kerescan - Aug 25th, 2015
Homemade pickling of cabbage for the winter is a process that seems to have been known for a long time for all of us. But are you doing everything right and how tasty is your sauerkraut? In this recipe, I will try to explain in detail how to salt cabbage, what processes occur during pickling and what to do so that the cabbage does not become acidic, does not become bitter, and always remains as fresh - tasty and crispy.
And so, how to pickle cabbage for the winter at home correctly.
Let's start with the fact that mid- and late-ripening cabbage varieties are suitable for pickling. We clean the cabbage heads, cut off the stalk, remove the top leaves, wash them, cut them into 4 parts and finely chop them.
We also finely chop (shred on a coarse grater) the carrots. You can also add whole or chopped apples to the cabbage; the best variety for pickling is “Antonovka”, red Bell pepper, lingonberries, cranberries, caraway seeds. The taste of cabbage is improved by berries and apples, and vitamin C is better preserved with peppers. Whole heads or heads of cabbage cut in half can be placed between the chopped cabbage.
It is preferable to ferment cabbage in a wooden barrel or tub, but in the absence of one, it will do enamel pan. You just need to remember that cabbage will be stored in a saucepan for less time than in a barrel or tub.
Wash the fermentation container thoroughly, scald it with boiling water, put a layer of cabbage leaves on the bottom, then chopped and grated cabbage with salt, to which we add apples, carrots, berries, sweet peppers or one of the above. The layer thickness should be approximately 5 cm.
Next, we continue salting the cabbage by compacting it with a board or with our hands. But you don’t need to compact the cabbage too much so that it doesn’t become soft. So fill the tub to the top, leaving less than 10 cm on top. We lay out whole cabbage leaves at the top, cover with a clean linen cloth, and then with a washed wooden circle, well fitted under the tub. We press the circle on top with a clean stone. To prevent the cabbage from spoiling and darkening, the circle should always be covered with brine.
For 10 kg of peeled cabbage, take 7-10 pieces. carrots and apples, 1 cup lingonberries or cranberries, 2 g cumin, about 250 g salt.
Cabbage turns out tasty if you replace 1/5 of the salt that is required in the recipe for cabbage with sugar. Sugar speeds up the fermentation process. If we add sugar to cabbage, then instead of the required amount of salt, you need to take 200 g of salt and 50 g of sugar. The rest of the ingredients are the same.
Cabbage tastes ideal when it ferments at 18-20°C for 7-11 days. If the temperature in the room is higher, then fermentation will proceed faster and the cabbage will no longer be as tasty, and if it is lower, fermentation will slow down, little lactic acid will be released and the cabbage will taste bitter. During fermentation, gases are released that must be removed. How to do it? Simply pierce the cabbage with a long stick to the bottom in several places. This procedure must be done every day.
At first the cabbage will increase in volume and the brine may overflow. It should be scooped out into a clean container, and then, when fermentation stops, added back to the container.
Also, it is necessary to constantly remove the foam from the surface of the cabbage, as it harbors harmful bacteria.
The cabbage is considered ready if bubbles stop forming on the surface and the brine becomes clear.
Now, let's prepare the cabbage for long-term storage: Wash and scald a cloth, a circle and a stone with boiling water, wipe the sides of the tub with the cloth. Before wiping, soak the fabric in strong saline solution. If cabbage is stored for a long time, then you need to do this all the time, as mold forms.
Blank from sauerkraut should be stored in a room with a temperature around zero. Cabbage should always be covered with brine - without brine, its vitamins are quickly destroyed. You should also not rinse the cabbage, as you can wash out valuable minerals.
Just as in a barrel, you can ferment cabbage in glass jars, but the fermentation process of cabbage in a jar is shorter - only 3 days. When the cabbage has fermented, it should be covered with a tight lid and kept in the basement or refrigerator.
Sauerkraut in a barrel or tub keeps well all winter. It is good as a salad with onions, and fried as a side dish for meat. Also, you can cook first courses from sauerkraut (cabbage, borscht). And if you pickle cabbage with whole small heads of cabbage, then in winter you can cook cabbage rolls with rice and meat. What methods of pickling cabbage do you use? What are your family’s secrets for pickling and pickling cabbage? As always, I look forward to your feedback in the comments below the recipe.
You can’t find a better vessel for sauerkraut than an aspen tub. In it cabbage acquires special taste and the aroma that she retains all winter. Even in spring, cabbage remains strong for a long time and crunches just as pleasantly on the teeth. And if the cabbage is fermented according to all the rules, flavored with carrots and caraway seeds, and whole apples and heads of cabbage with cross-shaped cuts are placed in the tub, then this is a real delicacy.
10 kg of cabbage, 200-250 g. table salt coarsely ground especially for pickling.
When fermenting in a barrel or tub, follow the following order: put a layer of whole leaves on the bottom, which protect the first portions of cabbage from crushing, then put a layer of shredded cabbage, sprinkle it with salt and tamp it down so that the cabbage releases juice. Fill the tub so that the backing circle fits freely into it, bends and the lid closes tightly. Cover the top of the cabbage with a layer of cleanly washed leaves and a double layer of scalded canvas or gauze, put a wooden circle and pressure. For oppression, you can use cobblestones. The wooden circle should be constantly covered with juice.
After the fermentation process is complete, transfer the tub of cabbage to a cool place. Best conditions for storing sauerkraut at a temperature of 0-2°C. At this temperature, the cabbage does not become overly sour. When storing cabbage in a tub or barrel, you need to ensure that the cabbage is always covered with brine and mold does not appear. With more high temperature cabbage loses its quality.
10 kg of cabbage, 2 kg of apples, 500 g of onions, 25 g of caraway seeds or dill, 200 g of salt.
Pickled white cabbage with apples
Mature healthy sour apples(Antonovka is best) peel and core, cut into slices and mix with shredded cabbage. Then cook as usual. You can also put whole apples - in this case, select medium-sized fruits. Whole apples are added after the cabbage has been compacted and the juice has released.
10 kg of cabbage, 300-500 g of carrots, 25 g of caraway seeds or dill, 200-250 g of salt.
Pickled white cabbage with caraway seeds
Cumin seeds contain 3-7% of strong-smelling cumin oil, which has pleasant taste and smell and improves the taste of cabbage sauerkraut in a tub. In addition, caraway oil, covering the surface of the juice with a thin film, prevents the development of harmful microorganisms, in particular molds. Dill seeds, which contain up to 4%, have similar properties. essential oils. Cumin seeds are added to chopped cabbage along with salt. Otherwise, prepare it according to the previous recipe.
To prepare 50 kg of sauerkraut. 60 kg of white cabbage, 1 kg of garlic, 3.5 kg. carrots, 1.5-2 kg of roots (celery, parsley and cilantro with tops), 25 pieces of bitter capsicum, 300-400 g cherry leaves, 1 kg beetroot, 7-8 allspice peas, 1.4 kg salt, 10-15 bay leaves, 2 pods of broken cinnamon.
Well-washed cabbage and cherry leaves are placed at the bottom of the pickling barrel, and then the cabbage is placed tightly in rows. Garlic, roots, carrot slices, beet slices, and hot peppers are placed between the rows. The top layer of vegetables is covered with clean cabbage leaves, and then with gauze and canvas, a well-washed wooden circle is placed on top, on which a load is placed. After this, the vegetables are poured with marinade 4-5 cm above the laid vegetables. Prepare 30 liters of marinade for 50 kg of cabbage. Boil water (29 l), add allspice, Bay leaf, cinnamon and salt, then the marinade is cooled and poured into a filled tub. For 4-5 days, the cabbage stands in a tub in a warm place, then it is transferred to a cold place. It is recommended to store sauerkraut at a temperature no higher than 10°C.
To pickle cabbage according to this recipe, 50 kg of cabbage will require 20 liters of water and 1.6 kg of salt.
To make the fermentation process go faster, you need to put a little barley at the bottom of the pickling tub. Place a backing circle and oppression on top of the heads of cabbage. To make brine, dissolve salt in boiling water. If the liquid turns out to be cloudy, strain it through cheesecloth. Pour in brine until it covers the cabbage.
For your convenience, we will install a brine drain tap.
How to pickle cabbage with heads of cabbage - 2 ways!When talking about sauerkraut, housewives most often mean shredded cabbage, salted with carrots. But you can also ferment cabbage with heads of cabbage. A small head of cabbage surrounded by other fresh and salted vegetables will become worthy decoration even for the holiday table.
You will need
Small heads of cabbage;
Garlic;
Celery;
Wooden barrel or vat:
Wooden circle:
Linen canvas or gauze;
Sharp knife.
To pickle heads of cabbage, you need to be especially careful when choosing cabbage. Select small and medium-sized heads of cabbage. It is desirable that they be approximately the same size. Remove the covering leaves.
Make cross-shaped cuts along the stalk on each head of cabbage and place them in a wooden barrel in rows. Sometimes the heads of cabbage are sprinkled with shredded cabbage, but this is not necessary.
Prepare the brine.
Required ingredients are water and salt. In 1 liter cold or lukewarm (but not hot) boiled water dissolve 40 g of table salt. You can add sugar to the brine (the same amount as salt). Some housewives add honey to the brine instead of sugar.
The ratio of honey and salt is 1:2.
Place the removed leaves on top of the cabbage heads. Cover it all with a piece of clean linen cloth or gauze folded in 3-4 layers. Place a wooden circle on top of the fabric and a bend on top. Pour brine over the cabbage until the circle is slightly submerged.
For the first five days, keep the barrel of cabbage in a room with room temperature. After this, place it in a cold room or on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. The cabbage is ready in 3-4 days. Cut the heads of cabbage into several pieces, season vegetable oil and serve.
You can also pickle un-shredded cabbage using a hot method.
True, for this you still have to cut the heads of cabbage in half or into 4 parts, depending on the size. Cut out the stalks. Immerse the cabbage in boiling water for about 5 minutes.
Prepare hot brine. To do this, dissolve 40 g of salt in 1 liter of water. Finely chop 400 g of celery and 100 g of garlic, place them in the prepared water. Bring the brine to a boil and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Place the cabbage in a wooden or glassware. Cover the top with a cloth, place a wooden circle and a bend, and fill with brine. If the brine does not cover the circle, add the remaining amount of cold brine. Make it using the same proportions as in the first recipe. Place the container in a cool place.
When fermenting cabbage with heads using the second method, observe the process. At some point, the cabbage will settle to the bottom, then you will need to add more half-heads. Make sure that the circle is constantly submerged.
If there is no room left in the freezer, and there is nowhere to put the next portion of vegetables from the garden, it’s time to remember how our ancestors made preparations. Cabbage fermented in a barrel for the winter the old-fashioned way classic recipe Our grandmothers made it so tasty that there was no end to those who wanted to try it. For cooking delicious pickles you will need a large wooden container, a large shredder, a table, and, of course, fresh vegetables from your own garden.
If you don’t have your own garden, you can also ferment purchased cabbage. It is very important to choose it correctly, because not every one is suitable for putting into a barrel.
The ideal option is to take forks with white leaves. late varieties, cut in October, before frost. Such cabbage leaf It has a nice crunch and contains enough juice for sourdough.
When choosing heads of cabbage, you need to lightly press them: those that emit a pleasant light crunch are suitable.
Barrel for pickling cabbage
Our grandmothers fermented cabbage and prepared other pickles in oak barrels. Oak is a strong wood that is not susceptible to rotting. On the contrary, it has a powerful disinfecting effect, and products stored in oak containers never go to waste. In addition, it gives the pickles a special flavor.
A barrel that has been standing in the barn for a long time needs to be prepared. One of the methods that our ancestors used was steaming. Place several freshly cut juniper branches in a container and pour them hot water. Almost immediately you should throw several clean hot stones into it, after which you need to cover the barrel.
After the water has cooled, remove all the contents from it and rinse thoroughly using a soda solution. If the container has not been used for a long time, it has, of course, dried out, and it needs to be restored to functionality by filling it with water and letting it sit for several days. During this time, the wood will swell and close all the cracks formed due to drying out.
Sauerkraut in bokeh: a rustic classic recipe
Ingredients
- Fresh cabbage heads— 10 kg + -
- - 1 kg + -
- — 200-250 g + -
- - about 1 tbsp. + -
- Fresh cranberries - 300 g + -
How to properly ferment cabbage at home
- Bottom wooden container(it needs to be slightly dried) cover with large cabbage leaves. They need to be laid very tightly so as not to leave the slightest gap between them.
- It is not necessary to wash the cabbage before shredding - just free the forks from the dry and spoiled top leaves. We cut it into halves or quarters - so that it is convenient to chop. If the forks are from your own organic garden, you don’t have to remove the stumps and chop them together.
- Having chopped a fifth of the cabbage forks, we send them to a barrel, sprinkling them with carrots chopped on a coarse grater. Consumption - 200 g of grated root vegetables per 2 kg of cabbage shavings.
- Having placed one portion of vegetables in the barrel, mix them thoroughly, lightly squeezing them until crunchy.
- The next step is adding salt. One bookmark requires about a handful. Mix well again, pressing lightly.
- Add a fifth of the washed cranberries and dill seeds, mix again, but carefully. When cranberries have already appeared in the cabbage, there is no need to mash them so as not to crush the berries.
- We take the shredder in our hands again, chop another portion of cabbage, add it to the barrel, mix with carrot shavings, mash, salt, add berries and dill.
We do this with enviable consistency until we fill the pickling container almost completely. You should not fill the barrel to the top so that during the ripening process the juice does not overflow over the sides.
Cover the filled container with a piece of clean linen or gauze, cover it with a wooden circle or plate of the same diameter as the neck of the barrel, and place a weight on top. He should press down the contents of the oak container so much that the juice completely covers it.
After a day, open the barrel and pierce the cabbage layer with a clean stick. Having rested on the bottom, we begin to make circular movements to release the gases accumulated in the container. This should be done twice a day - in the morning and in the evening.
Having reduced the pressure, we leave the cabbage to ferment at a temperature of up to 18 o C for about 1.5 weeks. If the room is colder, the fermentation process will take a little longer.
Secrets of successful cabbage starter
- Salt for homemade pickling cabbage for the winter oak barrel you need to take the most common, largest one. Enriched with iodine is not suitable because it leads to softening of the product. Its quantity can be varied according to taste, but the most optimal proportion is 1 tbsp. (with a slide) for 1 kilo of shredded cabbage.
- If you add Antonovka apples to the barrel, the cabbage will become even more vigorous and aromatic. They can be laid (in layers) either whole or divided into quarters or large slices.
- Finely shredded cabbage can be layered with layers of coarsely chopped leaves or even small forks cut into quarters.
An indicator that our pickles are already ripe is the clarification of cabbage juice and the absence of gas emissions. Finished product It is advisable to keep everything in the same container, not forgetting to ventilate sometimes, in the dark and cold. At a temperature of 0-4 o C, the cabbage delicacy will be stored until spring.
Fragrant cabbage soup, filling for homemade pies, spicy stewed side dish to fried collar - none of these dishes can be prepared without delicious pickling. Favorite sauerkraut, prepared in a barrel for the winter old recipe, is a fertile topic for unbridled culinary fantasy. But simply sprinkled with aromatic sunflower oil in the “company” of green onions, it is incomparable!..
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