Go Back
Print

Garlic Apple Sauerkraut

Equipment

  • A wide mouthed mason jar
  • Fermentation weight (makeshift is fine!)
  • Fermentation lids (optional, but recommended)

Ingredients

  • 1 Cabbage (I used purple, but green is totally fine, too)
  • 1 tbsp Salt (You may not use all of this)
  • 4 cloves Garlic Roughly chopped
  • 1 Apple Roughly chopped

Instructions

  • To start, remove a the outer leaves from your cabbage. Toss any dirty ones, but keep a clean one and set it to the side. Now, slice your cabbage into thin strips. You can either use a mandoline for this, or just do it by hand.
  • Transfer the sliced cabbage to a large bowl and add some salt. I like to start with 1 tsp at time because while you can always add more, you can't fix your kraut if it's too salty. You may work your way up to about 1 tbsp of salt, but use your judgement. A good rule of thumb is that if it tastes good while you're making it, it'll also taste good when it's done. Now, massage the salt into the cabbage. As you massage, you'll start to see your bowl fill up with liquid. That'll be your brine. Keep massaging until you have enough brine to cover everything you put in your jar. It might take a while. If you get tired, take a break and let it rest at room temperature for a bit. That should make it easier to work with.
  • Once you have a good amount of brine, add in your garlic and apples. Mix it up, and stuff it all in your sanitized mason jar(s). Pour in enough brine to cover everything. Then add in the full cabbage leaf you set aside at the beginning of this process. This will help hold everything beneath the brine. Next, add your weight. Push it all under the brine, and close it up! Once again, if you're using a regular lid, you'll need to open it once a day to let pent up carbonation out (this is called burping). If you're using a fermentation lid, you don't need to bother with that.
  • Put the jar in a cool, dark spot and let it do its thing for about one to four weeks. After a couple days, you may notice some bubbles! That's a good sign. It means your kraut is active and happy. Check on it every day or two to make sure everything stays beneath the brine and no gross mold appears. Another good sign is a sour, fermented smell. If you've ever had sauerkraut you'll recognize it. Try a little bit of your kraut every so often. If you're happy with how it tastes, it's done! Once you're satisfied, remove the weight and cabbage leaf. Then seal it up with a regular jar lid and put it in the fridge. Fermentation is a preservation technique, so it'll last quite a while in there!