Sauerkraut by Joe Friday

Recipe by: Joe Friday Uploaded by Drimble Wedge

I just canned up my kraut today and it tastes amazing, head and shoulders above what you can get at the store. I flavored mine with juniper berries and caraway seeds. The recipe is incredibly simple.

For every 5 lbs of cabbage:

• Use 3 T of salt
• 1 T juniper berries and
• 1 T caraway seeds

Shred cabbage finely, salt and mix thoroughly with hands, pound the shit out of it. Stuff this in a crock and cover with the crock stones or a weighted plate. I'm lucky enough to have a German fermenting crock that has special stone inserts and a water lip to seal the lid and keep the smell down. After 2 days if it doesn't have enough water to cover it, mix a brine with 3/4 measure salt to 10 measure water (3/4 cup of salt for 10 cups of water) and add to crock. Ferment in the crock 4 - 6 weeks depending on ambient temperature. Skim mold and other growths off the top every other day or so. The brine should be cloudy and the kraut should be golden when done.

You can either fridge it or can it packed tightly with juice and process for 25 minutes in a water bath canner.

This is the best thing and makes store bough kraut taste like simple vinegar cabbage (which by the way, most of it is).