How to pickle cabbage at home quickly and tasty?

Cabbage is one of the most useful vegetables for the human body, rich in high content of minerals and vitamin C. Dishes from cabbage have long been very popular in Russia. Gourmet special love has gained sauerkraut (salted) cabbage - the real queen of the feast. And today, with this product, the housewives willingly bake pies, cook soups. Salted (sauerkraut) cabbage is added to cutlets and main dishes, and also served as a snack. It is known that in sauerkraut, the healing properties are preserved almost twice as good as in fresh. How to pickle cabbage at home? Let's talk about this in our article.

To salt or pickle?

When asked how to pickle cabbage, experienced housewives are ready to provide many recipes for preparing the product with the addition of carrots, cranberries, lingonberries, chopped Antonov apples, etc. For successful pickling, or pickling, cabbage at home, you don’t need any there were expensive ingredients, no special skills. Souring (salting) is one of the easiest ways of preserving for future use, based on the natural fermentation of a vegetable in its own juice.

Another option for harvesting vegetables (including cabbage) for the winter is also known - pickling. The main difference between this method and pickling is faster preparation due to the addition of acid (vinegar). For comparison: it takes from three to seven days to cook cabbage using the salting method (depending on which recipe is used), pickling will take from 2 hours to 2 days. But experts consider crispy fermented cabbage more useful than pickled cabbage.

On the benefits and harms of sauerkraut (salted) cabbage

Particularly relevant blanks are in the winter and spring, when the signs of vitamin deficiency make themselves felt. The vegetable contains a significant amount of vitamin C (in the stalk - about 75 mg, in 100 g of leaves - about 50-52 mg), as well as minerals (potassium, phosphorus and calcium). Fermented cabbage retains nutrients twice as good as regular fresh vegetables. Salted cabbage in moderate use improves the digestive system, strengthens the immune system, positively affects the intestinal microflora.

The product is not recommended for use by people with ulcers and diseases of the pancreas and duodenum, as well as renal failure. Doctors also advise excluding sauerkraut from the diet with high acidity.

How to deliciously pickle cabbage at home? Tips

It is no secret that sauerkraut, which emits a characteristic savory crunch when consumed, is especially appreciated by true lovers of harvesting. How to pickle cabbage so that it turns out delicious, crispy and appetizing?

According to the assurances of experienced housewives, such a dish can turn out exclusively from winter and autumn and varieties of cabbage (white cabbage). Specialists categorically do not recommend using summer cabbage for salting. Only salted cabbage of late varieties will turn out crispy and tasty. Experienced housewives recommend using: “Belorusskaya 455”, “Zavodskaya”, “Kolobok”, “Biryuchekutskaya 138”, “Atria F1”, “Dobrovodskaya”, “Megaton F1”, “Merchant Girl”.

Those who want to learn how to pickle cabbage should consider that the beneficial substances in a vegetable will be better preserved, the larger it is cut and prepared.

When salting, it is not recommended to use iodized salt. In the old days, the harvesting of vegetables for the winter was carried out in accordance with the lunar calendar. Popular sign advises to choose for this is precisely the period of the new moon.

Important for those who want to learn how to pickle cabbage, there will be information about the dishes, which it is desirable to use for harvesting. According to the masters, the ideal place to store harvested vegetables are wooden barrels or glass jars specially cleaned with a solution of bleach and washed many times with water. It is not recommended to use large cans of aluminum, which spoil the taste of the product.

For chopping, you should use a wide knife, specially designed for cutting vegetables. Those who prefer thinly sliced ​​cabbage are advised to use a special grater or food processor.

Barrel Fermented Cabbage

Those wishing to find out how to deliciously pickle cabbage, experts recommend using this old classic grandmother's recipe. To prepare a delicious workpiece, you should stock up on a large wooden container and a large shredder.

About fermentation containers

Our grandmothers used oak barrels for pickles. Oak is strong wood, not subject to decay. It is known that oak disinfects products stored in containers made from it, so they never disappear in it. In addition, it is able to give pickles a special flavor.

The barrel, long standing in the barn before this, must be specially prepared before pickling cabbage. One of the methods that our ancestors used was steaming. Several juniper branches (freshly cut) are placed in the container, and they are filled with water (hot). Immediately, several clean, previously hot stones are thrown at it, after which the barrel is covered. After the water has cooled, all contents are taken out of it and thoroughly rinsed with a soda solution. A container that has not been used for a long time often dries up. To restore her working capacity, the barrel is filled with water and left for several days. During this time, the wood swells and closes cracks resulting from drying out.

A rustic classic recipe: how to ferment cabbage in a barrel?

You will need the ingredients:

• 10 kg of fresh cabbage heads;
• 1 kg of peeled carrots;
• 200-259 g of salt;
• about one tablespoon of dill seed;
• 300 grams of fresh cranberries.

Cooking method

The process of salting cabbage in a barrel provides the following steps:

1. The bottom of the wooden barrel is covered with large cabbage leaves, which are laid tight enough so that there are no gaps between them.
2. To wash cabbage before a shredder, you can optionally just clean the forks from spoiled and dry top leaves. For the convenience of chopping, the cabbage head is cut into parts (half or quarter). Chopped 1/5 of the forks, send them to the barrel, pouring carrots, chopped on a grater (coarse): 200 g of grated carrots per 2 kg of cabbage.
3. Laying portions of vegetables in a barrel, they are well prevented by them, crushing to a crunch. Next, salt is added. Approximately one handful of salt is required per vegetable tab. Again, mix the cabbage well, a little priming.
4. Add 1/5 of the cranberries (washed) and dill grains, again interfere, but more accurately. When cranberries are added to the cabbage, it is not recommended to crush it, so as not to suppress the berries.
5. Then, the same actions are done with the next and each subsequent portion of cabbage, until the pickling capacity is almost completely filled. You should not fill the barrel to the top, because otherwise the juice released during the ripening process may overflow through the sides.
6. The filled container is covered with gauze, a piece of clean canvas, a plate or a wooden circle of the same diameter as the neck of the barrel. A load is laid on top with which the contents of the container should be so pressed down that it is completely covered with juice.
7. After a day, the barrel is opened and pierced with a clean stick. At the same time, hitting the bottom, you should make circular motions in order to release the gases accumulated in the tank. This must be done twice a day - in the morning and in the evening.
8. Then oppression is reduced, the cabbage is left to ferment at t = 18 ° C (approximately). It will take about a week and a half to ferment. In a colder room, the process will take a little longer.

Recipe Recommendations

Experienced chefs advise:

1. Salt for salting cabbage in an oak barrel should be used ordinary, large, in no case iodized, which softens the product. The amount of salt varies to taste, but its most optimal proportion is: one tablespoon (with a slide) per kilogram of shredded vegetable.
2. If you add apples to the barrel (better, Antonovka), this will make the cabbage more vigorous and aromatic. They are laid in layers - both cut into large slices, and in whole.
3. Finely chopped cabbage is shifted in layers of leaves, as well as coarsely chopped or cut into quarters of small forks.
4. An indicator that the pickles are ripe is the clarified cabbage juice and the stopped gas secretions. The finished product is stored in the same container, in cold and dark.
5. You should not forget to air it sometimes. At t = 0-4 ° C the product will be stored until spring.

How to quickly pickle cabbage?

Use:

• 2 kg of white cabbage;
• one carrot;
• 2 bay leaves;
• 40 grams of salt;
• black pepper peas to taste.

Cooking (step by step)

Act as follows:

1. To salt the cabbage into jars quickly and tasty, you should peel it and carrots and grate it coarsely with a special vegetable grater.
2. Shredded vegetables are placed in a large bowl, thoroughly crushed with salt (ordinary stone). Add bay leaf (ground).
3. Stir and squeeze cabbage and carrots until juice is formed. They taste. Then the vegetable mixture is laid out in jars, but not to the very top, leaving room for liquid to exit. Cans set on a deep tray.
4. In order to successfully (quickly and tasty) pickle cabbage in a jar, you should occasionally pierce the product with a wooden stick (once or twice a day) in order to ensure free gas evolution. Banks are left to be stored at room temperature for 2-3 days.
5. The completion of the starter culture can be judged by the disappearance of the foamy cap on top of the product, as well as turbid water. Next, glass containers are covered with lids. They send salting to the refrigerator for one day. The appetizer is served on the table, decorated with fresh onions and seasoned with sunflower oil.

Classic recipe in brine

This method will appeal to everyone who wants to learn how to quickly pickle cabbage at home

Use:

• three kilograms of cabbage;
• 400 grams of carrots;
• two and a half liters of water;
• five tablespoons of salt;
• three large spoons of sugar;
• to taste: caraway seeds, dill seeds.

How to cook?

For those who want to learn how to pickle cabbage quickly and tasty, experienced housewives are advised to act like this:

1. First, the vegetable is thoroughly washed in water (cold). Remove top damaged leaves. Large shred.
2. Carrots are crushed on a grater. Combine the main ingredients in a deep basin. Gently mix and miss. Then they shift it over the jars without tamping the vegetable mixture very much. Dill and caraway seeds are added to each jar.
3. Water is poured into the pan, sugar and salt are added, and set on the stove. Bring to a boil to dissolve all the crystals, and then slightly cool. After 10-15 minutes, the jars are filled to the top with hot liquid, covered with multilayer gauze on top. Salting in banks is left in the kitchen for two days.
4. From time to time it is necessary to pierce it with a wooden stick (with a frequency of 2 times a day).
5. After two days, the brine is poured from cans into a clean pan. Put on the stove. Pour sugar and reflux. The slightly cooled brine is poured into cans. Close the lids and leave to cool on the kitchen table.
6. Then the dish (cooled down) is cleaned in the refrigerator. Three days later, you can treat the household with a tasty preparation.

Fermenting cabbage with tomatoes for the winter in banks

Those who want to know how to quickly pickle cabbage in cans to make it tasty and appetizing should use this recipe. For procurement use:

• 5 kg ripe tomatoes with a dense structure of medium size;
• 10 kg of white cabbage;
• 350 grams of salt;
• to taste: hot pepper, dill seeds;
• celery;
• currant and cherry leaves.

How to cook?

For those who want to learn how to salt cabbage in a jar, the craftswomen provide detailed instructions:

1. First wash and shred vegetables. Medium-sized tomatoes are salted whole.
2. Shredded cabbage is spread in a large basin, and then tomatoes. Sprinkle with cherry and currant leaves on top for flavor, dill and celery. At least three of these layers of vegetables should be made. Top salting is covered with a clean cloth. Press down with a load. It is necessary to monitor how the juice is secreted, carefully pierce the product with a wooden stick twice a day, being careful not to damage the tomatoes.
3. After 3-4 days, the finished mixture is transferred to jars. Set to cool for about 12-16 hours.

To speed up the harvesting, housewives recommend using a special brine. It can be prepared as follows: for one liter of water you will need two tablespoons of salt and 150 grams of sugar. Pour the product with the resulting brine. In two days, the pickling will be ready. Enjoy your meal!