Was in an antique shop today and found a 5 gal stoneware crock, no cracks or defects for $10 and I now have to make two covers, one fitting inside to use with a weight to hold the cabbage under the brine, and one to fit the top to keep stuff out of the brine. That is less than it would cost to get one shipped from Leman's store. Love sourkrout and like to can it after it has fermented and eat it before canning it. Heads store well in root cellar and keep real well in the ground in a greenhouse. Stop growing, but if kept from going well below freezing, will stay fresh for months. Thank you for the new receipe.
@duane, thanks for the info on cabbage heads. That is a great price on the stoneware. There is a old-timey hardware store in Talihina in SE Oklahoma. It has EVERYTHING. They had some stoneware, but, at the time, I did not think I could justify the price. I was wrong and hope to go back. How To Make Homemade Sauerkraut in a Mason Jar — Cooking Lessons from The Kitchn I made 4 cases of this above. It takes about 4 months before it is ready, but, it is great. But, I would love to make it the other way. I will have to look for a good price on stoneware. I go to estate sales and hope to find one there.
@pearlselby I don't know why but sauerkraut made in a 5 gallon crock as @duane described is the best sauerkraut there is.. Just my taste buds opinion.
@Ganado I just wish I could enjoy some old fashioned crock fermented kraut again. Some of the old ways are forgotten which is a shame.
I haven't forgotten how to preserce food. I just like variety and I am not very nostalgic about 'the good ole ways or good oleg days' they fermented in clay crocks because it was cheaper than glass canning jars. Fermenting was a good preservation method for a few months. But without canning cabbage doesn't last forever. In the so called 'good ole' days they did things without refrigeration and a lot of people died of food poisoning. It's good to know how to preserve food without refrigeration but fewer people die today of food born illness than did in dem' 'good ole' days.
Agree, keep your food safe and please check and recheck things on canning, drying, smoking etc. I don't think we can take for granted our food safety anymore. When we had our own cow and didn't have any new cows come onto the farm, raised our own fruits and veggies, etc, we had much less chance of bad food then apples and garlic from China, meat from Mexico, onions from Peru, milk products from New Zealand etc. I often wonder how many of the "flu" problems in the 1940's were food poisoning. It makes me stop and think when I use salt, cabbage, and a perhaps 100 yr old crock to make sourkraut, and realize that with proper care, it would still be usable in another 100 years. That is the technology I love most. Crocks, hoes, shovels, hammers, axes. grub hoes, draw knives, and so on. Take care of them and they will take care of you and they don't need oil, or electricity, or fuel, or spare parts you can't make.
Yes, My Mom made it all the time. My family were all canners. My friend here made some and it was good too. It did taste better growing up. I am searching estate sales every day for a crock and as always I like to buy all the jars I can find. Like @duane said, Lehmans is very expensive to buy the right stuff.
chili peppers @Ganado?? yes, @duane I really watch about clean counters, checking jars and lids carefully. We have to be vigilant when handling food, canning, etc. I do feel like canning is second nature to me after so many years. But, I really pay attention and try not to tie myself up too long. I have canned 60 jars at a sitting and it is too much. I do not do that anymore. This food coming from overseas really frighten me. We check cans and jars for where it was made. I will put it back if it is from China. My hubby and I carry our GMO product list and do not buy from them. We also carry a non-gmo company list and buy from them. People will stop and look at our paperwork and ask questions. We tell them the truth.
Wife had a multiple heart bypass and the doctor flat outright told her if you don't change your ways, you will be back. When the Lord hits you over the head with something like that, he gets your attention. She doesn't eat meat, but ate to much fat and dairy and of course way to much salt. We are almost forced to can, freeze, dry, pickle, and cook from scratch in order to avoid salt, corn syrup, sugar, and additives. At 75 and with a history of heart problems, the doctor wants her to keep below 1000 or so milligrams of sodium, not salt, sodium a day. One serving of a lot of foods will give you that. A lot of sodium sneeks in as baking soda, sodium that naturally occurs in dairy foods, preservatives etc. Some things like sourkraut are high in salt and by making them from scratch, you can minimize the salt and limit the portions and get at least a taste of them.
@duane we have slowed way down on meat. I do cook a lot from scratch. But, we do buy some items. This past year we made tomato powder. I use it in all of my pasta and chile recipes now. I know there is too much salt in a lot of foods. We make green pepper powder, hot pepper powder, veggie powder, and others I cannot remember now. I imagine we will do the same this year. Remember growing up and all the sides our Mom cooked. We had a small amount of meat and 4 or 5 side dishes. That is what is missing today. So, when we finally figured this out, I make several sides now at meal time. Green beans, corn, greens, big salads and small portion of meat. I do hope your wife recovers in a timely manner. It sounds like she is doing what the Dr. ordered.
We have an old crock with a blue 12 inside a 5 pointed star which is inside a circle. As their food is inside, the Pitts would very protective of their crock. I remember the crock with a wooden top fermenting in the cellar. Yup, cellar, not basement. It seems the modern definition of cellar is "a room below ground level in a house, typically one used for storing wine or coal." We had coal, canned foods, sauerkraut and more but no wine.. Years ago, folks used the un-glazed band on the bottom of crocks to sharpen knives.
@pearlselby CHILI POWDER 1 tsp. paprika 2 tsp. cumin 1 tsp. cayenne 1 tsp. oregano 2 tsp. garlic powder Mix everything together and store in a glass jar! or put that in your cabbage! =)
I've never had glass jar sauerkraut. To those who have had it and the old fashioned crock type is there a difference?
@Tikka, the jar is good, but, the old fashioned is best. I just make it different ways because I do not have a crock. Thank you, @Tikka. I made a case of Carmelized onions. Then I made plain cabbage and some with bacon. Here are some of them. This is what I did yesterday. I started at 6 or so prepping the cabbage. My onions were not done yet, so I did some cabbage and then the onions. I was completely worn out last night. I also froze some of the onions last night. Today I have 2 dehydrators going full of cabbage.
@ @Ganado Thank you. I will go mix some now. @Tikka, I remember the unglazed ring. wow I was so tired when I read this last night, that I could not even think straight. Wow I had forgotten that, and it would sharpen the knives. I wonder if my Grandpa did this?
@pearlselby The crocks are hard to find and nowadays too expensive specially with the blue on them. We started our seeds a couple of days ago. I'm looking forwards to the garden.