Lacto-Fermented Sauerkraut

I may have mentioned a 21-day detox I was doing. Yesterday was the last day. In any case, one of the guidelines was to eat fermented vegetables with every meal. That works for me since I love fermented veggies. But it took until the very last weekend for me to get my act together to make my own. I had purchased a fermentation tool set that included glass fermentation weights and a vegetable tamper. I already had a mandolin slicer.* And I had four beautiful heads of cabbage in my High Ground Organics CSA. Well, there were two heads already included; then I swapped some lettuce for the other heads of cabbage in the trade box.

I did some research and decided to start simple. We'll see how this batch turns out in a month. And we'll go from there.

Ingredients

• 2 medium cabbage heads, finely sliced, approximately 8 C cabbage
• 2 T sea salt
• 1 T caraway seeds

Procedure

Place cabbage and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Massage the cabbage and salt together with your hands, as if you're making a massage kale salad. When the cabbage has become limp and releases some of its juice, transfer into mason jars. I prefer the wide mouth jars.

Pack the salted cabbage into the jars as tightly as you can, eliminating air bubbles.

Continue packing the cabbage into the jar until the cabbage is completely submerged by liquid. Gently drop in the glass fermentation weights and press down so that the cabbage and the weight are completely covered by the liquid. Mine has a good 1/2" to 3/4" above the weight.

Now allow it to sit at room temperature, undisturbed, for at least 1 month and for up to 6 months. I will begin testing the sauerkraut every few days until it is done to my liking. Once it's to your liking, cover the jar with a lid and move the sauerkraut to the refrigerator.

I'll keep you posted as I taste and test!

*This blog currently has a partnership with Amazon.com in their affiliate program, which gives me a small percentage of sales if you buy a product through a link on my blog. It doesn't cost you anything more. If you are uncomfortable with this, feel free to go directly to Amazon.com and search for the item of your choice.