The Art of Sauerkraut

                    Sauerkraut, just packed and ready to work.

The best sauerkraut that I’ve ever eaten was made my Aunt Alta Allen Cantrell. I remember once when my daughter Roxanna was just a child, maybe 5-6 years old, we were enjoying one of the jars of sauerkraut my Aunt Alta had shared with us for our dinner. Roxanna was sitting in her seat at the table and had a chill. She exclaimed, “That sauerkraut is soo good, it sends a shiver up my spine!” That is how good Aunt Alta’s kraut was! 

Aunt Alta was a master at making kraut and as a master, she was rather particular in how she made it. First, she did each step by the “signs”. She planted her cabbage during the right sign. She picked the cabbage to make her kraut during the best sign to make kraut. She went to a special spring to collect enough spring water to make her kraut . And she had the most perfect place to store her kraut in her dark and dank basement. That basement was reached by going outside her house and around to the back where you could go down some rather steep cement steps into a dark and creepy space. There was a hole in the floor in one corner which always seemed to have water in it. I suppose it was a sump pump, but I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of creature probably crawled out of that hole to grab little girls who happened into its lair! 

                   Aunt Alta with a small cabbage from her garden.

                     The low entrance to the basement is on the left,

                                       just below the window. 

Aunt Alta was always kind to share her kraut with those who loved it. She would often send a few jars home with us to Tennessee when we visited with her and she had some. We would almost hoard our jars of kraut. Opening one made it seem a special occasion. I remember after Aunt Alta died, I knew there would be no more of her kraut and I kept the last jar she had given me for quite a while, loathe to see the end of it.

Thankfully, my Mom and Dad make some pretty good kraut too. They also do things by the signs. Their recipe is pretty much Aunt Alta’s recipe. They don’t have a special spring to get water from and any slight inferiority in their kraut is most likely due to that. Or perhaps it is only inferior because I have never heard anyone exclaim, “That sauerkraut is soo good, it sends a shiver up my spine!”

Today was a good kraut day and so I helped Mom and Dad chop cabbage for their kraut. Dad grew the cabbage and we got 22 quarts out of the four heads we chopped. I thought that I would share their recipe for making sauerkraut on our Family Quilt. Many family members over the years have made many a jar of kraut. Some folks might be interested in carrying on the tradition.

Sauerkraut ingredients:
Cabbage
Noniodized salt
Apple cider vinegar
Boiling water
Appropriate number of washed quart jars
Appropriate number of washed and boiled discs and rings for the jars

Remove any damaged outer leaves from the cabbage heads and discard. Wash the cabbage heads and remove a few outer leaves and put aside. Chop the remainder of the cabbage heads into small pieces. We discard the core. 

When you have chopped the amount you want to make, place the chopped cabbage into the jars, packing the cabbage down gently until the jars are half-filled. After the jars are half-filled, place 2 teaspoons of non-iodized salt and 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar into each jar. Finish filling the jars with the chopped cabbage to within about an inch from the top of the jar. Fold a piece of the reserved cabbage leaf and place it on top of the chopped cabbage pushing down slightly. Do not pack the cabbage too tightly though. There must be room for the cabbage to “work”. 

Boil enough water to pour over and cover the cabbage in the jars. Run a case knife down along the inside edge of the packed jars to release any excess air in the jars. Place the discs on the jars and put rings tightly on the jars. Store the jars of “kraut” in a cool dark place. Let the kraut “work” for at least three weeks before trying.

         This kraut was made a year or two ago. It has darkened a bit with age. Aunt Alta's kraut seemed to always stay beautifully light.