Homemade sauerkraut

Ingredients for 12 servings:

• 4 kg white cabbage or pointed cabbage
• 50 g salt, dissolved in 300 ml boiled water
• 20 g sugar, can be added to the salt water
• 1 small can of pineapple, in pieces or
• 1 apple, cut into pieces
• 1 small can of corn kernels
• 2 tbsp juniper berries

Instructions

Working time approx. 4 hours; Total time approx. 4 hours

according to grandma’s recipe

Cut the cabbage into very thin strips using a V-slicer or a bread slicer. To do this, first quarter or eighth the cabbage and remove the stalk. The finer the strips, the better. Pour a little of the salt and sugar water into a stone pot (about 1 cm high). Add about 5 cm of cabbage strips and mash with a wooden masher until liquid runs through. Stir in some juniper berries, corn, pineapple or apple pieces, sprinkle them on top, and add another layer of cabbage. Mash, mash, mash. There should be enough liquid to cover the cabbage. Add a little of the water solution every now and then and repeat the process until all the cabbage is thoroughly mashed. If there is not enough liquid, top up with more salt water (10g / 1L) so that the cabbage is well covered by three fingers (about 4 cm). Now place a boiled cloth over the cabbage, a boiled wooden board on top, and weigh everything down with a boiled stone so the liquid sits above it. Only the stone should be visible. Let it ferment for 3-4 days at 20-22 degrees Celsius, then for 3-4 weeks at around 15 degrees Celsius. I start the cabbage on the stove. A metal trivet goes on the stove, then the jug on top, warming it for 5 minutes at the lowest heat setting, then turning it off. Repeat this every 15 minutes, about 4-5 times. If a whitish coating forms while the cabbage is in the pot (over the course of months), remove it, and boil the cloth, board, and stone. This rarely happens if the pot is tightly closed.