it.    A
sauerkraut that has been fermenting [a long time becomes soft and mild].

To  quote  Sandor  Katz,  Sauerkraut
juice  is very powerful.  It can and
will ferment  other vegetables   put
into  it,  and makes  a great   soup
feature (along with sauerkraut). I'm
not  sure  of  the  mechanism,   but
drinking a shot of sauerkraut  juice
clears     the     mind     in     a
not-at-all-psychosomatic way.