Sauerkraut for the winter. How to quickly ferment cabbage at home. Video: Sauerkraut with mustard and adjika

Sauerkraut for the winter becomes a real strategic reserve. From it you can cook vegetable salads, and side dishes, and full-fledged main courses, as well as various soups and borscht. At the same time, sauerkraut itself is already a tasty and healthy snack. It is often served even on the festive table, and at home it is constantly used as a light snack.

Preparing sauerkraut for the winter is very simple. You don't even need to make a marinade for this. Sometimes a brine of water, salt and sugar is added to vegetables, sometimes they are left in their own juice. You can cook sauerkraut in an enameled bowl, in a barrel or in glass jars. At the same time, you can cut it into thin strips, squares, large pieces, or even leave it as a whole. Cabbage is usually stored in the same container in which it was fermented. To do this, simply rearrange the sauerkraut in a cool place and make sure that the brine always covers the vegetables.

Usually cabbage is fermented with the addition of additional ingredients. So, for sourness, they put cranberries, green apples, lingonberries to it, for color - carrots or beets, for aroma - black and allspice, garlic, cloves, cumin, etc. Lovers of a more diverse flavor palette also add hot peppers, honey to cabbage etc.

Cooking time for sauerkraut depends solely on the recipe chosen. It can vary from a few hours to several weeks. Of course, the taste and texture of the dish are significantly different, so there is simply no universal way of sourdough.

In Russia, cabbage has long been fermented in oak barrels. Finding one now is also not difficult, while it will be even more convenient. There are several advantages to this method of sourdough cabbage. Firstly, you immediately get a lot of pickles, and secondly, you can store them in the same barrel, taking out cabbage as needed. To make the appetizer really sour, it is better to add green apples to it. The Antonovka variety is perfect. These apples emphasize the taste of cabbage and at the same time keep their shape well, without turning into gruel.

Ingredients:

• 10 kg of cabbage;
• 8 apples;
• 8 carrots;
• 2 pinches of cumin;
• 200 g of salt;
• 50 g of sugar;
• Water.

Cooking method:

1. Remove the top leaves from the heads of cabbage and remove the stalk, cut the rest into thin strips (chop).
2. Grate the carrots on a coarse grater, and cut the apples into not very large slices.
3. Thoroughly rinse the barrel, sterilize it with boiling water.
4. Put whole cabbage leaves on the bottom of the barrel.
5. Sprinkle chopped cabbage with salt and sugar and press well with your hands.
6. Mix cabbage, apples, carrots and cumin.
7. Put the resulting vegetable mass into a barrel and lightly tamp so that there is 10 cm of free space to the edge of the barrel.
8. Cover the vegetables with whole cabbage leaves, and put a linen cloth on them.
9. Place a wooden circle on a cloth, and a load on it (you need the circle to get a little wet in the brine).
10. Keep the cabbage in a barrel at room temperature for a week and a half, regularly piercing the contents of the barrel with a wooden stick to the very bottom.
11. Store cooked cabbage at zero temperature.

Interesting from the network

Carrots make cabbage more juicy and crispy, so you will need quite a lot of it in this recipe. In this case, the brine is used the simplest, so even a novice cook can resort to this cooking method. Cabbage is recommended to be cut as thin as possible - so it will become even tastier and it will be more convenient to eat it. Also pay attention to the head of cabbage before buying. When fresh, it should also crunch if you press on the leaves with your finger. Then the sauerkraut will be crispy!

Ingredients:

• 1 head of cabbage;
• 4 cloves of garlic;
• 4 carrots;
• 1 liter of water;
• 1 ½ st. l. Sahara;
• 2 tbsp. l. salt.

Cooking method:

1. Chop the cabbage and grate the carrots on a coarse grater.
2. On a table or cutting board, lay out the cabbage in a single layer and cover it with a layer of carrots.
3. Mix the vegetables well with your hands, then mix them with chopped garlic.
4. Arrange the resulting assortment in jars, not tamping the vegetables too tightly.
5. Mix warm water (not hot), salt and sugar, wait until the grains are completely dissolved.
6. Pour the cabbage and carrots with brine over the shoulders.
7. Sterilize the jars in boiling water for 30 minutes, then tighten the lids and cool completely.

Sour cranberries and sweet fragrant honey make this dish very spicy and interesting. Such an appetizer can surprise even true connoisseurs of sauerkraut and forever change their idea of ​​​​this delicacy. For convenience, it is better to use honey in liquid form, otherwise it will be very difficult to evenly distribute it over all vegetables. It is recommended to serve cabbage with carrots and cranberries after cooking with the addition of fresh herbs and fragrant vegetable oil.

Ingredients:

• 2.5 kg of white cabbage;
• 100 g cranberries;
• 6 bay leaves;
• 1 tsp honey;
• 1 st. l. salt;
• 2 tsp black ground pepper;
• 3 carrots.

Cooking method:

1. Chop cabbage, grate carrots, put everything in a deep bowl.
2. Add salt, black pepper and honey to the vegetables, mix well.
3. Slightly crush the vegetables with your hands, rinse and sterilize the jars.
4. Put a couple of bay leaves on the bottom of the jar, then a little cabbage with carrots.
5. The next layer is to add cranberries to the jar, then vegetables again, etc.
6. Put oppression on the cabbage and pierce it with a wooden stick to the bottom twice a day.
7. Keep the cabbage at room temperature until the end of fermentation (formation of bubbles), then store in a cool room.

Now you know how to cook sauerkraut for the winter according to the recipe with a photo. Bon appetit!

Sauerkraut for the winter is a very important ingredient for many favorite dishes. Such blanks are sure to come in handy for the hostess both for weekdays and for holidays. Experienced chefs know firsthand how to cook sauerkraut for the winter, and the following tips from professionals will help beginners:

• Before fermenting cabbage, it is better not to wash it so that more useful substances are preserved in it. It is enough just to remove the top leaves from the head;
• For sauerkraut, late varieties of cabbage, harvested before the first frost, are best suited. Also, when choosing a fruit, you should pay attention to its color. The most crispy and juicy will be cabbage with white sheets;
• Sauerkraut should be stored at a low, but not sub-zero temperature. Cold kills useful trace elements in it and spoils the texture of the vegetable. As a result, even after a short stay in the refrigerator, the snack will no longer be crispy and just as tasty;
• While the cabbage is fermenting, pierce it with a knife or stick every day to release accumulated gases;
• When the cabbage is ready, the brine stops fermenting, that is, bubbles no longer form on it and it becomes completely transparent. After that, you can transfer to a cool room for long-term storage;
• Sauerkraut is prepared at a temperature of 18 to 20 degrees and takes the whole process an average of 2 weeks. Everything will depend on the size of the pieces, the variety of cabbage and the prepared brine.

Sauerkraut is the favorite preparation for the winter for millions of people. And not only here in Russia, but also in other countries of Europe and Asia. As soon as the first frosts come on the street, then it's time to harvest for this vegetable.

Before starting the description of the recipe, let me tell you what happens during the sourdough process itself. This is important for understanding the process as a whole. When you do something consciously, knowing what it is for, it is much more difficult to make a mistake. And the result in this case is more predictable.

It is believed that if we salt a certain product, then salt is a preservative and helps to protect the product from spoilage. In part, this is true. But not in this case.

When we ferment it, the preservative is lactic acid, which accumulates in vegetables. And this acid is formed due to lactic acid bacteria that are on the surface of fresh cabbage leaves. Their food is sugar, which is also found in the leaves of the vegetable crop.

Therefore, for salting, you need to choose large heads of light color. They are juicy, tasty, and elastic at the same time. When you cut their leaves, fresh juice literally squirts out of them. The taste of such leaves is slightly sweetish, you want to eat them even fresh, without stopping.

And only autumn varieties are suitable for salting, best picked up by the first frost. Heads of cabbage all summer gained weight, juice, various vitamins and nutrients, and accumulated sugar. Which is simply necessary for a successful sourdough.

Therefore, when you buy cabbage, then choose large, always white forks. No wonder her name is white-headed. It is from this that the most delicious snack for the winter will turn out.

And so, now it is clear that sugar contributes to a good fermentation process. But this will not be enough, without the desired air temperature. In order for the fermentation processes to start and it to ferment in the best possible way, a temperature of 15-22 degrees is needed. If the temperature is below this value, the fermentation processes will proceed sluggishly and for a long time. The cabbage will overstay, and we will not get the desired taste. If the air temperature is higher than the desired value, then it will quickly soften, lose its appearance and become useless.

Delicious sauerkraut can be identified without even trying, namely, only by appearance and smell. It is light and elastic, has such an aroma that it will be difficult to pass by it.

This is the preparation I propose to cook today according to the simplest classical method.

I propose the calculation of products for 1 kg of cabbage. I do this for convenience. This way it will be easier to make a proportion for any weight. After all, everyone ferments it in different volumes, someone ferments a whole barrel, and someone only a three-liter jar.

We will need:

• white cabbage - 1 kg
• salt - 10 - 15 gr (1 - 1.5 teaspoons)
• carrots - 1 pc (small)
• bay leaf - 1 - 2 pcs
• black allspice - 3 - 4 peas

Cooking:

At the beginning of the article, I already said that for pickling you need to choose large white forks. They should be tight and elastic to the touch. Now in the season there is just a huge offer of different varieties. So, you should separate the varieties, some of them are better suited for storage, while others are better for salting and sour.

Among the first there are varieties that are not particularly intended for salting. Some of them gain strength only a month or two after they were collected. These are the so-called hybrid varieties. Only by this time, the amount of sugars necessary for fermentation accumulates in their leaves. And it is clear that if you salt such a vegetable immediately after harvesting, then it will be difficult to get the desired taste, and even, probably, impossible.

Some varieties have thick, coarse veins and very little juice in the leaves. They are also well stored, but it is not possible to salt this deliciously. You can't even make a delicious salad out of it.

Such varieties as Slava, Gift, Gribovskaya, Belarus, Sibiryachka ... and others are considered traditional for salting. But, in principle, you can determine whether it is suitable for salting or not and without knowing the variety, but simply determine it by appearance and taste.

When they start selling this vegetable in large quantities, bringing it to the markets directly on cars, I look first of all at its appearance. If it suits me, I buy a head of cabbage and carry it home. I try it there, and if it is juicy, sweet and tasty, then you can go and buy as much as you need. Try to choose the largest and white specimens.

Why I explain this in such detail, because the right choice of cabbage is almost the main key to success in pickling. So pay close attention to your choice.

Now let's move on to the recipe itself.

1. Remove the top of the vegetable, the so-called outer leaves. Rinse the head of cabbage with cold water, holding the stalk with your hand. So the water will only wash the top layer and not get inside the fork. Place the heads on the table to drain the water, then wipe with a dry towel.

2. Cut the head of cabbage into two parts and chop each of them into long thin strips. To do this qualitatively, you need to stock up on a good sharp knife. And if you have a special shredder, in which there are two or three sharply sharpened knives at once, then in general everything can be chopped very quickly and without much difficulty. There are a lot of varieties of such shredders at the moment.

And before it was simply chopped in wooden troughs with a special section. Yes, these tools are still in use today. I also have this somewhere. But I prefer chopped sauerkraut, so I don’t use these devices.

Do not chop the stump, just throw it away. Previously, when my mother salted cabbage, we, as children, stood in line for them. Now we do not give them to children. It is believed that they accumulate a large amount of nitrates, and this product is unhealthy. Maybe so, but no, no, I clean the stalk for myself and eat it with pleasure.

3. Salt the chopped vegetable and lightly crush it with your hands. But only lightly, so that the juice stands out. And some, especially juicy varieties, do not even require this. Such a head of cabbage is immediately visible, as soon as you start cutting it, the juice from under the knife splatters.

It is enough to simply salt and mix the cabbage of these varieties, then compact it tightly in a salting dish. After a very short time, a sufficient amount of juice will appear.

Other times it turns out to be salty. This is because some people believe that the more salt they put in, the better it will keep.

So, I know that you can ferment cabbage without salt at all. It is stored, of course, less than salted, and not so tasty. But still fermented and stored! We remember that the fermentation process is caused not by salt, but by sugar. Therefore, add salt not much, but exactly as much as required by the recipe. Or rely on your own taste. You can try the chopped product, it should taste like cabbage salad usually turns out.

4. Rub the carrots on a coarse grater. Add it to the total.

Do not crush cabbage with carrots. Without this procedure, it will remain white and beautiful for the entire shelf life.

5. Add allspice and bay leaf. Stir again.

6. It can be harvested in jars, large enamel pots, tubs and barrels. Later I will tell you how to prepare tubs and kegs for pickling.

Banks and pots just need to be thoroughly washed and dried. Pay attention to the fact that there are no chips in the pan and rust spots that have appeared in these places.

Remove the top leaves of the vegetable and line the bottom with them. You can skip this procedure. But I'm used to doing it, and I'm sharing my experience with you. In general, I consider this procedure necessary and mandatory for salting in barrels and tubs.

7. Put the cabbage in a container for salting, lightly pressing it down with your hands.

When you salt it too much, for example in large twenty-liter pots or tubs, it is better to do it in small batches. They cut one head of cabbage, salted it, slightly crushed it, mixed it with carrots, put it in a saucepan and tamped it tightly. Then we proceed to the next batch, and so on until the end.

A large volume will be more difficult to compact. It is important for us that the vegetable release juice, which will be enough for a good fermentation process. And for better juice formation, it is better to process it in not very large portions.

8. When all of it is in the container, it should be thoroughly pressed down with your hands, lay out the cabbage leaves and cover with a double or triple layer of gauze or a linen napkin. Tuck in the edges so that the chopped vegetable does not protrude.

Put a flat plate of a suitable volume on the gauze, the larger it is, the better. This will ensure that all contents are covered with juice. My grandmother had a wooden circle specially cut out according to the volume of the pan. He was both an oppression and a "cover". Thanks to him, one could not be afraid that mold would appear on the surface.

9. Put oppression on top. It can be a carefully washed and scalded cobblestone, or a jar of water. The cobblestone is good because later the pan can be closed with a lid. The jar can only be used for a few days while the fermentation process takes place. At this time, the pan can not be closed. Then it will be necessary to find something more suitable.

Oppression is needed so that all the juice constantly covers all the contents. It is important. If this is not done, then mold will appear from above, it will not take long to wait. And we don’t need it at all, it spoils the taste and appearance. From mold, the workpiece turns gray, that is, it loses its appearance. Naturally, this also affects its taste.

Therefore, do not ignore oppression. He is definitely needed. And preferably for the entire storage process.

10. Leave the pan with the workpiece at room temperature for 1 - 2 days. The time depends on the room temperature. If it is very hot, then one day is enough, but if it is cooler, then two days will be needed.

At this time, we should not forget about our preparation in any case. She will need to pay attention several times a day. Namely, armed with a long wooden stick, pierce it in several places to the very bottom three to four times a day. Little kids especially like to do it. They take full responsibility for this assignment. It is very interesting for them to observe how, after the next piercing, the bubbles formed from the fermentation processes rise outward.

In addition to emerging gas bubbles, foam also forms on the surface. Don't let that scare you, everything is fine with the workpiece. Take this as an excellent signal that the fermentation processes are proceeding as they should.

It is imperative to pierce the contents with a stick. If the gas bubbles do not have an outlet to the surface, they will make the finished product taste bitter.

Do not store at this temperature longer than this time. Just one extra day is enough and the cabbage will peroxide. And there will be no saving her. It will become soft, it will have an unpleasant aftertaste. You can’t even cook stew from such a product, all this will be felt.

11. After these 1 - 2 days of standing at room temperature, the pan with the workpiece will need to be placed in a cooler room, where the temperature should be 16 - 18 degrees. This is the ideal temperature for further fermentation. It ends in 2-3 weeks. During this time, you can pierce the contents with a stick at least 1-2 times a day.

Each time, while removing oppression and gauze. And then putting everything back in place.

If, nevertheless, such a nuisance happened, and mold appeared on the surface, then it must be carefully removed. And wash the napkin, oppression and plate in hot salted water.

12. When the fermentation process is over, and this will be seen from the fact that the bubbles will stop rising and foam will form, the contents must be moved to a cold place and kept at a temperature of 0 - 2 degrees all the time.

Usually they store it on loggias and balconies, and if there are no such conditions, then they transfer it to three-liter jars and store it in the refrigerator. It should also be stored by covering the contents with gauze, and having figured out how to organize oppression.

In the refrigerator, the approximate temperature is 4 degrees. For storage, this is somewhat more than necessary. But if there is a sufficient amount of brine and a good oppression in the bank, then it will be stored.

By the way, for cans, such a tricky way of using oppression is used. They simply put the nylon lid into the jar and press the contents with it.

The snack prepared in this way is delicious without any additives. It can be eaten simply without anything. Well, if you chop onions into it, and season with vegetable oil, then you simply cannot find a better salad.

It is also indispensable for the preparation of vinaigrettes, many first and second courses. Should I remind you that it is a source of various vitamins and nutrients? Probably not, everyone knows this already, from early childhood. And no one even has to be persuaded to eat it. As soon as she appears on the table, she becomes his queen. And so all winter ... She does not get bored either in autumn, or in winter, or in spring.

Now, of course, very tasty cabbage can be bought both in the market and in the store. The specialists who prepare it know a lot about it. But not all! If you have already found a path to a good supplier, then you can buy and buy. But this path is not always available. It may be half the winter before we trample it.

And having prepared it yourself, you can not even waste time searching. Simply, when you wanted to, I took cabbages from the loggia or from the refrigerator, and enjoy its taste as much as our body requires.

The proposed method is not the only classical option. This is the so-called method without the use of brine. But you can cook it using brine.

Pickled cabbage in brine in a 3 liter jar

This method is often used for sauerkraut in an apartment. It is very convenient for salting the product in jars. It is most convenient to harvest it in a three-liter jar. It is convenient to store it in the refrigerator, and cook in not very large batches.

Basically, this cooking method differs little from the first recipe. The main difference is that the brine is also prepared, and the cabbage, pre-cut and placed in a jar, is poured into it. Since the brine contains both salt and sugar, it is he who contributes to the start of fermentation. It also makes it possible to ferment the entire workpiece faster.

And I must say that this method is quite fast. Already on the third day, the product is completely ready for use. You don't have to wait two or three weeks to enjoy its taste.

That is, in the first version, natural fermentation occurs, and here we help him in this.

This recipe is very much loved by housewives, and men are not averse to using it for cooking. We are now living in a fast time, and it is highly valued. Therefore, if the same product can be cooked faster, then it is often chosen.

A recipe that has stood the test of time. The result is always predictable and always happy. Therefore, choose it and prepare a snack for it. He will definitely not disappoint you!

What can you sour

In different regions of Russia, pickling methods may vary. The recipe is almost the same, but the methods are different. In the European part of Russia, quite a bit of carrots are added, and the final product has a pronounced white color. Often, bright cranberries are used as an additive for taste and color.

In the Far East and Siberia, more carrots are added. Cabbage is sweeter in taste and has a light carrot shade in color. By the way, in Central Asia, more carrots are also added (this is how we salted it when we lived there).

However, these are not all the ingredients that are used in salting. They ferment it with such additional ingredients

• apples, the Antonovka variety is best suited. Put them whole, and halves, and quarters. In general, who likes more.
• carrots
• hot capsicum
• beetroot
• parsnip. It can be used with or instead of carrots. It turns out very tasty!

Of course, berries in this process do not occupy the last place, it is

• already mentioned cranberry
• cowberry
• juniper berries

Added as spices

• allspice peas
• Bay leaf

Very - very - very tasty pickled cabbages are obtained. Never prepared like this? Then take note. Cook once, and then you will always cook only with them. I tell you how to do it.

Everything is done exactly as described in the recipe. The only thing is that a kilogram of a vegetable in this case is not enough. You need to salt the heads of cabbage in a saucepan of at least 5 liter volume, and of course a larger volume is also welcome.

Cabbage must be laid out as the first layer. It is better that the layer is at least 10 cm thick.

Then cut the head of cabbage into large pieces, at least 15 cm in size. And if the heads of cabbage are small in size initially, then you can cut them only into two halves, or even cut them crosswise. Each of them should be rubbed with a small amount of salt, rubbing it literally inward. Then lay down tightly with the next layer. Press well.

And the next layer is again ordinary, cut into strips of cabbage and mixed with carrots.

So you can alternate layers, as long as the capacity for salting allows. Pack everything tightly. Achieve the formation of juice. In the same way, cover the top layer with cabbage leaves, gauze or a napkin. Put a flat plate on top and put oppression.

Also pierce with a stick, carefully bypassing the forks.

How to prepare a container for salting

In the villages, they used to salt in tubs and small barrels. There were no refrigerators, and the cold cellar was the only place for storage. Moreover, the barrel was buried in the ground by 30-40 centimeters in order to maintain the required temperature.

But since they did this from year to year, and the barrel served its purpose for many years, the container had to be treated in a special way before salting.

Although we do not live in a village now, I have two oak barrels. In one of them I salt and in the other cabbage. And every year I process the container in the way that I found in one of my books. And now I will share the methods that I know with you. Someday it will come in handy for someone.

To begin with, I want to note the fact that in barrels and wooden tubs you get just incredibly tasty sauerkraut. In addition to taste, it also receives an incomparable aroma.

But new barrels, and even old ones, often dry out, and brine can flow through the cracks. Oak barrels are better in this regard, the wood is more durable and less dry out. But they also require processing so that mold does not appear.

Therefore, the container must be processed on the subject so that it does not dry out, and that it is thoroughly disinfected.

So that all the brine does not flow out of the barrel, they need to be soaked in order for the tree to swell. To do this, you need to put the barrel in the basin and pour water into it. Leave for a while. If water flows out through the cracks, then add it again. So withstand until the tree absorbs water and the flow stops. At the final stage, you can bring a few branches of heather from the forest. Put them in a barrel and pour boiling water over them. It is useful for fragrance and disinfection.

To disinfect barrels, you can still fumigate with sulfur. Just like pits before laying vegetables there for storage, they are fumigated with sulfur bombs. And in the case of a barrel, special wicks are used, which are set on fire and left in the container until complete combustion.

Also, the barrel can be disinfected by putting cobblestones red-hot on a fire, or one large stone inside. This should be done very carefully so as not to burn yourself. And so that the cobblestone does not cool down longer, it is still poured with boiling water, and the tub is tightly closed with a lid.

In the future, this stone can be used as oppression.

So tubs and barrels are a good thing, but they require careful attitude and attention.

At the end of the article I want to tell you that in addition to the methods of pickling described above, there are also other ways to prepare it. For example, they can be attributed. There are many such methods, and I can offer you 7 of them in an article that you can find by clicking on the link provided.

These are also fairly quick cooking methods that are also delicious. One "Pelyustka" with beets is worth something!

I hope that the recipes written today, and most importantly, the advice, will serve you well, and you can always prepare very tasty and fragrant cabbage for the winter.

I wish you excellent preparations and bon appetit!

All of them are similar, although they have special differences. A feature of today's recipe is that the appetizer can be prepared without vinegar, that is, simply sour. What will be no less tasty, and even more useful. By the way, this is very easy to do. The fermentation time in this case will be from 3 to 4 days, depending on the air temperature in the room where it will be located.

You can ferment it both in three-liter jars and in liter ones. That is, as it will be convenient to store. After the cabbage has fermented, it will need to be stored in the refrigerator, or in a cold basement.

We will need (for 2 liter jars):

• white cabbage - 1.5 kg
• peeled carrots - 300 gr
• peeled beets - 300 gr
• garlic - 1 - 2 cloves (to taste)

For brine:

• water - 1 liter
• salt - 3 tbsp. spoons
• sugar - 2 tbsp. spoons
• coriander - 0.5 tsp

Cooking:

As in previous recipes, choose a head of white cabbage, juicy and tight.

1. Remove the top leaves from the cabbage. If you want to rinse the forks in water, then this must be done. Rinse it by holding the stalk so that water does not get between the leaves. Then let the water drain, and wipe the head of cabbage with a napkin.

Cut into two parts and remove the stalk.

2. Cut the cabbage into large pieces about 4 - 5 cm thick.

3. Grate carrots on a coarse grater.

4. Beets also grate on a coarse grater.

Sometimes vegetables are also cut quite large, but in this case, the fermentation time will take a little longer. Large pieces will ferment much more slowly. And if you rub the vegetables on a grater, then you can eat a ready-made snack for 3-4 days.

5. Grind the garlic with a press, or you can just chop it finely with a knife. If you do not really like garlic in a dish, then add only one clove to add flavor and aroma. If you like, then you can add two or even three cloves.

However, you should not get carried away with this, so as not to interrupt the main taste.

6. Wash the jars and scald with boiling water. Let the water drain.

7. Start filling the jars in layers. Put the garlic in the first layer. If using two liter jars, then divide its amount into two servings. And put in each of them equal shares.

8. Then pour in some beets.

9. The next layer is carrot. We also make it not very large, measuring the amount by eye.

10. Then carefully lay out the cabbage in pieces. You can try to lay out the whole pieces straight, but nothing terrible will happen if the pieces fall apart.

Each layer is slightly compacted, but not much. So that the brine can penetrate into each of the layers.

11. Then lay out the carrots and beets again. Then turn a new layer of cabbage. And so on, until we completely fill the entire jar. It is better that the cabbage layer is the last.

Do not fill to the very top, leave room for the brine.

12. The brine can be prepared in advance so that it has time to cool. To do this, boil water. Add to it the required amount of salt and sugar, as well as coriander seed. Let it boil for 5 minutes so that the spice gives its taste and aroma to the filling.

Allow the brine to cool and pour the contents of the jars cold.

Prepare a wooden stick, or something spicy, in advance. You can use a regular barbecue skewer. Slowly piercing the contents of the jars, the brine will pass inward.

13. Put the jars in a deep container. Cover with a cabbage leaf on top, and you can put a glass of water on it.

All the time while the cabbage is sour, it should be completely in brine. And it may take 3 to 4 days. The very next day you can see that signs of fermentation appear on the surface.

Juice will begin to flow out, and small bubbles will appear on top.

14. In order for the fermentation process to go faster, you need to keep the cabbage for 3-4 days at room temperature.

At the same time, pierce the contents of the cans with something sharp until the very day. A Chinese stick, or again a skewer, is excellent for this business.

Be sure to do this, otherwise the cabbage will get a bitter taste. The fact is that gas will form inside, which, in contact with the natural, slightly bitter taste of cabbage, can give the same taste to the whole appetizer as a whole.

That is why the gas must be released. If at the same time juice flows out, then do not pour it out, but pour it back, if necessary. The contents of the jars should always be covered with brine.

15. When the fermentation process is over, and you will see this, when new bubbles stop forming, that is, the cabbage “calms down”, then the jars will need to be stored in a cold place. In an apartment, this can be either a refrigerator or a cold loggia.

Store with the lid closed, a regular nylon lid will do.

It's a pity that not everyone entered!

Preparations of vegetables and fruits in winter not only decorate the table, they are very tasty and healthy snacks. Mistresses constantly exchange the best recipes among themselves. But cooked preservatives still differ from the proposed recipe in their special taste. This is especially true for cabbage preparations.

Features and benefits of sauerkraut

Cabbage- This is a unique vegetable in terms of the content of trace elements and vitamins in it. Sour the product retains all useful elements and substances formed during the fermentation process throughout the winter:

• Stimulates the formation of red blood components of the blood.
• Strengthens the immune system.
• Takes part in the strengthening of bone tissue,
• Reduces the content of cholesterol in the body;
• Has a rejuvenating effect.
• Improves the microflora in the intestines.

This useful garden, very common vegetable grows in almost all regions of Russia. Outside it, abroad, it is no less popular.

The choice of products for sauerkraut

In order to put a truly delicious cabbage dish on the table, you should choose the right products and dishes.

To complete the task, there are general conditions. The taste of pickled snacks depends on the recipe, which each hostess has her own, special.

The main thing that needs to be done before you start sour is to pick up quality products:

• Vegetable must be fully ripe, only late varieties with dense white heads. Only such a fruit contains sugar in the proper amount, which will ensure good fermentation and taste of the finished product.
• If possible, it is better to give preference to larger heads of cabbage, as this guarantees its completeness of ripening. Too large forks should not be taken, as it appears the risk of acquiring a vegetable overfed with fertilizers.
• For fermentation according to any recipe, it is best to harvest white varieties. Red varieties will give a specific, not everyone understandable, flavor.
• Be sure to choose a vegetable in a shell of dense green leaves without extraneous spots, inclusions and holes. Their absence may indicate that cabbage was frozen.
• The cut of the stalk of the fetus should be white, dense, without spots and damage.

Choosing the right vegetable will allow you to reproduce the recipe for a delicious crispy winter snack.

Dishes, or rather, the material from which they are made, are of great importance for pickling. The most delicious fermented product is obtained in wooden tubs. A good, high-quality replacement for wooden containers are enameled containers.

The use of aluminum, plastic and stainless steel utensils should be avoided. Since the following processes occur during the interaction of cabbage fermentation products with metal:

• Metal oxides are formed, causing the destruction of vitamin C.
• In the process of fermentation, a unique vitamin B12 is formed in the sour mass. This substance exists only in animal products. In plants, it is formed only as a result of fermentation, especially in sauerkraut. Vitamin B12 is a vital, irreplaceable hematopoietic element, responsible for the functioning of the nervous system, spinal cord and brain, the formation of bones and muscles.

Glass containers are convenient for storing pickled snacks. They can be placed in the cellar and refrigerator.

How to cook sauerkraut

For winter storage in fresh, salted, pickled, pickled form, autumn varieties of cabbage are used. Each housewife has her own unique recipes for making a crispy delicious product. Despite the same composition of the components, their ratio and additional additives, unique snacks are created that can take the place of independent dishes.

For the classic prescription sauerkraut use the following composition of ingredients:

• White cabbage 10 kg.
• Bay leaf.
• Black pepper, peas.
• Carrots - 1 kg.
• Coarse table salt - no more than 25 b per 1 kg of cabbage.

Component ratio may vary

The sequence and methods of preparing vegetables can also have different options. Basic actions:

Vessels must be covered with a lid and put in a cool place.

Recipe for sauerkraut with dill "Old"

Sauerkraut cooked according to a very old recipe tested for decades has a special taste.

To properly sour according to this recipe, you need to adhere to the ratio of components designed for forks weighing about three kilograms. The selected head of cabbage is chopped with a regular, sharpened knife into narrow strips. It is better to use a special shredder for this purpose:

• The chopped fruit should be placed in a pickling container, add 2-3 tablespoons of salt and carefully grind the prepared mass.
• Using a large grater, grate two medium-sized carrots.
• Leave the grated mass in the basin for 2-3 hours to extract the juice.
• The remaining components are added to the cabbage mass with the secreted juice: carrots, dill seeds, no more than two tablespoons.
• Grind the prepared mass and place in a glass container with a capacity of 3 liters. The total level of the ground mass should not be higher than the shoulders of the can. The juice released during the fermentation process should be stored in a container, completely covering the cabbage. Cover the jar with a cotton cloth. Air access must be provided for good fermentation.
• Within three days, at room temperature, the fermentation process takes place. During this time, the mass should be pressed down with a wooden roller or stick. At the same time, twice a day (in the morning and in the evening), the fermented layer must be pierced with a wooden skewer or a knitting needle to the very bottom, ensuring the release of accumulated gas. If this procedure is not followed, the recipe will be spoiled, the appetizer will acquire a bitter aftertaste, and lose its fragility.

The finished product should be stored in a cool place all winter.

Cabbage, harvested for the winter according to the "Old" recipe, is used as an independent dish, seasoned with vegetable oil and chopped onions.

Delicious dishes such as hodgepodge, borscht, pies are obtained.

Recipe for sauerkraut "For the winter"

To ferment cabbage for the future for the whole cold winter is accepted by almost all housewives. Branded recipes for crispy, tasty cabbage, which retains its qualities until the first warm days, are kept in many families. Cabbage cooked according to a good recipe, retains useful substances formed during its fermentation.

The composition of the ingredients for the recipe for a very tasty, crispy pickled snack:

• Fresh cabbage of late variety - 10 kg.
• Fresh carrots - 1 kg.
• Coarse salt (rock) - 250 g.

To complete this recipe for harvesting for the winter, you must have two large containers (wooden or enameled basins, buckets, tanks).

Preparatory work is the processing of vegetables:

• Clean the forks from the upper plates of coarse leaves and weigh. Then the head of cabbage must be cut into several parts, very thinly chopped with a sharp knife. It is better to use a special shredder for cabbage.
• Wash, peel and weigh carrots. Grate carrots on a grater with the largest cells.
• Weigh the required amount of salt.
• Place a part of the cut head of cabbage in a wide container for fermentation, add a little carrot and half of the weighed salt.
• Mix the contents without rubbing, without crushing, slightly loosening the prepared mass.
• Line the bottom of the second container with a few cabbage leaves and move the contents of the first dish into it, tamp tightly. In this way, mix all the cabbage and place, tamping each layer in the second tank.
• Cover the prepared mass with whole cabbage leaves, put a plate or a wooden circle on top and put a load.
• You need to ferment cabbage for at least three days at room temperature. During the entire fermentation period, the layers must be pierced with a wooden rod or a knitting needle to the full depth. This procedure ensures the release of gases accumulated during the fermentation process. The vegetable, in this case, will not acquire bitterness and will not become soft.
• After three days, the fermentation process will end. Place the container with cabbage in a cool place for storage.

For the winter, cabbage can be placed on a loggia or balcony. For such sauerkraut, it is not scary if it freezes. In this case, the dish, thawed in the room, will remain just as tasty and crispy.

Cabbage prepared according to this recipe can be stored in glass jars.

Method for sauerkraut with apples and cranberries

Among all winter preparations, sauerkraut occupies the main place. This is an indispensable fermented product for health. It is used for cooking first and second courses, it is also good as an independent dish.

It is customary to ferment cabbage for the winter with the addition of other healthy products in many regions of Russia. Apples, cranberries, dill, cumin are used for these recipes.

Ingredients for a delicious and healthy pickled product for the winter:

• Late-ripening white cabbage - 3 kg.
• Carrots of medium size - 1 pc.
• Large green apple of autumn variety - 1 pc.
• Cranberries of any garden variety - 100g.
• Coarse salt - 3 tablespoons.

Preparing the ingredients for the sourdough cabbage recipe with apple and cranberries

The finished fermented product should be decomposed into dry clean glass jars with a capacity of 3 liters. Close with plastic lids and store in a cellar or refrigerator.

Fans of a spicy flavor should add the necessary ingredients to the cabbage before sourdough. It can be dill or caraway seeds, black peppercorns, bay leaf, coriander.

Today in the article the most delicious recipes for sauerkraut, harvested for the winter. For lovers of tasty and healthy food, cabbage is recognized as the number one vegetable. There are a huge number of varieties of this vegetable in the world: white, colored, red, Brussels, Savoy, broccoli, kohlrabi ... You can’t count them all.

All these cabbages retain the trace elements and vitamins contained in it for a long time. Oddly enough, but in pickled form, all the benefits are stored in cabbage much longer - up to 10 months. The mowing process, or lacto-fermentation, enriches the cabbage with substances that support the normal functioning of the body. 100 g of sauerkraut contains as much vitamin C as a person needs per day.

Benefits of sauerkraut:

• prevents the reproduction of cancer cells;
• activates the digestive system;
• supports the work of the heart and blood vessels;
• supports the nervous system;
• enhances immunity;
• promotes weight loss;
• lowers blood sugar;
• used in cosmetology;
• rejuvenates the body;
• reduces hangover.

The process of sauerkraut is not just harvesting a vegetable for the future. Cooking sauerkraut is a celebration of the harvest, farewell to autumn, a meeting of winter. Every nation and every housewife has her own recipe for fermenting cabbage. In every family where cabbage is harvested in this way, there are favorite additives that make the taste of the product unique.

But all these recipes have one common basic technology, following which the resulting product will be of the highest quality.

Raw material selection

For fermentation, take dense, healthy, medium-sized heads of cabbage, late or medium-late varieties, preferably white. To get 10 kg of sauerkraut, take 12-13 kg of fresh vegetables.

When to pickle cabbage?

Lovers of the lunar cycles start fermenting cabbage on the new moon, and even better on those days where P is present in the name, for example, on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Sunday. There is a belief that these days the most delicious and crispy cabbage is obtained.

Best Sauerkraut Recipes

Crispy sauerkraut - classic

• 10 kg of cabbage;
• 200-250 g of salt.

The outer leaves are removed from the cabbage heads, the stalk is cut off. Prepared cabbage is cut with a sharp knife or shredder. The correct raw material has a width of 3-5 mm.

Cabbage noodles are mixed with salt. There is no need to crush and grind the resulting mixture. It is enough to hold the cabbage-salt mixture in a container for no more than half an hour and the cabbage juice will stand out in the right amount.

The bottom of the barrel is covered with a layer of whole leaves, on top of which cabbage mixed with salt is placed. If you put a piece of rye bread under a layer of leaves, the fermentation process will begin faster. Each laid layer is compacted until the juice appears.

Washed whole leaves are laid in the last layer, an enameled lid or a ceramic plate is placed on them. From above oppression is established. It can be a clean washed cobblestone or a container of water. In any case, there should be a layer of cabbage juice above the cabbage.

A container filled with cabbage is stored at 18 - 22 degrees Celsius. During the fermentation period, it is necessary to remove the foam formed on the surface daily and pierce the cabbage twice a day with a clean splinter, releasing the resulting gas.

A sign of the end of fermentation is the clarification of the brine. Cabbage settles, becomes sour - salty, but remains crispy.

Ready sauerkraut, to prevent further fermentation, is stored at a positive temperature, not higher than two degrees Celsius.

During storage, it is necessary to constantly monitor the level of brine - it should always cover the cabbage and remove mold that appears in a timely manner.

All other recipes appeared by adding certain components to the main recipe in certain proportions.

Sauerkraut with apples

1. Shredded cabbage 10kg;
2. Carrot 300g;
3. Apples 500g;
4. Salt 250g.

It is better not to grate the carrots added to the cabbage during fermentation, but cut into small strips - this will preserve the white color of the cabbage. Carrots and chopped apples are mixed with cabbage and salt, and placed in a container where the fermentation process will take place.

• Cabbage 10 kg;
• Carrot 300g;
• Cranberry 200g;
• Salt 250g.

Cabbage with cumin

• Cabbage 10 kg
• Carrot 500g
• Cumin seeds 5g
• Salt 200g

cabbage with bay leaf

• Cabbage 10 kg
• Carrot 500g
• Bay leaf 15g (25 sheets)
• Salt 250g.

spicy cabbage

• Cabbage 10 kg
• Carrot 500g
• Cumin seeds 5g (2 tsp)
• Coriander seeds 0.2g (1/4 tsp)
• Allspice peas 3g (10 peas)
• Apple slices 800g;
• Salt 100g.

For a 3 liter jar you will need:

• Cabbage 3kg;
• Carrots 2 pcs;
• Salt 70g;
• Bay leaf 10 pcs;
• Black pea pepper 10 pcs.

The washed vegetables are crushed. Cabbage is chopped, carrots are chopped with a grater. Vegetables are mixed and salt is added. The mixture should taste a little saltier than the salad needs. Add pepper and parsley. Everything is mixed again.

The mixture is tightly packed in a jar. The jar should be filled with the mixture to the very top, after which it is placed in a deep plate. Juice will flow into it during fermentation. Three - four days the jar should be warm (+20 - 21 ° C). During this time, the cabbage is pierced daily with a wooden stick (it is convenient to use wooden skewers for barbecue or Chinese wooden sticks) to the bottom. At the end of fermentation, the jar is closed with a nylon lid and put in the refrigerator.

Video recipe for sauerkraut from Alla Kovalchuk

Crispy Instant Cabbage

• Cabbage 3kg;
• Carrots 3 pcs;
• Garlic 3-4 cloves;
• Sugar 200g;
• Salt 3 tbsp. l.;
• Sunflower oil 250g;
• Table vinegar 9% 200g

Mix chopped cabbage, carrots, chopped garlic. Sunflower oil, salt and sugar are added to one and a half liters of water. Vinegar is added to the boiled mixture and kept on fire for 2-3 minutes. Pour hot marinade over vegetable mixture. After two hours, the cabbage will be pickled.

Sauerkraut slices in jars with beets

• Cabbage 10 kg
• Beetroot 400g
• Carrot 300g
• Garlic 100g
• Hot pepper 50g
• Greens 300 – 500g

Peeled from the outer green leaves, the cabbage is cut into pieces of the required size. Laying in jars in layers, they are layered with chopped carrots, beets, herbs, garlic and hot peppers.

Filled jars are filled with brine: 30 g of salt are dissolved in 1 liter of water.

When the fermentation stops (the brine clears up), the containers are removed to a cool place.

An old recipe for sauerkraut from the book of E. Molokhovets

The number of products is given for a 40 liter container:

• Cabbage 40 kg;
• Salt 3 cups;
• Sugar 3-4 cups;
• Apples 15 pcs.;
• Carrots 15 pcs.;
• Lemons 2 pcs.;
• Cranberries 2 cups;
• Cardamom 60-80 grains;
• Muscat color 2 tablespoons;
• Cinnamon 2 inches;
• Bay leaf 40 pcs.;
• Cumin seeds 0.5 cup;
• Water 3-4 cups.

Prepare like regular sauerkraut with all the ingredients added. This recipe is designed for a barrel, but in our conditions, you can divide everything by 10, then you get a 3-liter can of cabbage.

Cabbage, sauerkraut in an unusual way

Shredded cabbage is combined with chopped (chopped or grated) carrots.

Prepare the brine. 100 g of salt is dissolved in one liter of boiled and cooled water. Then a raw egg is lowered into the glass and water is added, waiting until the egg floats 1 cm above the surface.

A mixture of vegetables in a colander is dipped in brine, removed and allowed to drain. Vegetables are put in a jar and sealed. Excess brine is drained, oppression is laid on the surface and left for fermentation. Remove the foam from the surface and pierce to the bottom. The fermented mixture is closed with a nylon lid and put in the refrigerator.

Cabbage fermented whole heads

• Cabbage 10kg
• Salt 250g

A very economical way to ferment cabbage: saving time - there is no need to shred cabbage and saving raw materials - even small heads of cabbage are used. But you need a suitable container for heads of cabbage.

Preparation is to remove the top leaves.

Dry salting. The top leaves are removed from the prepared heads and the stumps are cut out. 1-2 heads are crushed and mixed with salt. Whole heads of cabbage are placed in a fermentation container, layered with salted, chopped cabbage. Then the process proceeds as usual.

Wet salting. Prepared heads of cabbage, placed in a container, are covered with whole cabbage leaves, oppression is set and poured with brine (40 g of salt per 1 liter of water). Then everything proceeds as usual.

Perfect sauerkraut from Marmalade Fox (video)

Now you will learn many ways to cook sauerkraut for the winter - try it to your health!