Kraut-making

Yesterday my friends Cheri and Stephanie came over to make old fashioned sauerkraut in my crock, which has stood unused for years due to several failed attempts. It was fun!

 

First there was tons of pounding with this abnormally large Sauerkraut Stomper (made by an Amish guy in PA). It was an arm workout. Breaking up the cabbage with the stomper brings out the water to make the brine in which the cabbage will ferment. I didn’t buy quite enough cabbage, so we added some carrots to bring up the level (which you need for a proper ferment in the crock), hence the orange color. 

Then we put in the weights, which hold down the cabbage about 2 inches under the brine.

 

We closed her up, added some water around that lip (which creates a seal with the lid) and volia, in 4 weeks I should have heavenly-tasting, highly-probiotic, and vitamin C-rich sauerkraut….we’ll see!