ERIC’S SAUERKRAUT

For years Eric has made this fresh sauerkraut, and it is so much better than store-bought.  In fact I didn’t like sauerkraut until I tried Eric’s.  He made it because it is healthy, but I like it because it is so fresh!  We eat it on hot dogs, on nachos, just about any place you want a relish.  I finally made a batch that I was pleased with so I made Sauerkraut Balls with some of it, and they were delightful too!

2 lg. heads of cabbage

2 TB sea salt

2% Brine solution*

Distilled water**

Peel outer leaves of cabbage off; rinse and save.  Wash cabbage and grate it. (I have an attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer that grates it finely.)  After the first head of cabbage sprinkle 1 TB of salt on it and mix it with your (very clean) hands.  Grate the second head of cabbage and repeat with the final TB of salt, mixing well.  Let sit about 15 minutes then massage the cabbage to draw out more of the moisture.  Put in a large glass bowl or crock and put enough brine solution over it that it is about 1” over the cabbage.  Cover with the saved cabbage leaves.  Fill a ziplock bag with distilled water and place it over the leaves.  It is critical that you keep the grated sauerkraut covered with brine the entire time it is fermenting.  Put the bowl in a dark place and keep the temperature in the 70’s.  (I did a guest room closet with a tray under it so no solution would spill anywhere.)  Stir it once a day.  You will notice it bubbling.  When there aren’t as many bubbles (about 3-5 days), take it out and put the sauerkraut in jars and refrigerate.  Once it has chilled it can be eaten.

*The brine solution is made by stirring 1 TB sea salt into 4 c. distilled water

**It’s important to use distilled water even in the zip lock bag.  Eric’s zip lock leaked one time and the tap water contaminated the whole batch of sauerkraut.  It developed a pink mold on it.