Bulgarian sauerkraut (kiselo zele)
Bulgarian sauerkraut is crisp and mild owing to its whole-head slow fermentation process.
Equipment
- Large stock pot, jar or jug big enough to hold two heads of cabbage
- A plate or board that fits inside the pickling vessel, weighted if necessary
Ingredients
- 2 heads green cabbage
- 1 apple
- 1 small onion
- 1 quince optional
- salt kosher or pickling
Instructions
- Remove the dark, course outer leaves from heads of cabbage and discard.
- Cut an "X" deep into the core of each cabbage, penetrating at least 2 inches.
- Place cabbages into a large container, preferrably one that is large enough for the heads to be completely submerged under water but tight enough that the heads can stay wedged together and not float to the surface.
- Cover the cabbage completely with a known quantity of water.
- Cut the apple, onion and quince, if using, into quarters. Place in the water.
- Scoop a cup of the water into a measuring cup and dissolve enough salt in it to create a 3% salt solution (see notes for calculation).
- Pour salt solution into the vessel and stir everything together with a large wooden spoon.
- Place a plate or board on top of the cabbages to keep them submerged under water. Weight this down if necessary to keep it in place.
- Cover the vessel with a towel or other breathable cover to keep out debris but allowing it to breath. You can lightly cover it with a lid but do not tightly seal.
- Place the vessel in a cool place where it will not be disturbed. It's best to keep it around 70 degrees or so (a cool room temperature).
- Once a day, take off the cover and give the water a stir. If any white film or scum forms, skim it away. Add salted water if necessary to keep the cabbage submerged.
- After a few days, fish out the fruit and onions and discard.
- In about a month your sauerkraut will be ready. Rinse it well and discard the brine.
Notes
To create a 3% salt solution
Working in metric is the simplest way to make a solution. For a 3% salt solution you will need 3 grams of salt for every 100 ml of water.
Start by determining how much water you’re going to need in the vessel to cover the two heads of cabbage. Do this by measuring the water as you’re adding it. (If measuring in gallons or ounces, the conversion to milliliters is 3785 ml per gallon or 29.5 ml per ounce.) Multiply the total milliliters by .03 to get the grams of salt needed.
Some common measures:
1 gallon (3785 ml) needs 4 oz salt (6 Tablespoons + 2 tsp)
1.5 gallons (5678 ml) needs 6 oz salt (10 Tablespoons)
2 gallons (7570 ml) needs 8 oz salt (13 Tablespoons + 1 tsp)