Homemade Dill and Caraway Sauerkraut Recipe (2024)

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Okay! Last post I told you all about how great sauerkraut is for the skin and clearing up acne – now it’s time to show you how to make your very own, homemade sauerkraut! GET EXCITED! 😀

Now – I’ll admit. Fermenting things can be somewhat intimidating at first. You need to leave your food out at room temperature over the course of anywhere from three days to a month, and then just hope you don’t keel over dead when you eat it.

But it’s okay… really. You can do it! I’ve been eating mine all week and I’m still kickin. I feel good too!

Here’s the things that you will need:

Approximately three or four 1 litre wide-mouth canning jars. You can usually find these at thrift stores, or packs of 12 at a grocery store.
Sea salt (table salt has additives that mess everything up…. so don’t go there! )
2 large cabbages – green, purple, whatever you fancy
Optional: Carrots, dill, and caraway seeds, or any other veggies and spices you want to throw in there. Kraut can be creative!
A large pot or bowl to mix it in
Some kind of weight – a jar full of water that fits inside the mouth of your canning jar , or a scrubbed and boiled rock
A tea towel, paper towels, or paper lunch bags
A few elastic bands

Step 1: Get your cabbages, and remove the very outer leaf, and throw it away. Then rinse your cabbage under some cool water, shake it out, and then take off 3 or 4 more of the large outer leafs and put them aside for later.

Step 2: Start chopping your cabbage. Because the lactobacillus bacteria needed for fermenting are found inside of the leaves, you want to chop it as finely as possible in order to get the most surface area. Put your chopped cabbage in a large bowl or pot. I know that after two cabbages, it seems like an absolutely ridiculous amount, but trust me – the volume goes way, way down.

Step 3: Chop up anything else you want to put in the kraut. I grated 2 or 3 large carrots, and chopped up two bunches of fresh dill, and added a couple tablespoons of caraway seeds. The dill and caraway seeds were on the recommendation of my friend Alissa Evelyn, and it was a great addition. … so thanks Alissa!

Step 4: Add your sea salt to the mix. Salt does two things – draws the juice out of the cabbage, and also inhibits unfriendly microbes from growing in your ferment. The rule is 3 tablespoons per 5 pounds of cabbage. So… maybe weigh your cabbage at the store before you buy it and find out exactly how much they weigh? I estimate that two large cabbages is approximately 5 or 6 pounds, so start with 3 tablespoons.

Taste a little bit of it to make sure that it’s a bit salty, but not … like…. disgusting salty. You have to eat this, remember.

I’d like to warn you that I was totally frivolous with my salting, and completely overdid it. I actually had to go on an adventure to the store to get more cabbage to dilute it. In the end that worked out great though – I only started with one cabbage and I’m pleased that I have more kraut now than I would have. After adding the second cabbage, it was still a little on the salty side, but once it was all said and done and fermented, the salty taste went down quite a lot and it tastes perfect. You don’t want to underdo the salt either, because like I said, it inhibits baddies from growing.

Step 5: This is the fun part! Wash your hands really well, and get down and dirty! Stick your hands in your huge pot of cabbage and squish and mash the scheisse out of it!The aim for this squishing and mashing stuff is to work the salt throughout and get the cabbage to release it’s magical juices. Keep doing it for 15 minutes at least, until there’s a decent amount of brine.

Step 6: Wash your hands and kraut vessels really well and then begin stuffing your cabbage into them, stopping a couple inches before the top of the jar. You really want to make sure you pack the cabbage as tight as possible as to get all air pockets out of it. Hopefully the brine has now risen above the cabbage… if not, that is okay, because the salt will continue to draw out more juice.

Step 7: Take the large cabbage leaves that you had put aside and fold them up and place them into the top of the jars, as sort of a blankety cover for the shredded kraut. You may need to break it apart to get it in there, just as long as it sort of covers everything.

Homemade Dill and Caraway Sauerkraut Recipe (5)

Step 8: If you are using a jar with water as your weight, take off any labels that might be on it and wash it really well with soap. If you are using rocks, it probably has some weird stuff from outside on it, so wash and boil it for ten minutes to sanitize it. Place your weights into the jars over the large cabbage leaf covers and press and squish everything down until the brine rises well above the cabbage. If it hasn’t yet, it will, so don’t worry.

The purpose of the weight is to make sure that the cabbage stays packed and is not exposed to the air. You see, the awesome lacto-fermentation process that is happening to transform your salty cabbage into probiotic magic takes place in an anaerobic environment – one without oxygen. Bad microbes and bacteria that will spoil your food can only grow in an aerobic environment – in other words, in the presence of oxygen.

So if your cabbage is weighted down and safely submerged under the brine, it’s safe and can’t go bad. This is why you also want to make sure you packed your cabbage in there really good to get rid of any air pockets in which bad microbes could grow.

Homemade Dill and Caraway Sauerkraut Recipe (6)

Step 9: Cover the whole thing with something that can let air flow, but protects it from bugs and the like. Because of the odd shape of mine, putting a paper towel around them with elastic bands to secure it worked. Paper bags probably would have been better, but I didn’t have any.

Step 10: Put them in a dark place like a cupboard. As fermentation begins, a by product is that the bacteria create carbon dioxide bubbles – help them release them by pushing down on the weight. A layer of scum, or sometimes even mold, may appear on the surface of the brine each day…. don’t squirm…it’s cool – it’s actually normal. Don’t worry! Your kraut is protected underneath! Just remove the weight, get a spoon and spoon it out. Rinse or wash your weight and replace it, pushing it down.

Step 11: After 3 or 4 days, start tasting the kraut. It should taste kind of alive and tangy – something more than just salty cabbage. The taste will continue to improve and get stronger as time goes on, but you can tell how you like it and when you think it’s done. Don’t forget that every time you take kraut out of the jar to pack your kraut back down to get any air bubbles out.

When you have it tasting good,you can move it into the fridge to slow the fermentation way down. I moved mine in after 5 days, but fermentation is fairly dependent on the room temperature. It’s nice and pleasantly warm here, so it fermented fast. If your house is a bit colder, it might take longer. Probably a week to a week and a half. When you move it to the fridge, the brine will probably go way down, but you can top it up with a little salty water. It will keep in the fridge for at least a few months!

Step 12: ENJOY!!! YUM! It’s ideal to have a big spoonful with each meal if you can. I’ve really been enjoying mixing it with all my meals…. makes each one new and interesting!

*3 boiled eggs… or poached eggs… or whatever you want to do
*A large handful of sauteed green beans
*2 big spoonfuls of sauerkraut
*1 tbsp tahini
*Dash ‘o’ sea salt

Mix it all together and chow down! Happy digesting!

Oh yes, one last note: Don’t ever heat your sauerkraut up. You have to eat it raw or you’ll kill all the bacteria and you won’t get the benefits!

Now who’s gonna go out and make themselves some sauerkraut? 😀

TRACY RAFTL

Blog author Tracy Raftl used to have severe acne — now she teaches thousands of women how to take back control of their skin through natural, holistic, and mind-body methods.

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87 Responses

Hey Tracy, this recipe looks awesome! I can’t wait to try it out!
One question though.. it looks like if the weight jars are smaller than the mouth of the kraut jars, they would just fall right through to the bottom. How are they just staying on top of the liquid?
Thanks for the new recipe! I’m excited to get your new book and try out some more new recipes at home. 🙂
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1. Hi Kalyn!
  That’s right, the smaller weight jars are supposed to fit inside of the big kraut jars…. they are actually sitting down on top of the cabbage, pushing it down, and the brine rises up around the weighted jar. It might look like the little jars are sitting on top of the liquid, but they are actually in it.
  This ensures that the cabbage doesn’t get exposed to the air, because that’s when it could go bad!
  Let me know how your kraut goes if you make it! 😀
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Thank you so much Tracy, I’m so glad to finally have a recipe that makes making sauerkraut sound simple! I used to eat lots of it when I lived in Alsace, but it’s obviously not very easy to find here in the Mediterranean! Keep up the great articles and videos too 🙂
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ok, I’m convinced to try this. It looks yummy =) excited to squish stuff too. thanks for the recipe!
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Wow! great post and very in depth!
I buy sauerkraut at the store but make homemade fermented/cultured vegetables at home. I ferment all sorts of things… carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, asparagus, and I actually just made some fermented apples too! that is actually pretty good!
So many health benefits to this, the good bacteria is so beneficial especially when it’s homemade… Love this post!
Keep it up rockstar!
David
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1. Hi David – That’s cool! I actually want to start fermenting.. like… basically everything! hah…. apples was on my list so I’m glad to hear that they’re good!
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I read this post a few days ago and I just got cabbage in my Bountiful Basket this morning! I’m totally doing this tomorrow after church! Thank you so much for this!
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I've never made any fermented type food in my life. I can't wait to do so soon! The problem is I am literally all over the planet! I literaly may be in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Hawaii or Florida come January!! I was just in Hawaii for 40 days, am back in Michigan but will be going back to Chicago next week or before for 2-3 weeks.
Tough to make sauerkraut this way. But, when I settle down for 2 months I'll be all over this. I've been wanting to make sauerkraut and experiment with other veggies so badly!
Sounds like a load of fun and not at all intimidating 🙂
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Hey Tracy,
I just wanted to say that I have been reading all over the web about fermenting my own sauerkraut and nowhere is it as clearly explained as you have done here.
Also I wanted to say that I really like your blog because there isn’t any over-advertising going on, which completely defeats the purpose of Natural-living and draws the health community into a bad light.
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1. Thank you Marissa!
  I’m glad you found it helpful.. and that you don’t think my site is tacky with advertising… hehe… that pleases me 🙂 I try to keep it real as much as possible!
  Reply
Yes it’s very real, and you seem to put a lot of thought into your discussions too.
I was wondering, can you do a post on how you make Korean Kim Chi or maybe just give me a few guidelines? I have been trying it out lately but there are so many different ways and ingredients you can add to it. Information overload is overwhelming.
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1. I know, I just chose a bunch of ingredients and went for it…. I don’t actually know if what I made tastes anything like what it’s supposed to, but it tastes pretty good, I like it more than the sauerkraut. From what i recall, the ingredients I used were: 2 big chinese cabbages, 3 large grated carrots, one head of broccoli…. and then in the blender I blended up 1 peeled ripe pear, 1 red chili, 6 – 7 large cloves of roasted garlic, 1 large marble of ginger, 1 bunch of green onions, 1 squeeze of lemon juice ……… darnit, I can’t remember what else. I hope I didn’t miss anything important there, I dont think I did… ….. and then of course, the sea salt on the cabbage to draw out the juices.
  Reply
I just bought a little wee jar of Sauerkraut from the health food store for $5.99. … I’ll never do it again! Thanks Tracy!! 🙂
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1. hehe… no problem Jesse Junck. ♥ you
  Reply
I would love to do kimchee and sauerkraut, but my kitchen does not have heat and is extremely cold, or extremely hot during the summer with no air. We have not been able to make it successfully. Have you heard of anyone using a dehydrator to make them?
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1. That’s too bad your house is so ferment-unfriendly! I haven’t heard of anyone making it in a dehydrator, but now that you mention it, it seems like that would work quite well if you had a big enough dehydrator to fit it in!
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Thanks so much Tracy for all the wonderful information you provide. I have been using Manuka honey on my face for a few weeks now with great results. This is the absolute best instruction I have found to make sauerkraut and because of that I just finished making my first batch! I used one head of purple and one of green. It seemed like the purple didn’t lose its water as well as the green. My brine is not above the cabbage yet and its been about an hour. I hope that by tomorrow it will be???
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1. Hi Shelby!
  Yes it’s fine, the salt will continue to draw juice out of the cabbage… it’s actually probably better you don’t have as much because then it won’t start to overflow… I kept having that problem
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Just a quick question..So, if you open the jar after a few days to taste the kraut and then cover it back up for a couple of days, that exposure to oxygen won’t automatically cause spoilage? Is it just if it’s exposed for a longer amount of time? Thanks so much for this post, by the way!
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1. Yeah it’s fine, as long as you push everything back down…. I guess it needs longer to get spoiled, yes. And the salt also helps to keep bad microbes from growing
  Reply
Tracy, I have a stupid question…did the sauerkraut smell? I ask because I live in a condo, and I’ve heard that it can really smell up your house. If this is the case, I’ll probably wait until I move to a bigger space before trying this out…
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1. Yeah apparently it can smell…. I didn’t notice mine smelling real bad or anything too offensive – it didn’t stink up the whole kitchen, and if you put it in a cupboard or something, you’re golden.
  Reply
2. I made the sauerkraut, and my roomates got really upset because of the stink! But then again, we live in a small attic flat, and not having a proper cupboard, mine had to go under a box. Itt was also really warm…perhaps if it’s colder, it doesn’t stink as much?
  Reply
  1. Hi Erica,
    Well it’s strange because the first few times I made this, it didn’t really smell. But later on I made a big batch at my parent’s house and they all complained that it was really smelly. I’m not sure why the last batch was worse, so I’m not sure what to say!! If the temperature is colder, it may not stink as much but it won’t ferment very fast either
    Reply
Made my first batch of kraut Saturday! I can’t wait to taste! I used red cabbage, carrots, dill & caraway seeds! oh yeah, & salt! Stay tuned!!! Thanks for the instructions! (((HUGS)))
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1. Awesome! Hope it turns out well 😀 I need to make myself a new batch, I’m getting down to the bottom of the jar!
  Reply
Hey Tracy,
Thanks for posting your fun step-by-step instructions. All the details, and your smiley photos gave me the courage to try it out myself! I’m using purple cabbage and caraway, coriander, and cumin.
I was inspired by a delicious local brand I enjoyed over the holidays called “Cultured Foods,” based in Asheville, NC. (Giving them a shout-out because I can’t buy their stuff through my local co-op grocery — too far away!)
BTW, I’m using lots of whey because my family runs a goat dairy. I’ll report my progress!
Thanks again,
John
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1. Cool! I think I’m going to try putting whey in my next batch, because I have recently acquired myself a source of raw goat’s milk! I’m jealous your family runs a goat dairy actually haha. One day I would like to get some goats for their fresh milk to have on hand.
  Reply
  1. Well Tracy, sad news. My attempt to make sauerkraut with whey was a failure. I don’t recommend folks use much more than a small percentage of whey, if at all.
    I used about 90% whey (1 gallon mixed with a couple cups of water), plus salt. I think the whey made the batch too acidic: The purple cabbage turned pale pink. It also got a nasty smelling kahm yeast scum on top. I skimmed it once, but it was really offensive smelling. My wife made me move it to the garage! The second time I checked on it, I decided it was too offensive to even taste, so I composted the whole batch. 🙁
    My mom’s 22 year’s in the farmstead cheese business taught me to trust my nose in situations like this. We humans evolved to eat fermented foods, but we also evolved with a keen sense of smell to tell us when it’s good to eat and when not.
    So, I was pretty disheartened — it was a three-cabbage batch, an all afternoon effort. Frustrating to have it go bad. My next batch, if I attempt it again, will only use a very small proportion of whey to brine. …If I use any whey at all. (My mom says there’s enough lactobacillus on the cabbage that whey is not necessary.)
    I hope this helps others!
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    Reply
    1. Hi John,
      aw that’s really disappointing. Yes i wouldn’t advise that much whey… I’m not sure what it does… probably ferments it too fast. I know it can be hard to want to try again after a disaster like that, but next time just try it without any whey and a lot of salt and see if it goes better! So far I’ve made it three times without any incidence, it’s fairly easy… yeah, just hold off on the whey 🙂
      Reply
Hi! I made some sauerkraut yesterday. But later I read in another site that chlorinated water must not be used. However, I had already used a little water from my filter which purifies by chlorination. So now will the sauerkraut ferment or not?
Reply
1. Hi there,
  I used just filtered tap water from a brita filter, which I don’t think removes all the chlorine… maybe a little… either way… mine worked fine!
  Reply
Hi Tracy,
Thanks for your earlier comment. I have a few more questions: Most sites recommend 7 to 10 days for fermentation at room temperature. But room temperatures there and here (South Asia) can be quite different, besides winter and summer can also make a difference. So what is the ideal temperature (or the range of temperatures) for the fermentation process?
What is the difference between dill and caraway? I checked up in the ‘net, both looked the same to me.
I understand that one can ferment with either whey or with just cabbage and salt. So what is the difference between fermenting with and without whey?
Thanks
Bishwa
Reply
1. Hi Bishwa,
  If it’s hotter in your country, the fermentation will simply go a lot faster than in cooler countries, that’s all.
  Dill and caraway are different… dill is a green herb, caraway is a seed.
  Whey has two functions – it helps to keep bacteria at bay, but so does salt, so it’s important to use lots of salt if you don’t have whey. Whey also makes the fermentation go a lot faster.
  Reply
Hi,Tracy! I am definitely going to try this recipe. It looks fun and yummy! Just out of curiosity, does store bought sauerkraut do the same thing for the digestive system?
Reply
1. Hi Roxy, there are a couple brands of lacto-fermented non-pasteurized sauerkraut that can have some of the same benefits (not as much as homemade though). Bubbies is one. Most commercial sauerkraut though doesn’t have any live bacteria and is just soured in vinegar, not by actually fermenting it, so it really has no properties that are beneficial.
  Reply
Good to know. Thanks!!
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Alrighty! 4 old honey jars full of cabbage and salt are now sitting in a corner on my counter, and my kitchen is a mess. Haha. I thought of this question way after it was too late to change my plan of action, but any idea if mixing green and purple cabbage is OK/still beneficial?
Thanks!
Theresa
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1. Yep, you can make it with whatever colour cabbage you want! 😀 I hope they turn out well for ya!
  Reply
Hey Tracy, I have all my ingredients to make this tomorrow, but I have a question..is the brine coming from smashing the cabbage? If so, I pour the brine into the jars before I start stuffing the cabbage in them?
Thank you!
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1. Yes, it comes from smashing the cabbage… there should be more than enough, but sometimes if the cabbage is a bit older, it won’t have enough, in which case you can just top it up with salty water after you’ve shoved it all into the jars.
  As for pouring the brine in first… you don’t have to. I find if you just start smushing the cabbage in there, the brine will come. And then if there’s leftover brine in the pot after, just pour that into the jars that look like they need a bit more, to even everything out.
  Reply
Ah, thanks so much! 🙂 Bout to make it now!!
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Tracy, I don’t think anyone gets as much joy out of smashing cabbage as I do! My little sister loved to help, too! I think for the most part it went well other than figuring out halfway into it, I had run to the store for more sea salt lol I did though have to top it off with salt water, and used rocks right from my Mom’s rock garden! I’m pumped to see how it turns out..maybe too excited for just ol’ sauerkraut! I’d love to send you a pic lol!
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1. Lol, I know… it’s really fun! And sure, send me pictures!
  Reply
I live in Florida, so of course it’s always warm, but the a/c is always on. Can i ferment on the patio or garage?
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1. Yep, no problem! Same with the kefir
  Reply
Tracy, I made this a week ago. I was going to move it into the fridge, but discovered that the brine that used to be above the cabbage had almost disappeared. Is that normal? Maybe I did something wrong while making it :/
Thanks,
Maria
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1. No, that’s normal… mine does that too. It’s totally fine as long as it doesn’t look mouldy/smell obviously rotten
  Reply
Great! Thanks 🙂
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After working the salt, into the cabbage, I pack it into quart canning jars,screw the lids down snugly, and put the jars into a baking pan (for over-flow). I put them into a dark warm closet for six weeks. I can eat it by the quart!
If you’d like, you can process it in your canner for 10 minutes, and it will store for a year, or more. It’s still yummy, but you don’t get the microbes.
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I read on mercola.com that you can use celery juice because of the natural salt content and only a few tablespoons of whey and a starter if you want. Also you can put a jar of hot water every day in a cooler with your other jars to keep the temp up.
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I think I left mine in the cabinet too long. It looks a bit brown but smells OK. What does this mean?
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1. It’s probably fine. If it doesn’t smell rotten or look rotten or moldy, then it’s fine… it’ll probably just be really sour!!
  Reply
Last week, I prepared my very first batch of sauerkraut!! Your post was quite inspiring 🙂 I am slightly confused with how it’s going, though. I used two mason jars, covered the tops of the cabbage with cabbage leaves, and put rocks on top of that. The brine rose to the top of the container and leaked for the first few days. I had a paper bag over the jars for the first night, but then I loosely covered it with mason jar lids because the bags were just getting soggy and I had to replace them all the time. I left the jars with my mom for about 5 days, and each day she checked on them. However, when I returned, there was a dark green slime on the outside and inside of the jar rims and on the lids. The cabbage stayed submerged the entire time. I have been researching for hours to find out if it is good or not, but I still have no idea. There is a lot of conflicting info. I am considering putting a layer of olive oil over the top of the brine, but if there is harmful mold or something, I don’t want to make it worse. It has only been about 6 days, though, so can it really go bad that quickly? Any ideas or insight would be great 🙂 🙂
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1. Hi Ellie,
  Hmm.. dark green slime doesn’t sound too good. How does it smell? If it smells rotten then it’s a sure sign it’s not so good (rotten is definitely different than normal sauerkraut smell)
  Reply
Could you please explain the difference between Kimchi and Sauerkraut?
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1. Sauerkraut is German and kimchi is Korean ;P
  No, they are just a different combination of fermented vegetables and spices
  Reply
Hi Tracey,
I would love to try this recipe. I have one question–If I were to use rocks to keep the cabbage squished down under the water, do I leave the jar lids open to air or do seal those up as well? Thanks for posting this 🙂
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1. Hi Betty, yep you’d seal that up as well, with something in which air can still flow, like the paper towel or a cloth
  Reply
2. Hi Betty, yep you’d seal that up as well, with something in which air can still flow, like the paper towel or a cloth. Good luck 🙂
  Reply
Hi Tracy,
Plastic containers have replaced glass so much these days that it is hard to find glass jars.
So, if someone has made some Sauerkraut in a plastic container is it still edible or should one through it out?
Bishwa Basnet
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1. Hi Bishwa,
  Are there not glass canning jars available anywhere in your area? Plastic.. well, I imagine that because the sauerkraut is so acidic.. I mean, it’s edible, but it probably has leeched quite a bit of plasticy goodness into the sauerkraut. I’m not saying don’t eat it, but it’s up to you – and maybe don’t make it in plastic again if you can help it.
  Reply
Thank you for the recipe! Mine came out great and I’ve never had sauerkraut before this!
Question one, I used a rock to keep the everything submerged. When I move it to the fridge do I remove the rock or keep it in there? Is it important to keep the sauerkraut submerged even in the fridge?
Question two, once in the fridge do I put a lid on the jar or put keep a paper towel over it so it can breathe?
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1. Hi E,
  yay, glad it turned out 🙂 Once you put it in the fridge, you can take the rock out and place a lid on it
  Reply
HI Tracy, you have a wonderful site and thank you for being so awesome, cause you are. I have an odd question, I’m living in Mexico right now, and I soak everything in iodine to make it safe before eating. This doesn’t seem like a good idea to help the kruat along, which I realized after I brought the cabbage home. Would it still work you think, if after I soaked it I rinsed it and let it dry before cutting? I’ve also heard of using bleach or vinegar instead of iodine, would those harm the process as well? Or shall I find other ways to eat this giant cabbage. Thanks
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1. Hi Zoe,
  Hmm.. well if you soak it and then rinse it off, I don’t really see why it would be a problem but I have no idea about iodine in this situation. I’m sure that vinegar would be totally fine to use.
  Reply
  1. Okay, I’ll give it a go, thanks for your help. By the way I first visited your site over two years ago, started by doing the caveman routine and moved onto just honey, after reading your articles. You really helped me move on from my fixation with my skin and it has improved. Thank you. Zoe
    Reply
    1. That’s awesome to hear! 😀 yay
      Reply
hi tracy, should i remove the large cabbage leaves on top of the sauerkraut when i put it into the fridge? are these leaves edible? thanks
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1. Hi Erin – yep you can eat them if you want to
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Hi, Tracy!
I am in the process of making the kraut right now! And I got to thinking… when it is done fermenting do you dump out the brine on top? Or are you supposed to eat that too? Sorry if this is a silly question or if it’s been answered already.
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1. Hi Elissa, nope, you keep the brine there while you store in the fridge!
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Can I use food processor to help chop cabbage finer. Or just by hand chop best. Ok another question you didnt put a canning lid on jars just sit smaller jars in juice on top of cabbage correct? N how many times should eat wkly for acne issues? N why can I buy that mak honey? Thanks alot
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1. Hi Chas, yes you can use a food processor 🙂 – with the lid – you want to lightly cover the top but it should be able to breathe.. so putting a tight canning lid on it is a bad idea. Just cover the whole thing with paper bags and an elastic or something similar. For eating it, it’s a good idea to have a little bit with or before every meal if possible, it helps with digestion
  Reply
I just used a clean leaf from the cabbage and put it on top. 😛 all the cabbage is submerged under the water so I guess that’s an alternative to using weights.
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Hey Tracy I have done my first batch of sauerkraut just over a week ago. I didn’t have as much brine created as yours in the pictures. Little bubbles appeared through the kraut ( I had done as you advised folded pieces of cabbage for a blankey cover and put a weight on top ) I have been pushing on the weight to release some air bubbles each day. I’ve noticed now there seems to be some scum and a tiny bit of mould on the larger folded up cabbage leaves, is this normal? I tasted the kraut underneath this morn and it tastes good to me, then again I’m not sure what bad kraut tastes like. Ahh I’m not sure what I should do, If I need to start again 🙁
can I have your advise and input?? pretty Pleaseeeee 🙂
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1. Hi Kimberley, no I think it’s fine if you just scoop out the scum on top and throw away the cabbage leaf on top that was exposed to air and has the mould (it’s just white mould right? If it’s black I’d throw it out)… the stuff underneath should be fine. It’s normal that bubbles will appear throughout the kraut, that’s the fermentation happening
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Hey, thank you for replying 🙂 thats a great help. I don’t think it’s far away from me being able to slowly introduce it into my diet, I’m excited!! What do I do once it’s ready? I know you say to transfer it to the fridge. In one of your pics of the kraut ” 8 reasons why kraut is great for acne” is looks like there is no brine anymore did you consume that or did you filter and drain it from the kraut? Does the kraut store for a long period of time even without the brine being present?
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1. You take out the thing that’s holding it down and then push the stuff down and keep it in the fridge… there should be some brine still so that most of the cabbage is still mainly submerged. Then you just kind of scoop a bit out at a time with a fork, letting the brine drain back into the jar and then put it back into the fridge
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Yayy! I’m moving my kraut to the fridge today, can’t wait to start consuming this lovely, lovely stuff :)… so I’ve removed the weight and big cabbage leaves from the top ( they had white mold on) but I forgot to ask, do I put a secure lid on the kraut now it’s in the fridge? Or does it stay open to air with kraut still under the brine?
Blessings, Kimberley 🙂
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1. You put a lid on it now… it will still ferment but very sloooowly. So the gases won’t be a problem. Also, while you don’t need to push it down so much like before, it’s good to still have a bit of the brine up above most of the cabbage while in the fridge (you can add a bit of slightly salty water if there isn’t enough)
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Just wanted to let you know of a little trick I was taught, you can use the outer leaves (fold them as if you were wrapping a gift), place one (or two depending on how big they are) get a carrot and use this to force the sauerkraut down, so the top is submerged under the liquid. You may need to cut the carrot, but keep pushing down and then place the lid on.
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Hi Tracy! Is it ok to use pink Himalayan salt instead of sea salt?
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1. Yes! 🙂 I use that too
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