I’ll add a couple of my tricks for kraut-making. I use a meat slicer or a kraut slicer to slice the cabbage. It’s quicker and I find no glamor in doing it by hand although I’ve done my share & I know everybody doesn’t have a meat slicer. When I slice it I have some (very) large bowls & I put the sliced cabbage into the bowls & salt it. After it stands for half an hour it softens and I find this makes it a lot easier to pack into the crock/bucket or whatever you’re fermenting in. I really pack it in tight into the crock. I use all crocks for fermenting kraut. Once it’s packed I also weight it with a plate but I have some blocks of scrap granite I got from the local countertop place to weight it down. I find the bags of water hard to work around. My medium crock holds 50# of cabbage & the big crock holds 120# of cabbage.
Once it’s done I process it in mason jars per the ‘Blue Book’ recipe. It lasts indefinitely. We eat a fair amount fresh & the dog likes it too. The natural probiotics in it are good for everybody.
Cabbage is one of nature’s real health foods & lactic fermentation just makes it that much better. PLUS once you make your own you won’t eat store bought again.
