Sauerkraut: my grandmother's recipe with photo

White cabbage is not only tasty, but also a very useful vegetable, included in the diet of most people. From cabbage you can cook many delicious dishes, it can also be consumed in pickled, stewed, pickled, and also raw. Cabbage juice is used in the treatment of many diseases. However, in our country, the most popular dish of this vegetable is sauerkraut. From this article you will learn how to cook sauerkraut ( my grandmother's recipe ) and a lot of other useful information.

Beneficial features

It is noted that sauerkraut has an exceptionally positive effect on the human body, this is due to the fact that it contains many vitamins and minerals that help slow down the aging process and strengthen the immune system. In the process of preparing cabbage, sour-milk bacteria are involved, which is why, after entering the intestine, it favors the improvement of the microflora. Sauerkraut (my grandmother's recipe will be discussed below) brings iodine to the human body, without which internal organs and systems are not able to function normally. In addition, iodine normalizes blood sugar.

Structure

It has been mentioned above that sauerkraut contains many vitamins: vitamin C (its content in this product is the highest), as well as vitamins B ₁ , B ₂ , B ₆ , U and K. In addition, the useful properties of a vegetable depend on trace elements, as well necessary for the human body. These include: iodine, fluorine, molybdenum, manganese, chromium, copper, calcium, potassium, sodium, phosphorus, magnesium and sulfur.

Cooking options

Typically, sauerkraut (my grandmother's recipe) is cooked at home in several basic ways:

• Cabbage for salting, chopped with a special shredder or knife.
• Chopped chopped or chopped cabbage, pickled in a special wooden trough.
• Cabbage chopped in halves or quarters.

The main ingredients in the preparation are cabbage and salt, evenly distributed in it. In this case, the additives can be very different. These are bay leaves and carrots, apples and cranberries, dill and caraway seeds, allspice peas , beets and much more. Thus, sauerkraut (my grandmother’s recipe) can be with any additives, it all depends on your preferences.

How to choose a suitable cabbage for salting

For salting, you should choose late varieties. The forks that are selected for winter harvesting should be white, with crispy and juicy leaves.

For leaven economical housewives choose large heads of cabbage. This is very advisable, since with a large plug there is much less waste compared to two small ones. In the process of preparation, the upper leaves are cut from cabbage, which have a darker color with a greenish color, rotted places, any darkening, frost-bitten or deformed. If you plan to grease quarters or halves of a head of cabbage, then for uniform salting out, it is advisable to cut the stump.

Salting Guidelines

We came to the most basic question - how to ferment cabbage correctly. We presume that we need a grandmother’s classic sauerkraut recipe . In this case, the following proportions are observed: 200 grams of salt per 10 kilograms of cabbage.

Cabbage can be fermented in a variety of ways, starting with the pickling option. This is “wet” salting (cabbage is rammed into a previously prepared container and filled with brine) and dry salting (in this case, cabbage is rubbed with dry salt by hand). In turn, wet salting can be done in hot and cold ways.

The traditional supplement is carrots. However, even here the opinions of the hostesses were divided. Some rub carrots on a coarse grater; someone prefers to cut it into long strips or thin slices. The only difference is that chopped carrots, compared with grated, will not produce a large amount of juice. Thus, sauerkraut with chopped carrots will have a light, unpainted color.

Whole or sliced ​​apples of acidic varieties, cranberries, lingonberries and plums will also help to diversify the taste. In addition, mushrooms (salted or pickled), sweet bell pepper, celery and much more can be added to sauerkraut.

Classic recipe

So, sauerkraut (grandmother's recipe) is prepared as follows:

1. It is necessary to thoroughly wash a glass jar with a volume of 2 liters, with a wide neck.
   
2. Cabbage is chopped with a sharp knife, carrots are rubbed on a coarse grater. Vegetables are well mixed together and stacked tightly in a jar, while you need to tightly tamp them with a rolling pin.
3. Top vegetables are filled with salt, and water is poured to the shoulders of the banks. The can is tightly closed by a lid and left warm for 2-3 days. Several times a day you need to pierce the cabbage with a knife or a wooden stick.
4. After the cabbage has a characteristic taste and smell, you need to drain the liquid, tightly cork the jar with a lid and place in the refrigerator.
5. Serve cabbage with cranberries, black pepper and thinly sliced ​​onion rings, well seasoned with sunflower oil.

Sauerkraut: my grandmother's recipe with photo

The following ingredients will be required for preparation:

• 5 kg of white cabbage;
  
• 1 kg of carrots;
• 80-100 grams of salt.

For salting, white and dense cabbage of late varieties is selected.

Salt is exclusively stone, not sea and not iodized, since iodine will make cabbage sluggish and soft.

If desired, you can add spices - dried herbs, coriander, caraway seeds.

You can salt in glass jars, ceramic tub, pan. The dishes must be thoroughly washed, but not sterilized.

The number of products increases proportionally.

Step by step recipe

So, sauerkraut - a grandmother's recipe, involves the following sequence of actions:

1. Cabbage is finely chopped with a sharp knife. If you are going to ferment a lot of cabbage, then it is advisable to use a special grater-shredder.
   
2. Grate the carrots on a coarse grater, after which the vegetables are sprinkled with salt.
3. Lightly rubbing with your hands, mix the cabbage and carrots thoroughly. Vegetables instantly let out juice, which can irritate the hands. If you have delicate skin, it is better to use rubber gloves.
4. Then the vegetables are placed in jars, while they should be tamped tightly with a rolling pin.
5. If you are fermenting cabbage in a tub or pan, then it is advisable to put a load on top. To do this, cover the cabbage with a plate and put a brick wrapped in a bag on top of it or put a jar of water.
6. After some time, juice will stand out. If it is too much and it spills over the edges of the can (as a rule, there is no such problem in a wide tub), remove a little liquid with a tablespoon, but not completely, pouring the juice is also not worth it. Cabbage should be completely covered with juice. Otherwise, it will not turn out juicy and crispy.
7. As soon as the cabbage pulls the liquid that has formed into itself, pour the removed juice back into the jar.
8. The main condition - sauerkraut (a recipe, like my grandmother) should be pierced several times a day with a sharp wooden stick or knife. If this is not done, then the cabbage in the end result will get a bitterness.
9. On average, at room temperature, cabbage is fermented for 2-3 days, after which it needs to be stored in a refrigerator or cellar.

Sauerkraut with beets: a recipe, like my grandmother

You can eat well-salted, crisp cabbage the very next day. And most importantly, the cabbage cooked according to this recipe will be stored for a very long time.

To prepare you will need:

• Beets, garlic and cabbage - the proportions are taken at your personal discretion.

For 1 liter of water should be:

• 2 tbsp. tablespoons of salt;
• 2 pcs. bay leaf;
• 1 cup of 9% vinegar;
• 1 cup of sugar.

About 1.5 liters of this filling falls on a 3-liter jar.

Preparing pickled cabbage as follows:

1. Cabbage is cut into arbitrary pieces, or squares. Garlic must be left whole slices. Beets must be peeled and sliced.
2. Tamping tightly, fold the cabbage in a jar, shifting it with garlic and beets.
3. For the marinade, you need to boil the water, dissolve the sugar, salt in it and add the bay leaf. Vinegar is poured into boiling brine. As soon as the fill re-boils, it must be poured into the banks with cabbage and corked.
4. Cans should be left warm until completely cooled, and then put in the refrigerator for storage.