Sauerkraut

Ingredients

Makes 1.5 litres of sauerkraut (enough to fill 2 x 700 ml Kilner jars)

• 2 medium cabbage heads (roughly 2-2.5kg), cored and finely shredded

• 2 tablespoons sea salt

instructions

Before you start, it is a good idea to sterilise your Kilner jars. We would recommend either putting them on a hot wash in your dishwasher, or filling them with seemingly hot (preferably just boiled) water. 

Once you have finely shreddedyour cabbage, place it in the biggest bowl you can find and sprinkle it with salt. Start to toss cabbage and salt together, and as it starts to break down and release some liquid, you can work a little more robustly with it and begin to knead it to break up the cellular structure of the cabbage.

Having kneaded it for roughly 5 minutes, transfer the cabbage to your sterilised Kilner jars. Pack the salted cabbage into the jars as tightly as you can, eliminating all air bubbles. It will seem impossible to get all the cabbage into your chosen jars, but persevere, press it in tightly and it will all fit.

Cover the jars loosely with a piece of parchment, or indeed with a large outer leaf of the cabbage, andallow it to sit at room temperature, undisturbed, for at least 1 month (and up to 6 months) testing the sauerkraut every few days until it is done to your liking. Once you are happy with the texture and taste of the cabbage, close your jars, transfer to the fridge where it should keep for at least 6 months and up to 1 year.