Dilly Delight Sauerkraut Food

EASY DILL SAUERKRAUT

Steps:

• Prep the napa cabbage by rinsing away any visible dirt, removing the outer leaves and trimming off the stem. Set leaves and stem aside for later.
• Shred the napa cabbage.
• Place half of the cabbage in a large bowl or pot and add half of the salt. Massage the cabbage until it begins to sweat. Add the remaining cabbage and salt and then repeat the massaging process.
• Roughly chop the dill.
• Add the dill to your cabbage and mix to combine.
• Pack your jar with the cabbage and dill mixture. Leave about 1-2" of head space.
• Place fermenting weight or outer leaves and stem on top to be sure everything is submerged in brine.
• Cap or place an airlock device on jar and leave sit at room temperature for 3-4 weeks.

EASY DILL PICKLE SAUERKRAUT RECIPE

Steps:

• Finely chop washed, green cabbage.
• In a large bowl, put down a hearty layer of chopped cabbage and a generous sprinkling of sea salt (about 1 Tbsp.)
• Add half the garlic and dill, sprinkling around the cabbage layer.
• Continue adding layers of cabbage and sprinklings of salt until you run out of cabbage.
• Add the rest of the garlic and dill to the last cabbage layer.
• Mix ingredients with clean hands or a large spoon.
• Allow the cabbage to sit for ten minutes so the salt can pull some moisture out of the cabbage and tenderize it.
• Pound the cabbage thoroughly with a kraut pounder or any flat, wooden instrument. Be careful not to bang the sides of your bowl.
• Funnel the mixture into a half gallon glass jar, or a fermenting crock.
• Continue to pound each layer and keep pounding until the resulting liquid has covered the cabbage.*

SAUERKRAUT WITH DILL BY SY

Steps:

• Remove the outside leaves of the cabbage, cut out the core and quarter the head.
• Slice/Shred the cabbage into thin strips.
• In a wide Corningware dish (or crock pot) add a layer of the shredded cabbage and sprinkle salt on top, add some dill and toss.
• Next add another layer and sprinkle with salt, dill and toss, etc.
• Add luke warm water to cover the cabbage mixture and toss. (Note: It is important to have enough liquid cover the cabbage all the time. As needed add more liquid; 2 tablespoons salt to 1 quart water-to cover.).
• Next put a flat plate on top to press the cabbage down and then cover with cheese cloth. Make sure the cheese cloth does not go over the lip of the dish, but tucked in around the cabbage.
• Next cover with plastic wrap. (You can also use a plastic zip-lock bag filled with water to act as a weight and seal the cabbage from the air. I use the glass Corningware cover upside down and on the plate, as an additional weight.).
• Every few days, remove any scum and poke (I use chopsticks), toss lightly to make sure there are no air pockets.
• Let ferment for about 3-4 weeks.
• Remove any remaining scum/discolored kraut, toss.
• Transfer to a glass container and refrigerate.
• NOTES:
• 1) It is important to completely de-solve the salt if adding more liquid at the beginning or later on. Also, to thoroughly toss the cabbage. Because if you don't the finished sauerkraut will appear "Sandy" due to the salt granules not de-solving completely.
• 2) Please do your homework on making a safe recipe free from bad bacteria. That is, a good sauerkraut, which is fermented and then refrigerated (which can keep up to 1-2 months). This recipe is not intended for the canning process which uses a hot water bath to seal the sauerkraut and can keep for an extended period of time. This recipe is only written as a general guide only and specific quantities of ingredients are not listed. Because it is important for you to search and follow the written/proper proportions (from a published recipe within an established website or cook book) for the cabbage, salt, vinegar, water, etc and recommended "times" for fermentation. So go to the internet and do a search for a good Sauerkraut Recipe.
• Furthermore, go to these URL's as well; National Center for Home Food Preservation,
• http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can6a_ferment.html,
• http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_06/sauerkraut.html,
• And go to the Food dot com message board, Canning, Preserving and Dehydrating,.
• http://www.food.com/bb/viewforum.zsp?f=24.
• Finally, the Ball Book is a good source of how to safely make fermented products as well.
• 3) This recipe and all notes have now been modified from the initial post.