Recipe

1.  Clean and dry a 1-quart or 1-litre Mason jar.
2.  Place the grated cabbage, 2 tbsp sea salt, grated apple, raisins, and water in a large bowl, and mix thoroughly.
3. Cover with a tea towel, and leave it to sit for 20 to 30 minutes.
4. Using a canning funnel (optional), spoon the cabbage mixture into the Mason jar. After every couple of spoonfuls, compact the cabbage as much as possible into the jar. You need to be quite aggressive with this, as the full 2 lb./1 kg. cabbage should fit in the jar! The ultimate goal it to eliminate any spaces and air bubbles, and to extract liquid brine from the cabbage.
5. Keep filling the Mason jar with the cabbage mixture until you reach the “shoulder” of the jar (1 inch or 2 cm from the top). Make sure the cabbage mixture is covered in brine.
6. If the cabbage has produced too much liquid, pour some into a small jar and store in the fridge.
7. If the cabbage was dry and didn’t produce enough liquid, continue to press down on the cabbage to see if you can force more juice out. If you can’t extract enough liquid from the cabbage, mix a brine using the proportions of 1 cup water to 1 tsp fine sea salt, and top up the Mason Jar.
8. Put the lid on the Mason jar, and place it on a small plate or shallow bowl as it might overflow, and leave it on the counter away from direct sunlight.
9. “Burp” your Mason jar by opening it every 1 to 2 days in the first week of the fermentation process. If your sauerkraut gets dry, top it up with saved cabbage juice, or some brine using the proportions of 1 cup water to 1 tsp fine sea salt.
10. Continue to check (and taste) the sauerkraut every few days to make sure the cabbage remains below the water line. The sauerkraut is typically ready after 3 to 4 weeks, but really it’s considered “done” when you like the flavour!

Tips to keep in mind:

Making sure the cabbage is below the water line at all times is really important when making sauerkraut, as this will prevent mold growth. The fermentation method called lacto-fermentation that’s used for making sauerkraut, is an anaerobic process, meaning it happens in the absence of oxygen. Mold however, is aerobic meaning if flourishes when exposed to air. By checking the Mason jar regularly you can ensure the cabbage stays in an anaerobic environment. If you taste the cabbage every time you check it, you also experience the changes in flavour of the fermentation process over time, which is a really exciting process!