Care to share a recipe?
Pretty simple:
Get
this and
this.
Get a variety of cabbage (or one type, whatever) I found that 2 normal whole heads of supermarket white cabbage fit in to the Lakeland fermentation thingy)
Get some natural sea salt (low or non iodized, I got Maldon flakes).
Remove outer leaves (keep 1 or 2 of them whole), core the cabbage and slice in to the thin strips. Do not wash the cabbage as you want the bacteria that is on it.
Weigh you final amount of cabbage.
Put in a large bowl. If you don't have 1 big enough, do this in multiple batches.
Weigh the cabbage you are working with, and add 2% of that weight in salt. (so if you have 500g of sliced cabbage, add 10g of salt).
Massage, knead, and generally smoosh the cabbage and salt with you hands, for at least 10 minutes.
The cabbage will softed and brine will start to be expelled from the cabbage.
Smoosh until you get a decent amount of brine forming.
Pack the cabbage tightly in to the fermentation jar, and pour the remaining brine on at the end.
Repeat your smoosh and pack until all your cabbage is done.
Tear the whole leftover leaves so that it roughly fits in to the jar, pack it over the shredded cabbage to form a layer, then put the pickle weights on top.
Ensure that everything is well smooshed down and that the brine level is above the shredded cabbage.
Screw the top of the jar (follow the instructions and make sure the release plug is closed) and place in a warmish place (ideally around 21ºC).
Try to place the jar in a wide bowl to catch any drips/leaks that might occur as the brine starts to bubble.
Wait at least 3 weeks, checking to make sure the fermentation is happening, you can tell by all the bubbles from the CO2 made by the good bacteria as they do their thing.
Do a taste test, if you are happy with the level of sourness, you can then remove the weights, discard the whole leaves, and move the sauerkraut in to storage jars (I use
these).
If you want it more sour, or if you find it too salty, give it another week and re-test. The saltiness mellows the longer it ferments.
Store completed sauerkraut in the fridge, good for at least 6 months (though mine never lasts that long).
Once you have the basics done, you can experiment with adding extra things (classic extras like carraway seeds or juniper berries, or more complicated kraut like including carrot and garlic to the mix).
