Classic sauerkraut recipe. Quick Methods for Pickling Delicious Crispy Kale

A large WHITE head of cabbage is taken. Young green cabbage is no good! Shredded thinly with long strips. The smaller, the better. We don’t chop the stalk =) Many housewives have special shredders, but I cut with a sharp Japanese knife on a cutting board. We put all this in a bowl or pan. Then there we also three a couple of juicy carrots on a coarse grater, and mix with our hands, slightly pressing.

We take a three-liter glass jar - I thought for a long time where to dig it up and ... I bought Apple Juice "Tikhvinsky" in Lenta for 89 rubles, which, moreover, turned out to be tastier than analogues from cardboard bags. Partially drank the juice with the family, partly poured it into a smaller container. I washed the jar, dried it thoroughly inside. Now you can lay our cabbage-carrot mixture in it. We lay it as tightly as possible, constantly tamping in the process of laying. I used the most primitive mashed potatoes for this. The final idea is to have a minimum of air and a maximum of cabbage in the jar. I deviated from the classics, and added raw beets, grated on a coarse grater, to the mixture.

Time to prepare the brine. Attention, the recipe is very complicated! We take 1 liter of cold filtered water, and dissolve in it 2 tbsp. l. coarse salt and 3 tbsp. l. Sahara. In no case do not take newfangled perversion salts (iodized and low sodium). Avoid also salt, which contains an anti-caking agent (not by the night will be remembered!). Slowly pour the brine into a three-liter jar. If you stuff the jar tightly, then the brine will seep slowly, and rightly so. The liquid should rise to the edge of the jar. If it is not enough, pour more filtered water into a glass, sprinkle a teaspoon of salt, stir and fill the jar to the top! Voila! Now we put a three-liter jar in some bowl or plate with high edges, and place it solemnly in the kitchen or in another warm place for several days. Do not put on drafts and window sills!

Next is the most important! The next day or even earlier, the cabbage will begin to ferment. “Air” bubbles will form in the jar, and the brine will begin to pour out of the jar (remember we put the jar in the bowl?). Your task is to pierce the cabbage, releasing the air from the jar, and pour back the escaped brine. It is convenient to pierce with a knitting needle, I don’t have one and I sharpened the tip of a bamboo Chinese stick from a sushi bar with a knife. Try to pierce the cabbage mass to the very bottom, enjoying the rapid release of bubbles to the surface! =) Without fanaticism! Do this as often as possible.

The fermentation process will take 3-4 days, and keep in mind - this is accompanied by a characteristic smell =) As soon as the air in the jar stops forming, the cabbage is ready! That is, you poke with a knitting needle, but there are no bubbles. I recommend shifting the delicacy into smaller jars, close the lid and put it in the refrigerator. The brine remains with the cabbage, do not pour out! After cooling, put in a salad bowl, add thinly sliced ​​onion, fragrant, yellow sunflower oil and generously sprinkle with black pepper from the mill ... a fork in one hand, a piece of Borodino bread in the other and ... HOW DELICIOUS IT IS!!!
By the way, sauerkraut contains a huge amount of vitamins and minerals. Personally, my grandmother was saved in 1943 from hepatitis ONLY thanks to sauerkraut! And in Rus', all winter it replaced any complex of multivitamins =) Bon appetit to you and be healthy!
P.S. And another interesting moment! For people suffering from gastritis and high acidity, fresh cabbage is contraindicated. But sauerkraut goes without problems in any quantities =) Checked personally! An exception is buying cabbage from grandmothers or in supermarkets. In order not to wait 3-4 days, vinegar essence is added to the brine, and this is already - "Hello, heartburn!" =)

For the first time, crispy sauerkraut in a jar was made in order to save the family budget. How many times, walking through the market, I was surprised at the prices for pickles-marinades: well, it’s strange, why do vegetables rise in price so much, turning from fresh to salty? Fresh cabbage in the fall costs a penny, and sauerkraut is already much more expensive. On another trip to the market, again amazed at the prices, I decided that it was time to switch to my own pickles. And now all winter I have sauerkraut in a jar, I chose a classic recipe, proven. I specially took step-by-step photos to show how easy it is to prepare.

To my amazement, it turned out that cooking sauerkraut is very simple. Now I don’t buy it on the market, I only make my own. It turns out exactly the way we like it: sour, juicy, there is no pepper or lavrushka in it, and most importantly, there is no need to add water. When fermented, a lot of brine is formed, which in itself is tasty and healthy, and it can also be used when cooking sour cabbage soup and soups.

Ingredients:

• White cabbage - 2 kg;
• carrots - 2 pcs (large);
• table salt - 5 tsp with a low hill;
• In addition, you will need a 3-liter jar and a pusher.

How to ferment cabbage in a jar

I always choose carrots that are bright, juicy and sweet. I clean it and rub it on a coarse grater. Once I was taught how to choose it. You need to look not only to have a rounded nose at the carrot, but also to the top where the tops grew. If there are traces of tops on a large round patch, then such carrots can be fodder varieties, as a rule, they are unsweetened. But, of course, there are exceptions. If the tops of the carrots grew from the middle, and the patch is small, almost invisible, then these are table varieties of carrots, it is suitable for pickles, fresh salads, and borscht soups.

For sauerkraut, cabbage is needed only of winter and autumn varieties, it will be juicy, crispy. The head of cabbage should be dense, tight, and in weight be heavier than it seems. It is more convenient to shred on a large cutting board, cutting the head of cabbage into several parts (or use a shredder) and weigh after cutting. In the recipe, the amount of salt is given based on 2 kg. shredded cabbage. I do not throw away the stumps, they will still be useful to us.

I mix cabbage with grated carrots. I don’t crush or grind, I just mix.

I add coarse table salt, always non-iodized. Such salt is sold in rectangular packs or bags of bluish color. If you are at a loss with the choice, ask the seller in the store for table or rock salt.

I grind the cabbage with salt with my hands, but without fanaticism, it should remain dense and crispy.

I fill the jar by a third. With a pusher or fist, I press it hard until the juice appears. I put the next portion and press down again. It is necessary to fill the container not immediately to the top, but gradually, very tightly, leaving no voids. When all the cabbage is rammed and the jar is filled up to the shoulders, I put pieces of the stump on top, pushing them into the jar and also tamping it tightly. I cover it loosely with a lid or cover the neck with a towel, put it in a deep plate and leave it in the kitchen for 2-3 days.

After a day, the cabbage will be completely covered with brine and a characteristic sour smell of fermentation will already appear, and after another day, foam will be noticeable on the surface. From this moment on, it is imperative to release gases by piercing the contents of the jar with a wooden stick at least to the middle, but preferably to the bottom. Repeat several times a day, otherwise the cabbage will be bitter and dry due to the fact that the fermentation brine will not remain in the jar, but will overflow.

In principle, on the second day you can already try (if you like lightly salted), or stand for a couple more days and then put it in the refrigerator with a plastic lid. In a cool place, the cabbage will continue to gain flavor, and every day it will become tastier and tastier. Instead of a jar, cabbage can be fermented in a low enameled saucepan, covered with an inverted plate and placing a weight (a jar of water) on top. Sauerkraut is stored in a jar at a low temperature for a long time, but we end up in a week or even earlier. To always have a supply, I immediately make a couple of cans and replenish it as needed.

Sauerkraut Classic Recipe Tips

They say that all pickles-marinades from female vegetables (cabbage, carrots, beets) should be made on "women's" days. These are Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. But from my experience I can say that if you bought the right variety of cabbage and did everything right, then there is no difference when you fermented it. Adhering to popular beliefs or not is a personal matter, you can just take the advice of our grandmothers into account.

The most important thing is to choose the right cabbage. To the touch is dense, heavy in weight, in no way loose. White or whitish cream. The upper leaves may be green, but the head itself is white. Varieties of winter or autumn-winter, summer and early autumn are not suitable, such cabbage will soften when pickled.

Salt is used stone (cooking) not iodized. No other sourdough cabbage is suitable. You can add a little more than in the recipe, focus on your taste. After you mix the vegetables and salt, try it - the cabbage should seem slightly salty to you.

Usually, a minimum of spices is used during fermentation - only coarse table salt, occasionally adding a little sugar to speed up the fermentation process. If you like a richer taste and aroma of sauerkraut, add cumin, bay leaf, black or allspice peas, anise, fennel. There are even recipes with the addition of cloves, but this is very amateurish. Just do not add everything at once, an excess of spices will spoil the taste of pickles.

That's all the secrets. Let you get delicious crispy sauerkraut in a jar, write down the classic recipe and cook it to your health! Good luck and bon appetit!

If you didn’t have time to ferment a barrel of cabbage for the winter, it doesn’t matter! We will tell you about different ways to quickly cook sauerkraut. The first recipe for instant sauerkraut -. Having prepared cabbage according to this recipe, which I received from my mother, you will be able to try very tasty crispy cabbage the very next day. The recipe is so successful that in our house they eat a whole saucepan in a couple of days. If you want instant sauerkraut to taste as close as possible to classic, which usually takes a lot of time, then try it, so you still have to wait. But not a month, but only two or three days.

Instant sauerkraut with vinegar

If there is a feast tomorrow, then instant sauerkraut with vinegar is just perfect as a snack. The marinade is very tasty and very simple. Cabbage turns out juicy, crispy, sweet.

Ingredients:

• head of cabbage about 2.5 kg,
• 2 large carrots
• 2 tbsp. small tablespoons of salt

• glass of water,
• half a glass of vegetable oil,
• half a glass of vinegar
• half a glass of sugar
• ten black peppercorns
• four leaves of lavrushka.

Cooking instant sauerkraut

We chop the cabbage, three carrots on a coarse grater, mix with salt and rub with our hands to separate the juice. For the marinade, combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Then pour cabbage with hot marinade. When it cools down, we tamp it down properly, put a saucer or a small plate on top, which is smaller in diameter than a saucepan or a bowl of cabbage, put a load on top - I usually put a half-liter jar of water. All. We clean in the refrigerator After a day you can eat. This Instant Sauerkraut Recipe is Amazingly Delicious! Crispy, sweet and sour, cheerful orange hue, with a delicate aroma of spices. You can eat it just like that, or you can make simple salads. At the same time, you don’t need to season the cabbage with anything - there is enough vegetable oil in it.

Instant sauerkraut recipe without vinegar

It will take 2-3 days to prepare quick sauerkraut using this method. To speed up the fermentation process, a very simple method is used ...

Ingredients:

• 1 medium head of cabbage (only mature cabbage can be used, young cabbage is not suitable)
• 3 carrots

• 800 ml of water
• 1 st. a spoonful of rock salt
• 1 st. l. Sahara.

How to quickly cook sauerkraut

Finely chop the cabbage. Carrots also need to be cut into strips, and not grated. Then just mix cabbage with carrots and put in a glass jar as tightly as possible. For the brine, boil water, stir salt and sugar in it until completely dissolved and pour the cabbage. To prevent the jar from bursting, pour boiling water slowly or onto a tablespoon. Remember the main point: the brine should completely cover the cabbage. If you have more cabbage, then make a second portion of the brine.

A jar of cabbage should be placed in a bowl or a deep plate so that the brine does not accidentally leak onto the table during the fermentation process. Leave cabbage at room temperature. The next day, it will already begin to ferment - gas bubbles will appear on the surface. This gas must be "squeezed out" - from time to time to crush the cabbage with a fork. Press hard enough and not lazily until the bubbles stop coming out. It is thanks to this “squeezing” that the fermentation process is accelerated. After about a couple of days, the gas formation will stop. Then we put a jar of sauerkraut in the refrigerator, and the next day you can eat it. :)

Options for simple and healthy salads with instant sauerkraut

Such cabbage goes very well with white onions and finely chopped greens - it is not as sharp in taste as usual, and is quite affordable. I also like a simple salad, when a finely chopped apple is added to instant sauerkraut. Delicious! I tried this cabbage with onions and cranberries - I also liked it. Other unusual salads can be prepared from sauerkraut. But not only! .

What can be served with such sauerkraut

We often serve such cabbage as part of a complex side dish for grilled sausages, fried chicken. Sauerkraut goes very well with fish. It turns out such a somewhat unexpected taste. Will appeal to those who like to water the fish with lemon juice. And, of course, the most delicious is sauerkraut with mashed potatoes. And nothing more.

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 sweet, they want to eat 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; 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 the article, which you can find by clicking on the link.

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 will always be able to prepare very tasty and fragrant cabbage for the winter.

I wish you excellent preparations and bon appetit!