Making sauerkraut tonight



Z

Zxcvbob

Guest
Cabbage was on sale for 15¢ per pound, and I bought 5 huge heads; about 4.5
pounds each. That is the cheapest I've seen cabbage in about 5 or 10
years. I cut up 2 heads and Wife says it's stinking up the house (just
cutting it, not cooking it.) I'll finish tomorrow when she's not home, but
I have 3 half-gallon jars ready to go in the basement. I figured out that
a half-gallon jar will hold about 1 kilogram of thinly sliced cabbage if
you really cram in it there. And a tablespoon of pickling salt is about 20
grams. So after the first jar, I don't have to weigh anything because
that's the right 50:1 ratio.

Pack the jars with as much sliced cabbage as you can get in
it, add 1 tablespoon of salt, fill slowly with simmering
water (dissolves the salt and it displaces the trapped air),
cap the jars, and store for a month or so in a cool place
where it's OK if they leak. Use your nastiest rusty rings
because the salt that leaks out will ruin them.

I've never used half-gallon canning jars before, I usually
use quarts. I also am trying plastic 1-pieces lids instead
of metal 2-pieces canning lids.

Best regards, Bob
 
In article <[email protected]>, zxcvbob
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Cabbage was on sale for 15¢ per pound, and I bought 5 huge
> heads; about 4.5 pounds each. That is the cheapest I've
> seen cabbage in about 5 or 10 years. I cut up 2 heads and
> Wife says it's stinking up the house (just cutting it, not
> cooking it.) I'll finish tomorrow when she's not home, but
> I have 3 half-gallon jars ready to go in the basement. I
> figured out that a half-gallon jar will hold about 1
> kilogram of thinly sliced cabbage if you really cram in it
> there. And a tablespoon of pickling salt is about 20
> grams. So after the first jar, I don't have to weigh
> anything because that's the right
> 50:1 ratio.

> Pack the jars with as much sliced cabbage as you can get
> in it, add 1 tablespoon of salt, fill slowly with
> simmering water (dissolves the salt and it displaces the
> trapped air), cap the jars, and store for a month or so
> in a cool place where it's OK if they leak. Use your
> nastiest rusty rings because the salt that leaks out will
> ruin them.
>
> I've never used half-gallon canning jars before, I usually
> use quarts. I also am trying plastic 1-pieces lids instead
> of metal 2-pieces canning
> lids.
>
> Best regards, Bob

Hmmm, you're tempting me to try it, Bob. Lord knows I've got
the half gallon jars for it.
--
-Barb, <www.jamlady.eboard.com> updated 3-13-04.
Rec.food.cooking's Preserved Fruit Administrator (I've got
the button to prove it!) "The only difference between a rut
and a grave is the depth of the hole."
 
>Melba's Jammin' writes:
>
><[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> Cabbage was on sale for 15¢ per pound, and I bought 5
>> huge heads; about 4.5 pounds each. That is the cheapest
>> I've seen cabbage in about 5 or 10 years. I cut up 2
>> heads and Wife says it's stinking up the house (just
>> cutting it, not cooking it.) I'll finish tomorrow when
>> she's not home, but I have 3 half-gallon jars ready to go
>> in the basement. I figured out that a half-gallon jar
>> will hold about 1 kilogram of thinly sliced cabbage if
>> you really cram in it there. And a tablespoon of pickling
>> salt is about 20 grams. So after the first jar, I don't
>> have to weigh anything because that's the right
>> 50:1 ratio.
>
>> Pack the jars with as much sliced cabbage as you can get
>> in it, add 1 tablespoon of salt, fill slowly with
>> simmering water (dissolves the salt and it displaces the
>> trapped air), cap the jars, and store for a month or so
>> in a cool place where it's OK if they leak. Use your
>> nastiest rusty rings because the salt that leaks out will
>> ruin them.
>>
>> I've never used half-gallon canning jars before, I
>> usually use quarts. I also am trying plastic 1-pieces
>> lids instead of metal 2-pieces canning
>> lids.
>>
>> Best regards, Bob
>
>Hmmm, you're tempting me to try it, Bob. Lord knows I've
>got the half gallon jars for it.

Methinks you need to first do some research, that's not how
to make sauerkraut... that will make a big stinkin' mess.
---= BOYCOTT FRENCH--GERMAN (belgium) =--- ---= Move UNITED
NATIONS To Paris =--- Sheldon ```````````` "Life would be
devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."
 
PENMART01 wrote:
>>Melba's Jammin' writes:
>>
>><[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>Cabbage was on sale for 15¢ per pound, and I bought 5
>>>huge heads; about 4.5 pounds each. That is the cheapest
>>>I've seen cabbage in about 5 or 10 years. I cut up 2
>>>heads and Wife says it's stinking up the house (just
>>>cutting it, not cooking it.) I'll finish tomorrow when
>>>she's not home, but I have 3 half-gallon jars ready to go
>>>in the basement. I figured out that a half-gallon jar
>>>will hold about 1 kilogram of thinly sliced cabbage if
>>>you really cram in it there. And a tablespoon of pickling
>>>salt is about 20 grams. So after the first jar, I don't
>>>have to weigh anything because that's the right
>>>50:1 ratio.
>>
>>>Pack the jars with as much sliced cabbage as you can get
>>>in it, add 1 tablespoon of salt, fill slowly with
>>>simmering water (dissolves the salt and it displaces the
>>>trapped air), cap the jars, and store for a month or so
>>>in a cool place where it's OK if they leak. Use your
>>>nastiest rusty rings because the salt that leaks out will
>>>ruin them.
>>>
>>>I've never used half-gallon canning jars before, I
>>>usually use quarts. I also am trying plastic 1-pieces
>>>lids instead of metal 2-pieces canning
>>>lids.
>>>
>>>Best regards, Bob
>>
>>Hmmm, you're tempting me to try it, Bob. Lord knows I've
>>got the half gallon jars for it.
>
>
> Methinks you need to first do some research, that's
> not how to make sauerkraut... that will make a big
> stinkin' mess.

A big stinking mess if you eat too much of it at once. Don't
ask me how I know this...

The only thing I don't know is if the added water increases
the salt requirement. I've made sauerkraut like this many
times in quart jars and it comes out perfect -- but I need
to check my notes and see exactly how much salt per jar I
used (I think it was 2 tsp), and weight the contents of
cabbage that I can cram into a quart jar. 50:1 is the
classic ratio of cabbage to salt for making sauerkraut.

Best regards, Bob