Top 5 simple recipes for sauerkraut - it will be delicious!

With the onset of the first cold weather, the collection of late varieties of vegetables begins, which are ideally suited for harvesting for the winter. Sauerkraut is both a favorite appetizer, without which no holiday table is complete, and a savory addition to regular boiled potatoes. When stewed, it becomes an excellent side dish for meat dishes or a filling for pies, dumplings, and pancakes. There are many known methods of fermentation, but an experienced housewife usually trusts only her time-tested recipe.

Pickling rules

Sauerkraut will turn out juicy and crispy if you follow these recommendations:

• Only late varieties of vegetables with large, well-ripened heads of cabbage are suitable for harvesting for the winter. It is not necessary to wash the head of cabbage before starting work; it is enough to remove the top 2-3 leaves and remove the blackened areas.
• Cut across the leaf. To do this, the head of cabbage is cut into pieces, the core is removed and chopped into thin strips.
• For fermentation, take a wide enamel pan, a stainless steel tank or an oak barrel. It is important that there are no chips or other damage on the inner surface. It is best to ferment vegetables in a barrel and keep them in the cellar, but residents of city apartments often do not have this opportunity, so they have to be content with glass jars.
• During the fermentation process, foam will appear on the surface, which must be removed periodically.To allow excess gases to escape, the thickness is pierced with a wooden stick or an iron rod, otherwise the workpiece will taste bitter.
• The juice released during fermentation should cover the slices. If the top layer noticeably dries out, you need to add brine to the pan at the rate of 1 tbsp. l. salt per 1 liter of water.

There is a popular belief that the most successful sauerkraut at home will be obtained if you pickle it during the waxing moon.

Classic recipe

To work you need to prepare:

• 4 kg cabbage;
• 150 g salt;
• 500 g carrots.

Step-by-step instructions for preparing for the winter:

1. The peeled head of cabbage is chopped and placed in a prepared container in a layer of 7–10 cm. The surface is sprinkled with a small amount of grated carrots (100 g) and salt (0.25 g).
2. Using a wooden pestle or simply by hand, compact the contents of the pan until the juice comes out.
3. Lay the next layer of vegetables, sprinkle with salt and compact again thoroughly. And so on several times until all the vegetables are cut and placed in the pan.
4. The container is covered with a wooden circle or plate, the diameter of which is smaller than the diameter of the pan, and a weight is placed.
5. The workpiece is left in a warm room for fermentation. Every day it is necessary to remove the weight and pierce the thickness of the cabbage with a wooden or iron skewer.

The classic method of fermentation assumes that the food will be ready in a week. Now all that remains is to transfer it into jars and place it in a cool place.

A quick way to pickle

The instant product can be eaten three days after salting.

You will need the following products:

• cabbage - 6 kg;
• carrots - 500 g;
• sugar - 1 glass;
• salt - 1/2 cup;
• water - 1.5 l.

The heads of cabbage are cut into square pieces, mixed with carrots and placed tightly in a jar.Then make brine and fill the container to the edge. During fermentation, the jar is placed in a cup so that the juice does not leak onto the floor.

After a couple of days, you need to add sugar, which is previously dissolved in the drained juice, and put the workpiece in a cold place. Cabbage, cooked quickly and without vinegar, is ready to eat.

Sauerkraut with hot pepper

To prepare a spicy snack with hot peppers, for 5 kg of cabbage you need to take 250 g of carrots, 1 hot pepper and a head of garlic. The brine is prepared at the rate of: for 4 liters of water - 400 g of sugar and 200 g of salt.

The heads of cabbage prepared for pickling are cut into large pieces, placed in a pan and filled with brine. The container is covered with a wooden circle and oppression is placed. Two days later, when the cabbage has fermented a little, the pieces are cut into strips, combined with grated carrots, garlic and pepper and put back into the pan.

The cabbage brine is boiled, allowed to cool, poured over the chopped vegetables again and placed under pressure for another couple of days. At the end of the work, sugar is added, the workpiece is packaged and placed in the basement or refrigerator.

With apples and bell peppers

To prepare this delicious preparation for 2 kg of cabbage, you need to take 1 carrot, 4 sour apples, 1 pepper and 2 cloves of garlic. For brine, 1 liter of water will require 60 g of salt and 15 g of sugar.

Cabbage is chopped into strips, apples are cut into thin slices, peppers are cut into strips, carrots and garlic are grated. All ingredients are laid out in layers in a pan and filled with hot brine. You can add coriander, cumin or peppercorns. The pan is placed in a warm place for fermentation.

In 4-5 days, the delicious snack will be ready.All that remains is to put it in jars and put it in the refrigerator, where the preparation can stand until spring.

Sauerkraut

This recipe for making sauerkraut is perfect for those who cannot stand vinegar and prefer to make preparations without this additive.

Required ingredients:

• inflorescences - 2 kg;
• carrots - 1 pc.;
• pepper - 5 peas.

The cauliflower is sorted into inflorescences, the carrots are grated, and the garlic is cut into slices. The processed vegetables are placed in jars and cold brine is added, for the preparation of which 100 g of salt and sugar are dissolved in 1.5 liters of water. The jars are covered with gauze and left for 3 days to ferment. The workpiece is stored in the refrigerator.

Fermenting cabbage is not difficult - you just need to choose juicy, ripe vegetables and follow the recipe. Traditional healers attribute magical properties to this product and recommend using it for colds, epilepsy and bronchial asthma.