Many housewives wonder whether it is necessary to put water and sugar in sauerkraut? You also need other important ingredients, more details in the article.
Sauerkraut is the queen of the table in Russian cuisine. This is what they call “women’s dish”. And it’s no secret that this particular dish is considered one of the healthiest in the diet; it helps reduce cholesterol levels in the blood, which means it reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases. This is just one useful quality, and there are many more.
Read another useful article on our website on the topic: “Lunar calendar 2021-2022 for canning and homemade preparations for the winter with a table by month . You will find favorable and unfavorable lunar days for making jam, harvesting, canning, freezing fruits and vegetables, and mushrooms in 2021-2022 .
Almost every housewife has cabbage on her list of preparations. It is wonderful as an independent dish and as a component of cabbage soup, pies or cutlets, as well as an amazing side dish. Below you will find many different recipes for making sauerkraut. Read on.
Which cabbage is suitable for pickling, pickling: varieties
White cabbage for pickling
For winter preparations, as well as for pickling, white cabbage of mid-late and late varieties is usually taken, since it has a fairly dense structure and long-lasting storage. This type of cabbage is best suited for pickling.
When selecting vegetables for long-term storage, there are several important rules to consider:
- Variety - mid-late or late
- The head of cabbage must be fully ripe and dense enough
- In cross section - white or slightly creamy
- The leaves taste slightly sweet - this means high glucose levels
Varieties of white cabbage that are ideal for pickling, pickling and pickling:
- “Slava-1305” is an ideal variety for pickling; it ripens in September, but is not stored for long, until January at most.
- “Belorusskaya-455” is a late variety, ripens by early October, ideal for pickling.
- “Moskovskaya late-15” - ideal for fermentation, ripens in October.
- "Amager-611" is the most late-ripening variety.
- “Kharkovskaya Zimnyaya” is a universal variety for all types of preparations.
- “Late Langedeyker” is a German variety that ripens in mid-autumn, can be stored for a very long time, and the taste only improves during storage.
- "Turkis" is a German variety, ideal for pickling.
Below is even more useful information. Read on.
Contraindications
A diet based on sauerkraut is prohibited for children and adolescents, pregnant and lactating women, the elderly, as well as for those with the following diseases:
- unstable blood pressure;
- pathologies of the liver and kidneys, heart and blood vessels;
- increased stomach acidity;
- gastritis, gastric ulcer.
Even if you are completely healthy, but after eating cabbage you notice swelling or fermentation in your stomach, please refuse the proposed diet and return to your normal diet. If possible, see a doctor.
What should you sauerkraut with?
There is a great variety of options for preparing cabbage, both in one-component form and with the addition of various vegetables, berries and spices. What should you sauerkraut with? Here are the options:
- Lovers of a sweeter taste traditionally add carrots, bell peppers, beets or apples .
- For those who like a spicy taste, season the cabbage with horseradish, garlic and hot pepper .
- But for lovers of sourness, cranberries and lingonberries .
- Gourmets who are looking for new tastes experiment with zucchini, prunes, quince, pear and even season it with vodka and raisins .
- To achieve piquancy and brightness of taste, add cumin, coriander and fennel seeds, and juniper berries.
As you can see, there are many options. Choose yours and create a dish that is unique in taste.
How to properly cut cabbage?
Correctly cutting cabbage for pickling
Before cutting cabbage, you need to choose the right knife. A tool with a wide blade can easily handle this. Also, many housewives use knives with two blades, various graters, peelers (knives for peeling vegetables), mechanical and electric shredders. But the simplest thing is an ordinary knife.
Modern housewives, when choosing a cut, are increasingly asking themselves the question of how to cut cabbage correctly or what is the best way to cut it. And here it’s just a matter of taste, as you like. Most often this is done in the traditional way - with thin straws. Other options are also acceptable: cut into quarters, whole heads of cabbage or halves.
- Divide the forks into 4 parts , remove the stalk, then divide the quarters into smaller pieces and you are ready to start.
- To get a neat and perfectly thin straw, you need to practice, but you don’t need to make it too small. The optimal straw size is at least 5 mm .
Now let's look at the question of the container in which the cabbage will be fermented. Read on.
Which container to choose for fermenting cabbage for the winter?
Traditionally, in the past, fermentation was carried out in wooden barrels. They stood in cold hay, thanks to which the cabbage retained its freshness and unique taste for a long time. But living in a modern stone “jungle”, this is simply impossible. Which container to choose for fermenting cabbage for the winter?
- It is worth noting that the container does not affect the taste of the finished product, so in this situation ordinary 3-5 liter jars , enamel pots and buckets , and stainless steel utensils .
- strictly prohibited - the cabbage will acquire an unpleasant aftertaste and a gray color.
So, when everything is ready, the cabbage has been purchased, you can begin the fermentation process. Read on.
Efficiency, recommendations and advice
According to reviews, the diet is very effective and easy to tolerate. If you follow all the recommendations, you can lose up to 5–6 kg in a week.
The results will be more impressive if you diversify your daily life with sports. Walk more, swim, work out in the gym. Any load will be a plus, especially regular.
After 7 days, you need to return to your usual diet, but do not overeat, limit your consumption of fatty and fried foods. It is still better not to include foods from the prohibited category in the diet, otherwise the results of the diet will suffer.
If the diet is well tolerated and very well tolerated, the weight loss period can be extended to 4 weeks. Afterwards, a long break is recommended - the diet can be repeated no earlier than after 3 months.
In 4 weeks of such a diet you can lose up to 15 kg without returning.
Pickling cabbage in brine with vinegar is very tasty - crispy: a delicious recipe for sauerkraut
Pickling cabbage in brine with vinegar is very tasty.
Pickling means adding salt during the preparation process. Salting can be either dry or in brine. Vinegar is usually used not for salting, but for pickling; it gives the cabbage a pleasant sourness and allows it to be stored for a longer time. The marinade is prepared separately, it can be hot or cold. There are three methods of marinating:
- Quick - cabbage can be consumed on the same day.
- Cold - pour cold marinade and store in a cool place.
- Hot - pour hot marinade and seal the jars for the winter.
The ideal vegetable for pickling is one that has been affected by the first frost. To make the product healthier, it is better to replace simple vinegar with apple cider vinegar. So, we make cabbage in brine with vinegar very tasty so that it turns out crispy. Here is a delicious recipe for sauerkraut:
Components:
- Cabbage - 1.5-2 kg
- Carrot - 1 pc.
- Vegetable oil - 1 tbsp.
- Apple cider vinegar - 0.5 tbsp.
- Water - 2 tbsp.
- Granulated sugar - 2 tbsp. l.
- Salt - 1 tbsp. l.
- Pepper peas - 2-3 pcs.
- Cumin or fennel grains - 5-10 pcs. (optional)
Cooking technology:
- Finely chop the cabbage, grate the carrots, and mix everything.
- Cook the marinade: bring the water to a boil, add salt and granulated sugar, oil, spices, vinegar at the very end.
- Place the cabbage in jars and compact them, make holes with skewers, and pour in the resulting marinade.
- Place the cabbage at room temperature until it cools completely, then put it in the refrigerator or on the balcony.
A delicious crispy snack ready to eat. The maximum shelf life of this option is no more than 3-4 months.
Features of sourdough
There are two types of cabbage starter:
- Salting - pour brine at room temperature. This method is simpler and salting is faster.
- Pickling takes place without salt or with minimal salt content.
Preparing vegetables for fermentation occurs in the following order:
- Cleaning - remove the top green leaves and cut out the stalk, which can be used if the cabbage is grown on your own plot without the use of chemicals.
- Shredding - chopping with a knife or using a shredder. The chips should not be very thin, otherwise the product will turn out soft.
- Loading containers - load the chopped mass into the selected and prepared container not to the top, so that the juice does not leak out in the first days of ripening. Loss of juice leads to a deterioration in the quality of the finished product.
- Tamping - cabbage placed in a container is lightly compacted until juice appears.
- Adding salt - each layer of cabbage is seasoned with coarse salt, evenly distributing its amount over the number of intended layers.
- Installing the oppression - after filling the container, the top layer is covered with large cabbage leaves, a clean cloth napkin and the oppression is installed.
There are several types of sauerkraut:
- shredded - chips no more than 5 mm;
- chopped - shavings no more than 12 mm;
- whole cabbage - whole forks are sprinkled with shredded or chopped cabbage, and a cross-shaped cut on the stalk will allow the cabbage to be salted faster.
The main component when sauerkraut is sauerkraut is carrots. It can be grated or cut into strips. Grated carrots will turn the cabbage orange, while chopped carrots will leave it white. Additional ingredients will give the finished product a pleasant color and unique aroma: red cabbage, beets, sweet bell peppers, chopped apples, dill and caraway seeds, bay leaves. Adding horseradish root will make the cabbage crispy.
Which container is best for pickling?
Before fermentation, you need to carefully prepare the container. At home, glass jars, enamel buckets and pans (without damaging the enamel), ceramic and wooden containers are useful for pickling. Ideal wooden containers are oak, birch, linden, worse - spruce. You cannot use plastic containers, stainless steel or aluminum containers.
How long should it ferment?
The first signs of fermentation are gas bubbles and foam on the surface. They need to be removed. This technique should not be neglected, since otherwise the taste of the finished product will deteriorate. To remove gases from the inner layers, it is necessary to make punctures twice a day with a smooth wooden skewer to the bottom of the container. Punctures are carried out until the unpleasant odor disappears.
Vigorous fermentation takes place within 5–6 days at a temperature of +18…+21°C. This temperature regime helps preserve vitamin C and suppress microbial processes through the rapid formation of acid. After this period ends, the containers must be moved to a cool room to slow down the fermentation processes.
Cabbage fermented at a temperature of +21°C has the best taste. By the fifth day, it acquires the optimal ratio of acid and sugar, which gives it a pleasant salty-wine taste. With further fermentation, cabbage acquires a sharper taste, which can be described as sour and salty.
At temperatures below +18°C, the fermentation process slows down and lasts up to 1–2 months. At high temperatures (about +30°C), warm fermentation will end in a week, but the quality of the resulting product in color and taste will be inferior to the product of long-term fermentation.
Recipe for quick sauerkraut with carrots
Almost all recipes for preparing this snack are similar to each other in terms of preparation time and sequence of actions, but still each of them is unique, because each contains a small secret ingredient. Here is a recipe for quick sauerkraut with carrots:
Components:
- White cabbage – 3 kg
- Carrots - 300 g.
- Rye flour - 2 tbsp.
- Salt - 3 tbsp. l.
- Granulated sugar - 5 tbsp. l.
- Vodka - 50 g.
Cooking technology:
- In a large container with chopped cabbage, add salt and granulated sugar and grind.
- Combine with chopped carrots and mix well.
- Sprinkle the bottom of the jars with a little flour and compact the vegetables to half the volume. Then sprinkle with flour again and cover with a layer of cabbage. Flour combined with sugar enhances the fermentation process.
- To obtain a tart taste and greater crispness, pour a glass of vodka into the jars.
- Cover the neck with clean gauze and place the jar in a basin, leave at room temperature for several days.
- To prevent the cabbage from turning out bitter, you must pierce it 2 times. per day to release carbon dioxide.
- A foam will appear on the surface of the cabbage, which needs to be removed. If the foam stops forming, it means the dish is ready. It can be covered with a lid and put in the refrigerator for another 1-2 days .
The leaked juice should not be destroyed; it must be returned back to the jar so that the cabbage does not turn out dry. And if you want to try the dish as soon as possible, then the preparation can be reduced from three days to one. All you have to do is add the simplest brine to the jar and voila.
Allowed and prohibited foods, nutritional recommendations
Fried and smoked foods, flour and confectionery products, lard, alcohol, butter, cream, sweet carbonated drinks and packaged juices and sauces are strictly prohibited on the diet.
It is recommended to minimize the amount of salt (and not only on this diet). Regardless of the chosen weight loss technique, smoked, peppered and over-salted foods should be limited or, better yet, excluded.
The permitted category includes the following products:
- sauerkraut and fresh cabbage;
- raw green vegetables;
- other vegetables (no more than 100 g per serving);
- rice, buckwheat, oatmeal;
- whole grain bread (2 slices per day);
- lean beef, chicken, turkey;
- white lean fish and seafood;
- berries, fruits, dried fruits, nuts;
- eggs and cottage cheese, low-fat kefir.
Sauerkraut and fresh cabbage can be consumed with almost no restrictions - you won’t eat a lot of it, but you will soon feel full. The product perfectly satisfies hunger, is quickly absorbed without leaving a feeling of heaviness, helps cleanse the intestines and accelerate metabolic processes.
It is not recommended to add additional salt or sweeten the cabbage.
How to ferment cabbage with beets: recipe
Sauerkraut with beets
This version of sauerkraut with beets is universal. The dish is suitable for both festive feasts and everyday lunches and dinners. The taste and appearance of this cabbage is simply incomparable. Here is the prescription:
Components:
- Cabbage – 2 kg
- Large beets - 1 pc.
- Large carrot - 1 pc.
- Garlic - 8-10 cloves
- Water - 1 l
- Granulated sugar - 150 g.
- Salt - 30 g.
- Sunflower oil - 1 tbsp. l.
- Vinegar 9% – 100 ml
Manufacturing technology:
- Peel the cabbage and cut into 8 pieces , cut the carrots and beets into rings. Crush the garlic a little to activate tannins and phytoncides and cut into several pieces.
- Mix the vegetables and you can put them in a jar.
- Prepare the brine: add salt, sugar, spices to cold water and cook until boiling. As soon as the water boils, pour in the vinegar and oil.
- Pour the marinade into the jar, close the lid and leave until it cools completely. Afterwards, place the snack for 5 days to infuse.
For those who like a spicy taste, you can add a chili pepper or cloves. It is worth noting that cabbage in this version goes perfectly with meat dishes.
How long does it take to ferment cabbage under pressure?
At the final stage of preparing cabbage, before putting it into jars, the shredded vegetable is placed under pressure. They keep it this way until carbon dioxide stops coming out of the cabbage, that is, until the fermentation process itself ends, on average 3 days . If you remove it earlier, the top layer of cabbage will begin to lose its elasticity and quickly begin to sour, which will lead to spoilage of the entire snack.
Bending is a very necessary detail in the workpiece. It becomes a kind of partition for excess oxygen in the container with cabbage. Thanks to oxygen, the active fermentation process begins.
Main problems
Difficulties often arise when preparing pickled vegetables. They are often associated with the fact that people do not know how many days to ferment cabbage at home. They miss the deadline when it is necessary to transfer the workpiece to the cold, and the product turns sour.
Other problems include:
- lack of the required amount of juice, but you can cope with this by adding water;
- if you do not pierce the mass with a skewer, the carbon dioxide will cause the product to become bitter and tasteless;
- using too many carrots causes the vegetable to become soft;
- when the temperature is violated, mucus appears;
- the film occurs at low temperatures;
- lack of salt leads to hard products.
To get a tasty and healthy snack, it is recommended to figure out how many days cabbage is fermented under pressure, which varieties are best to choose and what ingredients to use.
