Old Fashioned Sauerkraut
My old-fashioned sauerkraut recipe is basically a scaled-down version of my oak barrel sauerkraut recipe. I spent seven years perfecting my barrel-fermented sauerkraut recipe. When we ended our food business, I wanted this tried-and-true, tested recipe to live on. So I created this quart-size jar version, perfect for home fermentation. Caraway seeds are totally optional! I love it with and without.
The Best Cabbage for Sauerkraut
Over the years, so many students have asked me, “What is the best cabbage for sauerkraut?”
The answer is whatever highest-quality cabbage you have access to! Organic green cabbage is my favorite for classic, old-fashioned sauerkraut. But any green cabbage will do, like savoy and napa cabbage. Even chopped up bok choy works great with this recipe.
Can you make this sauerkraut with red cabbage?
Yes! Absolutely. The only thing to note is that red cabbage has a tad more sugar than green cabbage, so your sauerkraut may be even more sour in the end. I always tell my students to start with green cabbage the first few times they ferment. It’s an easier color to work with because you can more easily see if something went off.
As long as you use the recommended amount of salt, keep everything submerged, and keep the lid clean, you shouldn’t have any issues with red cabbage.
How should my sauerkraut look and smell while it ferments??
Temperature affects how quickly sauerkraut ferments. This timeline is applicable between 70-80°F. If your home is colder, the process will be slower. If your home is warmer, it will be faster.
- 24 – 48 hours: All contents in the jar should be submerged beneath the brine. The brine will be pretty clear, but will start to get a bit murky, and you’ll see little bubbles forming in between the cabbage pieces. There won’t be a ton of bubbles until about day 3, though. (This is stage one of fermentation, and there’s not much going on that you can see)
- 48 hours – 10 days: After 72 hours, you should start to see lots of bubbles. You need to burp the jar if you are using a rust-proof mason jar lid (as I recommend). Sauerkraut at this stage should change color from light green to pale olive. You will also notice the brine becomes very cloudy. Leuconostoc bacteria begin to thrive, producing lots of carbon dioxide, lactic acid, and acetic acid. You can open the jar whenever to ensure everything is submerged and the lid stays clean. If anything is floating to the surface, scoop it out with a clean spoon. If the lid looks dirty, wash it with hot, soapy water, then put it back on the jar.
- 10-21 days: Bubbles in the brine will decrease as the sauerkraut leaves stage two and enters stage three of fermentation. The brine will be quite cloudy and start to develop a pleasantly sour smell. You’ll probably start to see sediment at the bottom of the jar, and the bubbles will stop completely. Lactobacillus species are most abundant. Feel free to taste test and pop the jar in the fridge now if you like how it tastes. Or, let the sauerkraut ferment longer for a sourer, more complex flavor!
- 21 – 28 days: Lactobacillus makes up the majority or all of the microbial population now. They produce copious amounts of lactic acid, making the sauerkraut smell even more pleasantly sour. At this time, you can smell, taste, and refrigerate! The sauerkraut should have a pH of 4 or below and is now super probiotic and well preserved.
Old Fashioned Sauerkraut Tips
- During the first few days of fermentation, carbon dioxide and bubbles will be produced. Sometimes jars will become very full of liquid, which can seep out. Keep the jar in a bowl of dish to catch spills. Remove the lid and tamper everything back down using a gloved hand, tamper, or spoon. You can rinse the lid with hot, soapy water to keep it clean. Ensure everything, including the weight, is submerged below the brine and replace the lid to continue fermenting.
- Always trust your sense of smell: Fermented cabbage should smell pleasantly sour and like strong cabbage. Never eat anything that smells repulsive or yeasty.
- Never eat anything with mold growing on it: You shouldn’t encounter this problem if you follow the directions. If you are super wary of mold, or have had trouble with it while fermenting in the past, throw some chopped fresh garlic in the sauerkruat. Two cloves will do. Through reader feedback on my recipes, I’ve found that sauerkrauts with garlic have the lowest rate of problems.
- Taste test at three weeks: If you prefer the sauerkraut to be more tart and sour, let it ferment at room temperature longer.
How to Make Old Fashioned Sauerkraut with Caraway Seeds
Enjoy this delicious old fashioned sauerkraut recipe made with or without caraway seeds. In this step-by-step recipe, you will learn to make traditional sauerkraut in a mason jar. If you are new to fermentation, this is one of the best and easiest recipes to get you started.
- Prep: 30 Minutes
- Ferment: 21 days
Ingredients
- 550 grams green cabbage
- 20 grams unrefined sea salt
- 200 grams filtered water
- 5 grams caraway seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Wash your fermentation equipment (jar, weight, and lid)
- Remove the outer leaves of your cabbage and lightly rinse the cabbage with cool water.
- Chop the cabbage.
- Place your kitchen scale on the counter. Turn it on and set it to weigh in grams.
- Measure out all of your ingredients using your kitchen scale.
- Mix all the ingredients, including the water, in a large bowl. Lightly massage the cabbage and break up any large pieces.
- Pack it all, including the water, into a clean jar with a rust-proof lid. (a 32-ounce jar works best)
- Place a fermentation weight in the jar, making sure to submerge the cabbage pieces and weight fully into the liquid. If you don’t have quite enough liquid, place your glass fermentation weight in the jar and submerge as much as possible. Over the next 12 hours, the cabbage should release more liquid and you can press the fermentation weight down below the brine.
- Secure the lid (you do not need to tighten it all the way. Just secure the lid but leave it ever so slightly loose so the gas doesn’t build up too much). You can keep the jar in a glass dish to catch any spills.
- Burping the jar: It should get bubbly in the first few days. If you have a tightly secured lid, you will need to burp the jar. You should also wash off the lid to keep it clean and re-adjust the fermentation weight whenever needed. Anytime the weight comes up out of the brine, with clean hands, press hard on the weight to tamper everything back down into the liquid.*
- Ferment at room temperature for 21-28 days, then remove the fermentation weight and refrigerate.
- If you try this recipe and love it, please leave a five-star review below!
Notes
- For softer kraut massage the cabbage vigorously in step 6. For crunchier kraut, gently mix the cabbage.
- When things are bubbly: If it looks like you’ve lost brine and cannot re-submerge the contents by pressing down on the weight, top it off with raw apple cider vinegar. It slightly changes the flavor, but it doesn’t harm the sauerkraut’s microbes and prevents mold. You need to give it a good stir when it’s done fermenting to mix up the flavors.
- Taring/zeroing the scale with a container on it subtracts the container’s weight, allowing you to weigh only what is added to it. After taring/zeroing the scale, the scale should read 0.0 with the container on it.
I just made the recipe and worked out great! Thank you! I have two questions:
1. Even though I used the weights there are some tiny pieces of cabbage floating around in the brine. Is that ok?
2. In the past during fermentation I lost some brine. Would I be able to add in salt water instead of vinegar? If this happened after the critical 48 hours would it still be safe to eat?
Happy to hear it!
1. you can open up the jar whenever to scoop any floaty pieces out with a clean spoon. Also a good time to make sure the lid is staying clean 🙂
2. I don’t recommend adding fresh salt water brine. If you do that, you may oxygenate the top layer, and it will turn brown, and you will also reduce the acidity in the top layer which can lead to mold.
I have made this recipe a lot of times and love it.
Recently I visited a cabbage farm and left with a few beautiful purple cabbages. This recipe specifies that any Green cabbage can be used. Wondering what the reason behind this distinction is?
You can use purple/red cabbage in this recipe! Green cabbage and red cabbage do have slightly different sugar contents and ferment a little differently (you’ll notice more bubbles with purple cabbage).