Dry-salted - United States
Sauerkraut, USDA home method
The only recipe on this site that was written as a recipe, by a body whose job is to say what is safe to eat. Where the FAO bulletin describes what happens, this tells you what to do, in quantities, with a temperature band and a consequence at each end of it. If you have never fermented anything, start here.
10 steps, every one quoted from USDA/NCHFP Sauerkraut. The step labels are this site's; the sentences under them are not.
Ingredients
- 25 lbs cabbage
- 3/4 cup canning or pickling salt
Yield: About 9 quarts
Quoted from USDA/NCHFP, unaltered.
The ratio, as the source wrote it
3 tablespoons of canning or pickling salt per 5 pounds of cabbage
Work with about 5 pounds of cabbage at a time.
Left as a ratio rather than converted to a percentage, and not scaled into a table. It multiplies straight up or down, but the sentence carrying the figure often carries a condition with it, and separating the two is how a number arrives here looking more certain than its source made it.
Every number the source states
- Salt
- 3 tablespoons of canning or pickling salt per 5 pounds of cabbage
- Batch
- 25 lbs cabbage to 3/4 cup canning or pickling salt
- Top-up brine if the juice does not cover
- 1-1/2 tablespoons of salt per quart of water
- Recommended fermentation temperature
- 70 to 75°F
- Below which it may not ferment
- 60°F
- Time at 70 to 75 F
- about 3 to 4 weeks
- Time at 60 to 65 F
- 5 to 6 weeks
- Start after harvest within
- 24 to 48 hours
- Container depth above the cabbage
- at least 4 or 5 inches
Work with about 5 pounds of cabbage at a time.
25 lbs cabbage 3/4 cup canning or pickling salt
If juice does not cover cabbage, add boiled and cooled brine (1-1/2 tablespoons of salt per quart of water).
For obtaining a good quality sauerkraut at home, the USDA recommendation is to store at 70° to 75°F while fermenting.
At temperatures lower than 60°F, kraut may not ferment.
At temperatures between 70° and 75°F, kraut will be fully fermented in about 3 to 4 weeks; at 60° to 65°F, fermentation may take 5 to 6 weeks.
At temperatures between 70° and 75°F, kraut will be fully fermented in about 3 to 4 weeks; at 60° to 65°F, fermentation may take 5 to 6 weeks.
Shred cabbage and start kraut between 24 and 48 hours after harvest.
Be sure it is deep enough so that its rim is at least 4 or 5 inches above the cabbage.
Method
Numbered for your place in the list. Every sentence below is the source's own, verified against the page it came from when this table was last built from the sources.
Choose and time it
For the best sauerkraut, use firm heads of fresh cabbage. Shred cabbage and start kraut between 24 and 48 hours after harvest.
Work in batches
Work with about 5 pounds of cabbage at a time. Discard outer leaves. Rinse heads under cold running water and drain.
Core and shred
Cut heads in quarters and remove cores. Shred or slice to a thickness of a quarter.
Salt and pack
Put cabbage in a suitable fermentation container, see "Suitable Containers, Covers, and Weights for Fermenting Food,", and add 3 tablespoons of salt. Mix thoroughly, using clean hands. Pack firmly until salt draws juices from cabbage.
Repeat to the top
Repeat shredding, salting, and packing until all cabbage is in the container. Be sure it is deep enough so that its rim is at least 4 or 5 inches above the cabbage.
Top up the brine if it is short
If juice does not cover cabbage, add boiled and cooled brine (1-1/2 tablespoons of salt per quart of water).
Cover and weight
Add plate and weights; cover container with a clean bath towel.
Ferment
At temperatures between 70° and 75°F, kraut will be fully fermented in about 3 to 4 weeks; at 60° to 65°F, fermentation may take 5 to 6 weeks.
Tend it
If you use jars as weight, you will have to check the kraut 2 to 3 times each week and remove scum if it forms.
Store
Fully fermented kraut may be kept tightly covered in the refrigerator for several months or it may be canned as follows:
What else the source says
- The two ends of the band
- At temperatures lower than 60°F, kraut may not ferment. Above 75°F, kraut may become soft.
- If you weight it with a bag
- If you weigh the cabbage down with a brine-filled bag, do not disturb the crock until normal fermentation is completed (when bubbling ceases).
Before you make this
This site is a reference and not a food safety authority. It reports what named sources published and does not certify that any preparation is safe. The safety page sets out what the sources themselves say about acidity, about surface growth and about when to throw something away, and equipment lists the instruments the numbers above cannot be checked without.
The full record for this pickle, including every source consulted and the ones that disagree, is on its tradition page.
Other dry-salted recipes
- Dry-salted lime pickle
- Dry-salted cucumber pickle
- Sauerkraut
- Dry-salted vegetables, the general method
- Hum choy
- Pak-gard-dong
- Tempoyak
Method and asides from USDA/NCHFP National Center for Home Food Preservation, University of Georgia, adapted from the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539, revised 2015. Numbers from the same source, extracted separately and listed on methodology.