Sauerkraut in a bucket barrel. How to salt cabbage for the winter at home - the correct salting of cabbage in a jar or barrel
For sauerkraut, you can’t find a better dish than an aspen tub. In it, cabbage acquires a special taste and aroma, which it keeps all winter. Even in spring, cabbage remains strong for a long time and just as pleasantly crunches on the teeth. And if the cabbage is fermented according to all the rules, flavored with carrots and cumin, and whole apples and heads of cabbage with cross-shaped cuts are put in the tub, then this is a real delicacy.
10 kg of cabbage, 200-250 g of coarse salt, especially for salting.
When fermenting in a barrel, a tub, follow the following order: put a layer of whole leaves on the bottom, which protect the first portions of cabbage from crushing, then put a layer of shredded cabbage, sprinkle it with salt and tamp it so that the cabbage starts juice. Fill the tub so that the backing circle fits freely into it, oppression and the lid closes tightly. Cover the cabbage with a layer of cleanly washed leaves and a double layer of scalded canvas or gauze, put a wooden circle and oppression. Cobblestone can be used for oppression. The wooden circle must be constantly covered with juice.
After the end of the fermentation process, transfer the tub with cabbage to a cold place. The best storage conditions for sauerkraut are at 0-2°C. At this temperature, the cabbage does not become overly acidic. When storing cabbage in a tub or barrel, you need to make sure that the cabbage is covered with brine all the time and that mold does not appear. At higher temperatures, cabbage loses its qualities.
10 kg of cabbage, 2 kg of apples, 500 g of onion, 25 g of cumin or dill seeds, 200 g of salt.
Sauerkraut with apples
Ripe healthy sour apples (Antonovka is best) peel and core, cut into slices and mix with shredded cabbage. Then cook as usual. You can also put whole apples - in this case, fruits of medium size are selected. Whole apples are put in after the cabbage has been rammed and the juice has run out.
10 kg of cabbage, 300-500 g of carrots, 25 g of cumin or dill seeds, 200-250 g of salt.
Sauerkraut with cumin
Cumin seeds contain 3-7% strong-smelling caraway oil, which has a pleasant taste and smell and improves the taste of sauerkraut in a tub. In addition, caraway oil, covering the surface of the juice with a thin film, prevents the development of harmful microorganisms, in particular molds. Similar properties are possessed by dill seeds, which contain up to 4% of essential oils. Cumin seeds are added to chopped cabbage along with salt. The rest is prepared according to the previous recipe.
To prepare 50 kg of sauerkraut. 60 kg of white cabbage, 1 kg of garlic, 3.5 kg. carrots, 1.5-2 kg of roots (celery, parsley and cilantro with tops), 25 pieces of hot capsicum, 300-400 g of cherry leaves, 1 kg of table beets, 7-8 allspice peas, 1.4 kg of salt , 10-15 pieces of bay leaf, 2 pods of broken cinnamon.
Well-washed cabbage and cherry leaves are placed at the bottom of the pickling barrel, and then cabbage is tightly laid in rows. Garlic, roots, mugs of carrots, beet slices, hot peppers are placed between the rows. The top layer of vegetables is covered with clean cabbage leaves, and then with gauze and canvas, a well-washed wooden circle is placed on top, on which a load is placed. After that, the vegetables are poured with marinade 4-5 cm above the laid vegetables. Prepare 30 liters of marinade for 50 kg of cabbage. Water (29 l) is boiled, allspice, bay leaf, cinnamon and salt are added, then the marinade is cooled and filled with a tub filled with it. For 4-5 days, cabbage in a tub stands in a warm place, then it is transferred to a cold place. Sauerkraut is recommended to be stored at a temperature not exceeding 10°C.
For salting cabbage according to this recipe, 50 kg of cabbage will require 20 liters of water and 1.6 kg of salt.
At the bottom of the tub for pickles, so that the fermentation process goes faster, you need to put a little barley. Lay a backing circle and oppression on top of the heads of cabbage. For the brine, dissolve the salt in boiling water. If the liquid is cloudy, strain it through cheesecloth. Pour in the brine to cover the cabbage.
For your convenience, we will install a brine drain valve.
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Did you know that sauerkraut for the winter is the best way to store a delicious vegetable? In boiled cabbage, there is no longer even half of the folic acid, in comparison with fresh. When fermented, all useful trace elements are preserved, the volume of which increases during the cooking process. To make it delicious and store it for a long time, you need to follow some recipe rules, otherwise you won’t get crispy cabbage ...
When should you pickle cabbage?
Before embarking on the process, it is advisable to familiarize yourself with the many intricacies of an easy task that will allow you to cook delicious crispy and fragrant cabbage. There are a lot of arguments about when you can start salting for winter storage, but there is no definite answer. 
Previously, cabbage began to ferment when the first frosts began. It is the first frost that saves heads of cabbage from the characteristic bitterness, because our grandmothers still use folk calendars. This method is well suited for those who have harvested on their own plot. So you can be sure of the quality of the grown crop.
To ferment cabbage according to the lunar calendar or not, decide for yourself and consider some recommendations. The most delicious cabbage is obtained when fermentation occurs on the 5-6th day after the onset of the new moon, on the growing moon. If salted to a decreasing level, the cabbage will be soft and sour.
Pickling container - which is better?
It is believed that wooden barrels (tubs) for pickling are the best containers for pickling vegetables, it is in such dishes that cabbage will be the most delicious and crispy. Unfortunately, at home, especially in an apartment, you cannot place such a container, and not everyone can afford to buy a real tub specifically for pickles.
in the photo - a barrel for sauerkraut 
in the photo - the process of preparing for sauerkraut
At home, as a rule, housewives sour cabbage in enameled pots, wide basins, three-liter or five-liter jars, buckets, and the taste is no worse. Before starting the process, you need to check that there are no various kinds of chips and detachments on the enamel.
Plastic containers, buckets are very popular and in demand because of their lightness and strength. True, in such a container, the cabbage will not have a rich juicy taste. You can salt cabbage in the winter in almost any household utensils, except for aluminum products. The fact is that in the process of fermentation, lactic acid is formed, which reacts with aluminum and oxidizes it. As a result, instead of crunchy and fragrant, cabbage comes out gray, with a metallic taste.
What cabbage is used for pickling and what else is added?
For winter fermentation, not all varieties and hybrids are taken, it is necessary to use only late and mid-late cabbage - Slava, Aros, Morozko, Arctic F1 and others. It is easy to distinguish late heads of cabbage, they are rather small in size and very dense, with rather thick and rough leaves. Early cabbage is not suitable for pickling because of the delicate soft leaves, which will become even softer during fermentation. Mistresses with experience advise taking large heads of cabbage, there is much less waste and it is more convenient to chop.
in the photo - a head of cabbage for sauerkraut
For sauerkraut, you will need white cabbage, carrots and ordinary rock salt (large), the proportions are as follows - for 5 kg of chopped vegetables, take 100 g of salt and 100-150 g of carrots. Such a number of ingredients have been used since ancient times, so this sauerkraut recipe is considered a classic. The output product is moderately sour and fragrant, not too salty.
To give a piquant taste, housewives add cranberries, lingonberries, apples, bell peppers, dill seeds or caraway seeds when fermenting. As a rule, additional ingredients are used to taste at their own discretion. Cabbage does not always turn out crispy, so experienced chefs resort to a little trick, put grated horseradish, oak bark bought at a pharmacy in the amount of 5-8 g / kg, which will give strength and an excellent crunch.
Proven Sauerkraut Recipe
Prepare the heads, remove the top shabby foliage, remove the stalk. Measure out the required amount of coarse salt and other additives. Carrots are washed, peeled, cut into rings or strips, rubbed on a grater. Grated carrots will give the finished cabbage an orange hue.
The head of cabbage is cut into two halves or more, based on the size and convenience of shredding in the future. Shred should be thin straws, placing the knife across the head. For ease of cutting, a chef's knife or a chopping knife is used. The last kitchen tool should be used carefully, novice housewives need to be careful, you can easily get hurt. Using a chopping knife, the product is obtained in rather small chopped sizes. Do not chop the head of cabbage too thinly, narrow strips later will not have a pleasant crunch and strength.
in the photo - slicing carrots for sauerkraut 
in the photo - slicing cabbage for sauerkraut
Shredded cabbage is put in a large cup (the container for pickling will be separate) and salted, carrots are added, mixed with hands until the juice is released. They are placed in containers for fermentation (jars, buckets, basins, etc.) in small layers, carefully tamping with a hand or a wooden crush until juice is formed. When one layer is laid, additional ingredients are laid on top (cranberries, dill, lingonberries, etc.). Alternating layers, fill the container completely, to the very top.
On the laid cabbage we lay out clean leaves from heads of cabbage that remained during cleaning, put a load on top. Use a wide plate or dish, turn upside down, put a large stone or put a three-liter jar full of water. The released juice from the cabbage is not drained when installing the load. If sour in jars, do not close with lids, just put on top of the neck. In the process of fermentation, to collect excess juice, substitute dishes of suitable sizes under containers, jars, basins.
How many days does cabbage ferment and how to store the finished product?
The laid cabbage is left in a room at an air temperature of +19 ° ... +22 ° С for 3-7 days, depending on the quantity and volume of the container. A lower temperature hinders the kvass process, as a result, the product sours for a long time or the process stops altogether. A high degree will soften the cabbage and strongly sour.
in the photo - the process of fermenting cabbage
To find out if the fermentation process is going on, look at the surface, the resulting foam and bubbles indicate the correct course of the processes. The foam is removed as it forms. Once fermentation has begun, cabbage must be pierced daily using wooden spoons (back side) to remove the resulting gases. They pierce to the very bottom to rid the cabbage of bitterness.
After 3-4 days, the cabbage will settle, the amount of juice released will decrease, which means that the product is ready. Do not rush to store, first taste it, which should be pleasantly sour if everything was done correctly. Fresh cabbage must be left to ferment for a couple of days until fully cooked.
Sauerkraut should be stored at a temperature of 0 ° ... + 5 ° С. In the cellar, refrigerator, basement, balcony, loggia, cabbage can be stored for the winter if the conditions are appropriate. Another way to store for a long period is to freeze sauerkraut. Pack into bags, put in the freezer and use as needed. Enjoy your meal!
Crispy and fragrant sauerkraut has been one of the main dishes on the table of a Russian person for hundreds of years. This dish is included in the national cuisines of other peoples - Ukrainians, Belarusians, Bulgarians, Poles, Germans, as well as residents of Asian countries. The secrets of making sauerkraut in Rus' were carefully kept and passed down from generation to generation, and the pickling process has become an unchanging annual tradition. Every year, in the month of September, Russian women in all houses were engaged in shredding and laying cabbage in barrels.
It is wooden ones that are considered ideal containers for obtaining fragrant and crispy sauerkraut. The best wood for making pickling barrels is oak. Thanks to the tannins contained in this wood, pickles are stored for a long time, acquire a unique aroma and a peculiar taste.
For salting cabbage in oak barrels, varieties of medium and late cabbage are used. It is chopped or chopped, mixed with the rest of the ingredients: salt, carrots, and other additives, and then laid down and thoroughly kneaded. It is customary to lay cabbage leaves at the bottom of oak barrels. Small heads of cabbage are laid whole or cut into several parts. In modern Russian cuisine, there are many ways to salt sauerkraut in oak barrels, but the following recipes for sauerkraut in oak barrels have gained particular popularity:
classic sauerkraut recipe
According to Russian folk belief, pickling cabbage should be done on the days of the new moon. Only then will it turn out crispy, white and tasty. The hostess in every Russian house knew that when salting cabbage, the stump should be removed, otherwise the dish will be bitter.
To prepare sauerkraut according to the classic recipe, you will need:
50 kg of cabbage;
1.3-1.5 kg of rock salt (regular, non-iodized);
a handful of cumin.
The preparatory stage of cabbage should be taken with all responsibility. It should be washed, cleaned of green and spoiled leaves, cut out the stalk and chopped. Cabbage can be chopped finely or chopped into larger pieces according to your own preferences. Removed from the head are green, whole leaves should not be thrown away, but it is better to put them aside.
The oak barrel is pre-washed and scalded. The same green leaves that were set aside are laid at the bottom of the container. Shredded cabbage is mixed in small portions and rubbed by hand with the rest of the ingredients in a special wooden trough, an enamel basin or on a clean table. In the future, each portion of cabbage prepared in this way is stacked and tamped in a barrel.
Between the layers of shredded cabbage, you can put heads of cabbage cut into large pieces, while salt should be added. In this way, the barrel is filled almost to the top. It is recommended to leave 7-8 cm of empty container on top. Another layer of green, whole leaves is laid on top. All cabbage is covered with a clean, dense cloth, a wooden circle, and a load is placed on top. The main thing when salting cabbage is that it should be completely covered with juice.
In a warm room (20-25˚С), a barrel of cabbage should be kept for 10-12 days. During this time, the fermentation process will begin and end in the tank. Compliance with the correct temperature regime is probably the most important requirement for obtaining a quality product.
At the first appearance of foam on the surface of the brine, the cabbage should be pierced with a wooden stick. In the future, such an action must be performed daily until the end of the fermentation process. It is recommended to remove the appeared foam with a clean spoon, otherwise the microorganisms present in it may contribute to product spoilage. By the end of fermentation, the foam will cease to appear, and the brine will become clean. This is the signal to transfer the container with sauerkraut to a cool place (basement or cellar). Before this, it is necessary to remove the oppression, the circle and the fabric, wash everything well and put it in place. Sauerkraut is stored in a wooden barrel at a temperature of 0 to +2.
Cranberries are a healthy and tasty berry that gives sauerkraut a special flavor. To prepare sauerkraut with cranberries for 10 kg of fresh cabbage you will need:
300-350 gr cranberries;
250 gr of rock salt;
300 gr carrots;
1 teaspoon dill seeds (can be replaced with cumin if desired).
Cabbage must be cleaned of damaged and green leaves, chopped or chopped. Cranberries are thoroughly washed and dried. Carrots should be cut into strips or grated. All ingredients, except for cranberries, are mixed in small portions, rubbed with hands for better juice formation and put into an oak barrel. Each layer of cabbage is combined with a layer of cranberries until the barrel is filled to the top. The further salting process is the same as in the classic recipe.
Sauerkraut recipe with apples
To prepare sauerkraut with apples according to this recipe for 10 kg of fresh cabbage, you need to take:
0.5 kg of sour apples (Antonovka has been used for these purposes since ancient times);
cumin and dill seeds, 1 teaspoon each;
230-250 gr salt.
Apples must be washed, peeled, core cut and cut into slices. Mix apples in small portions with chopped cabbage, salt and seeds, rub with your hands and put in an oak barrel, after covering the bottom with cabbage leaves. The process of cooking cabbage with apples is the same as in the classic version.
Recipe for sauerkraut with carrots
Most women use this recipe for sauerkraut with carrots. For 10 kg of fresh white cabbage, the following amount of ingredients is taken:
1-1.5 carrots;
250 gr of salt;
10 g dill seeds (optional)
Carrots give a special taste to sauerkraut, enrich it with carotene. To prepare pickles, carrots must be washed, cut into small strips or grated (large). Cabbage is chopped, mixed with salt, carrots and dill seeds, rubbed with hands and placed in prepared oak barrels on a layer of removed leaves. The technology for making sauerkraut with carrots is similar to the classic version.
chinese sauerkraut recipe
This pickle has a sharp and spicy taste. To prepare Beijing sauerkraut according to this recipe, you will need:
10 kg of cabbage;
0.9-1 kg of salt.
Heads of cabbage are washed, cut lengthwise into 4 parts and placed in a barrel. Each layer must be carefully sprinkled with salt. After filling the container with parts of Beijing cabbage, it is poured with cold boiled water until it is completely covered. From above, the pickle is covered with a clean cloth, a wooden circle is laid and oppression is set. A barrel of cabbage should be kept in a warm place for 2 days, then taken out to the cold. Sauerkraut will be ready to eat in a month. When using, it is necessary to ensure that the cabbage is always in brine. Periodically it is necessary to wash the fabric, circle and oppression.
A day before consumption, a special mixture is prepared from 1 kg of bell pepper, 0.3-0.5 kg of red hot pepper and 0.2-0.3 kg of garlic. All ingredients must be crushed by passing through a meat grinder. To prepare a spicy kimchi dish, you need to get the required amount of sauerkraut from the barrel and rinse in plenty of cold water. Pieces of Chinese cabbage prepared in this way are well smeared between the leaves with a spicy mixture of peppers and garlic, placed in an enamel bowl and poured with boiled, cold water until completely covered. The container with Beijing cabbage must be placed in a cool place for at least 24 hours.
