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This is a great way to make saurkraut in small batches, without using a big crock.
You'll need sterilized glass quart jars with tight fitting lids; canning jars are best, but anything will work as long as it has a tight fitting lid.
Finely shred clean cabbage and let stand covered for a few hours until it wilts slightly.
Pack cabbage tightly into jars. TIGHTLY. Put in a handful, tamp it in, add more, etc. Until the jar is completely filled to the top; no head space.
Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of NO IODINE salt (kosher, etc.) and 1 teaspoon of sugar on top of each filled jar.
Slowly pour in BOILING WATER until the jar is overflowing. You may need to gently tap or tip the jar as you fill, to get as much air out as possible. It's very important that the water be boiling hot.
Once jar is full to overflowing, put its lid on LOOSELY. It should be tight enough to keep stuff out, but not so tight that gases and liquid can't seep out. Put the jar in a pan to catch overflow.
Put jar in a cool dark place (basement is fine). In 3-5 days, check the jar. There will be overflow in the pan, and the top inch or so of the jar will have no liquid in it. TOP OFF the jar with brine: 1 TBSP kosher salt mixed in 2 cups of cold water. Fill to the tippy top, then put the lid on loosely again.
Continue to check every 5 days or so, topping off the jars with brine as liquid seeps out. Keep the lids on loosely. After about 10 -14 days, or whenever the jars will stop seeping liquid, top them off one last time. Screw the lids on TIGHTLY. Clean the jar's outside, and put it in a cool dark place to store and to continue to age. You can eat the kraut now, but it will taste better after it sits for about 1 month. It will keep for over a year. Discard any jars that get black or "funny colored" (Green, black, gray, blue, pink, etc.). If only the top portion of a jar is darkened (lite brown, tan), that's ok. You can discard the darkened kraut and still use the whiter kraut underneath. Good kraut will smell like kraut! Bad kraut will stink. I always boil my homemade kraut for a minute or 2 before eating, just to be extra safe.
I've used this recipe for 20 years and have only had to toss out a few jars. Before that, trying to make saurkraut in crocks...disaster. It's a very tasty way to preserve those extra heads of cabbage.
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