Sauerkraut did not give juice what to do. How to salt cabbage if it is not juicy

Why didn't the cabbage release juice during fermentation?

In fact, any white cabbage should release juice immediately at the time of rubbing it with coarse rock salt. But the author, according to him, did not grind the cabbage, but crushed it! And crushed cabbage along with carrots. You can't do that.

Cabbage never wrinkles during fermentation, this is wrong! She frays with effort, that is, aggressively. The process of grinding cabbage is reminiscent of the movements of a hardworking laundress, strenuously washing dirty linen. Cabbage slices are picked up in a handful of both hands and rubbed against one another with force until abundant juice appears. Only after the entire volume of cabbage has been successfully ground with salt, you can add carrots and mix the cabbage with carrot shavings with light movements from the bottom up.

Now about how to save the cabbage. Alas, if cabbage (together with carrots!) Has been standing without juice for the second day, that is, the fermentation process is completely absent, then there is only one way to save such a valuable product - send it to a saucepan and stew it with oil. Otherwise, in cabbage without the resulting juice, the process of decay will begin very quickly, the cabbage will acquire a gray tint and become unsuitable for food.

I described in detail how to ferment cabbage at home correctly in my article: “Sauerkraut is like witchcraft.” Follow the link: and try the starter again. Wish you success.

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The cabbage did not release enough juice.

The reason may be in the variety of cabbage. Before (in Soviet times) for salting we had cabbage of the Slava variety (if I'm not mistaken). It was a good juicy cabbage, and when salted, it released a lot of juice.
Now on sale different varieties cabbage, and most of them are not juicy enough, they keep well, do not dry out - this is convenient for trade.
This cabbage can be pickled. When rubbed with salt, it gives little juice, and it is necessary to add a sufficient amount of boiled cold water to the grated cabbage (better more than less). The brine must necessarily cover the oppressed cabbage.

It may not be too late to save your cabbage. Add water, mix, tamp and put oppression. During the fermentation process, stir the cabbage once a day.

If after the end of fermentation (after 3 days), the unpleasant smell of cabbage turns into a pleasant specific smell, the rescue operation was a success. Good luck!

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How to save sauerkraut if it did not give juice.

I would like to say thank you to everyone who tried to help. I asked this question over the phone and there have already been attempts to put it out the way Yulia (Jusha) suggested. But I managed to save the cabbage and even fermented it, and ate it in three days for dinner.

If the cabbage has not given juice and has not yet begun to deteriorate, then

You need to take a glass of boiled and cooled to room temperature water, dilute two tablespoons of sugar in it and pour it over.
- Mix thoroughly and compact the cabbage so that the brine covers the cabbage itself.
- Put under pressure.

A day later, the brine was already sour, and on the fourth day after the start of my experiment, the cabbage turned out to be tasty and sauerkraut.

Why did I choose sugar? The fact is that the process of fermentation (sauerkraut) of cabbage is associated with beneficial bacteria (which I don’t know, probably the lacto group), which are found on cabbage leaves by default. And they love sucrose.

If there is no brine, add it yourself and feed your cabbage with sugar, but do not add vinegar or acid.

(the difference between my answer and the answer of Viktor Nikolaevich is that I added water with sugar dissolved in it, which served as a catalyst for the process. I also did not change it every day, but simply forgot about it)

Kvasim and salt cabbage

Cabbage is the number one vegetable for all true connoisseurs of delicious and healthy food. It nourishes and heals and cheers the soul. In addition, there are few (and are there?!) vegetables presented in such an assortment: white, red, colored, broccoli (amphora), Brussels, Beijing, kohlrabi. These are varieties of cabbage that I know for sure exist, and it is quite possible that there are even more of them. And all these cabbages can be preserved - fermented, salted, pickled. But sauerkraut is rightfully considered the most delicious, most useful. It's extraordinary healthy food! Especially the one that is not prepared with vinegar, but traditional recipe. Only 150 g of this sauerkraut per day are able to supply the body with a complete balanced complex of vitamins and trace elements. Plus, sauerkraut is super delicious! From time immemorial, sauerkraut has been one of the most popular types of harvesting this vegetable. And interestingly, each nation has its own cabbage traditions, and each hostess, and often the owner, has his own signature way of sauerkraut. If you don’t already have one, you can look for it among the many worthy recipes that I have specially selected for you. I will say right away that they are all good and the cabbage fermented with them will turn out to be very tasty, but with one condition: you will have to familiarize yourself with some important features of sauerkraut. Believe me, I'm not suggesting this out of boredom. Simply, unlike other methods of canning, sauerkraut is a kind of ritual, rooted in antiquity, symbolizing farewell to autumn and entry into winter. And, like any ritual, it must be performed according to the canon, which is based on the process of fermentation (fermentation), which urgently requires your attention. Of course, this will take you both time and effort, but if you do everything right, it will take much less of both. And the quality of the product will be excellent!

How to prepare for sauerkraut. To make sauerkraut tasty and stored for a long time, take white cabbage middle and late varieties. When choosing cabbage, select the healthiest dense heads of cabbage. Rotten, sluggish, loose and frozen cabbage should not be fermented.

Pay attention! In order to get 10 kg of sauerkraut, you need 12-13 kg of fresh cabbage.

If you are going to pickle cabbage, consider the lunar calendar. Perhaps this is just a superstition, but in the old days it was believed that cabbage should not be fermented on a full moon: it comes out tasteless, soft, too sour and quickly deteriorates. And vice versa, cabbage set to ferment on the new moon turns out to be hard and crispy. Those who love soft cabbage were advised to ferment it on the last quarter of the moon (that is, before the full moon). Interestingly, even the day mattered to our ancestors - they always chose weekdays, in the name of which there is the letter P - Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

How to cook cabbage mass. Clean the heads of cabbage from the top green and damaged leaves and wash in cold water. Then remove a few clean whole leaves and set aside, and cut the heads of cabbage in half and cut out the hard parts of the stalk from each half. Some housewives prefer not to cut the stalk, others cut the head of cabbage into 2 unequal parts so that the stalk remains in one of them. All this is an individual matter - to whom it is more convenient. It is much more important to properly and beautifully chop the cabbage. Chips (straws) of properly chopped cabbage should be uniform in size - 3-5 mm wide. Despite the fact that now our kitchens are equipped with a wide variety of household appliances, I strongly advise against chopping cabbage with it. To speed up the chopping process, you can use a manual shredder - it's very convenient, fast, and the straw is the same width. But it’s best to still chop the cabbage with a long sharp knife, and the thinner the blade of the knife, the narrower and neater the straw will turn out, and it’s easier and more pleasant to work with such a tool. The technique of chopping with a knife is not so complicated, but it still requires some skill from you, which will immediately appear after a few workouts.

First, decide on the technique of its execution. I know two ways of chopping cabbage: the first is for identical halves of a head of cabbage with cut out stalks, the second is for those from which the stalks are not cut out. Method 1: Lay a half cut cabbage on a cutting board and, holding it, finely chop from top to bottom with a long, sharp kitchen knife. Cut, placing the knife at an angle relative to the axis of the cabbage. The second way: take one part of the head of cabbage, put it on a cutting board on the edge with a cut away from you and, holding it with one hand, chop it in a circular motion with the other hand, moving the knife almost parallel to the cut. Each time, grab at least 1/2 of a cut of a head of cabbage. Do not touch the stump and the part adjacent to it. Transfer the chopped cabbage mass to a large bowl or basin and sprinkle with salt. Take salt based on 3 kg of cabbage (approximate weight of a tight large head of cabbage) 2 tbsp. tablespoons of salt (or 10 kg of cabbage 200 g of salt). Now put on rubber or plastic gloves and rub the cabbage with salt, but do not be too zealous - the cabbage should become only slightly damp. After that, you can mix the cabbage mass with cooked additives: grated or chopped vegetables and fruits, berries and spices. Do this carefully, no longer rubbing the mass with your hands. If you want, you can add sugar (for 10 kg of cabbage - from 3 tablespoons to 1/2 cup of sugar).

By the way, the sugar in sauerkraut can be replaced with grated sugar beets.

What and how can be added to the cabbage mass prepared for pickling. According to the traditional sauerkraut recipe, only cabbage and salt should be involved in the process. But this recipe has long been considered a basic one, that is, a recipe that is followed, but anyone can add literally anything they want to its composition. Every decent house, every self-respecting housewife has her own secret cabbage additives. Some ferment it only with salt, others add sugar or honey; some put only grated carrots, others put onions, garlic, various fruits and berries with a generous hand; some season the cabbage with lavrushka and black peppercorns, others sprinkle seeds of cumin, dill, coriander, and the like. As I have said, necessary ingredient is only salt, everything else is pampering. But, you must admit, any pampering in moderation is simply necessary, since it gives us the most important thing for which we came into this world - pleasure.

In addition to the well-known carrots, apples and cranberries, cabbage can be fermented with beets (fresh and baked), parsley roots, celery, parsnips and horseradish, sweet and hot pepper, tomatoes, mushrooms, lemons, lingonberries, mountain ash, grapes, pears, onions, garlic and even halves of canned plums and peaches. And that's not to mention the herbs and spices. Here, for example, is the composition of an old recipe for sauerkraut with sugar from the book by E. Molokhovets, based on a 4-bucket tub: 65 medium tight heads of cabbage, 3 cups of salt, 3-4 cups of fine sugar, 15 apples, 15 carrots, 2 lemons , sliced ​​(no grains), 2 cups cranberries, cardamom whole grains pieces 60-80, nutmeg-colored spoons 2 evenly with edges; 2 pieces of cinnamon, 40 pieces of bay leaf, cumin, who loves, with 1/2 cup; 3-4 cups of water, salted with part of the already prescribed salt. If you have a chance, you can try this recipe. I'll tell you a secret, I myself plan to use it. I guarantee exclusivity: now no one sours like that.

By the way, as E. Molokhovets warns, cabbage fermented with sugar spoils much faster, so you need to harvest it little by little. I will add that when pickling cabbage in warm weather (in early autumn) or in the absence of a cold room for storing it, sugar should not be added at all, since the cabbage turns out to be slimy.

Pay attention! Vegetables and fruits that you will mix with cabbage chopped and mixed with salt, it is customary to chop as follows: sodium root vegetables on a large or Korean grater, cut the onion into cubes, pepper into slices, apples into slices (sometimes they can be left whole). Bay leaves are usually left whole, but it is better to cut them into strips. If, according to the recipe, vegetables or fruits must be laid between the layers of the cabbage mass as a whole, thoroughly rinse and dry them before laying.

And my advice to you! Do not overdo it with carrots: carrot juice in large quantities makes the cabbage soft and not crispy. And if you want your sauerkraut to turn out snow-white, add not grated carrots to it, but cut into thin sticks or ferment carrots separately and mix it with cabbage before serving.

How to fill the sauerkraut with cabbage mass and put it under pressure. I hope that by this time the dishes you have chosen for sauerkraut are ready. Before laying the cabbage mass in a jar or pan previously scalded with boiling water, line the bottom of the dishes with deferred whole cabbage leaves. After that, put part of the cabbage mass into the dishes and tamp it with your hands or with a pusher so that the cabbage starts up the juice. If you are putting shredded cabbage in a large pot, you can put small whole cabbages or medium ones cut in half or into quarters with it. Apples also lay in layers - you can whole, or you can even quarters, then you need to remove the seed boxes from them. Continue filling the bowl with the cabbage mass, tamping down each layer. When a few centimeters remain to the top of the pot or the neck of the jar, compact the cabbage mass and cover it with whole leaves. If this is a saucepan, put a clean napkin (gauze folded in several layers) on the leaves, and on it a flat plate with oppression (a cleanly washed stone or three liter jar with water). If you ferment cabbage in a jar, cover it with leaves and a cloth, and then put it under oppression, too. In this case, instead of oppression, you can use a narrow jar filled with water.

Or you can insert a plastic jar into the neck, or better, two bags inserted one into the other, fill them with water and tie them up. Leave the dishes prepared for fermentation with cabbage for several days at room temperature This will speed up the curing process.

Pay attention! If you lay out the bottom of the dish with horseradish leaves, then sauerkraut will turn out crispy and will have pleasant taste. And if you put a few crusts of black bread under the leaves laid on the bottom, the start of the fermentation process will accelerate.

Pay attention! When pouring water into a jar for oppression, fill it first by about %, and then add water as the brine is released.

And my advice to you! Be sure to put jars of cabbage in bowls or deep plates - the brine rising during the fermentation process can drain into them. This will not only allow you not to stain the place where the jars are, but also save the brine - it can be used to cook borscht or other dishes.

How to behave so that the fermentation process is successful. Dishes filled with cabbage mass during the first period of fermentation should be at room temperature (18-23 ° C, in extreme cases not lower than 15 ° C). Under such conditions, the fermentation process will begin faster. At this time, foam will begin to form on the surface of the brine, and the brine itself will rise, increasing in volume. If the crockery has been overfilled with cabbage, it may start to overflow. In this case, pour the brine into a separate bowl and tie it with gauze. When the cabbage settles, this brine can be poured back. After 3-4 days from the start of fermentation, remove the plate and cloth from the surface of the cabbage and in several places pierce the cabbage mass to the bottom with a well-washed and scalded wooden stick - this helps to remove gases accumulating during fermentation and speeds up the fermentation process. Do this several times. Do not be lazy, otherwise the cabbage will turn out bitter. During the fermentation (fermentation) period, constantly monitor the condition of the cabbage and remove the resulting foam.

Pay attention! Make sure that during the period of souring and further storage, the surface of the cabbage is always covered with juice, otherwise it will quickly become moldy and rot. If little juice is released, add brine to the cabbage (20 g of salt per 1 liter of boiled water). As mold appears during storage, remove it, the plate with which the cabbage is covered, every time I wash it with mustard powder and pour over with boiling water, and boil the fabric.

And my advice to you! You can certainly believe that washing and boiling will save you from mold. I don't believe in it and I don't advise you. When you remove the mold, its thinnest, invisible threads host inside the cabbage mass and are preparing to materialize again on its surface. It is much better to visit the dish with cabbage more often and check if she is bored there alone. After all, detecting the absence of mold is much more pleasant and useful than its presence. In the meantime, you have no time, just in case, sprinkle the surface of the rammed cabbage with horseradish shavings - he is a well-known protector from all kinds of mold.

What to do with the brine released from the cabbage mass during fermentation. After the sauerkraut has stood for 2-3 days, a lot of juice is released from it, which, together with salt and other additives, is converted into the famous cabbage pickle. Under no circumstances should this healing liquid be poured out! Sauerkraut brine is useful to drink for problems with the gastrointestinal tract associated with overeating and alcohol poisoning: lactic acid contained in it stimulates the secretion of gastric juice, acting as a balm for congested digestive system. And yet, after drinking a glass of cabbage pickle, you can give yourself emergency help with cramps. Cabbage pickle will help you lose weight. To do this, it is enough to drink a glass of a mixture prepared from brine and unsalted 3 times a day after meals. tomato juice in a ratio of 1:1. Do this for 1-2 months.

How to determine the readiness of sauerkraut and how to store it. The cabbage is ready when the foam disappears and the brine clears and stops rising. The top layer of the cabbage mass at this time will settle slightly, and the cabbage itself will acquire a pleasant refreshing sour-salty taste and begin to crunch on the teeth. This completes the fermentation process. For cabbage fermented in a large pot, this will happen after about 6 days, and for cabbage in three-liter jar- almost twice as fast. At the end of the fermentation process, having compacted the cabbage well, put oppression on it again and take the dishes with cabbage into a cold room. Sauerkraut is recommended to be stored at a temperature not exceeding 10 °C. If you do not have a suitable room, put a small dish with cabbage in the refrigerator, and put the cabbage from a large saucepan into clean, dry jars, close with plastic lids and also store in the refrigerator.

By the way, if the cabbage you fermented turned out to be soft, it means that little salt was put into it. It is no longer possible to fix this now, but it is worth considering for the future.

Pay attention! You can delay the end of the fermentation process and thereby extend the shelf life of sauerkraut. To do this, immediately put the dishes filled with cabbage mass in a cool place - in a refrigerator, closer to the door, on a closed balcony, unless, of course, there is a minus temperature, in a cellar with a temperature of 8-10 ° C. There, the fermentation process will proceed more slowly. However, when the fermentation period is over, it is better to put the cabbage in a colder place (1-4 ° C).

Pay attention! If it happens that the fermentation process went wrong and the sauerkraut turned out to be slimy (when you take the cabbage out of the dish, mucus trails behind it), you should not eat such cabbage in its natural form, but for borscht or another dish it will fit perfectly. Just before adding such cabbage to the pan, put it in a colander and rinse well under running cold water.

Pay attention! In the first few days of fermenting cabbage, nitrates in it actively turn into nitrites (they are directly dangerous for people), so eat cabbage no earlier than a week after salting.

And my advice to you! When you take out the finished sauerkraut in the cold, put two cherry twigs on top of it crosswise. Maybe this is a superstition, but it is believed that this way the cabbage will not darken, even if the brine does not cover it for some time.

How to preserve sauerkraut. If you do not have suitable conditions for storing sauerkraut, you can preserve it in jars using the sterilization method. To do this, at the end of the fermentation process, remove the sauerkraut from the brine and let it drain freely. Then pour the brine into enamel pan, heat it to a boil and pour into prepared jars, filling them no more than V *. Place the sauerkraut tightly in the brine jars, and pour the hot brine over it. If there is not enough brine, you can add a separately prepared 2% brine to it (20 g of salt per 1 liter of water). Cover the filled jars with sterilized lids and sterilize at 100 ° C: 0.5 l jars - 25 min, 1 l 30 min, 3 l - 35-40 min. Or pasteurize at a temperature of 85-90 ° C: jars of 0.5 liters - 8-10 minutes, 1 liter - 10-12 minutes. And then roll it up.

How to preserve cabbage brine. If there is too much brine left after packaging sauerkraut in jars, it can also be preserved and used in winter for making soups and borscht. Excess cabbage brine can be preserved in two ways.

1st way. Squeeze out the brine, filter and pour into sterilized liter jars. Pasteurize them at 90°C for 10 minutes and roll them up.

2nd way. Pour the squeezed filtered brine into a saucepan, put it on the fire and heat the brine to 70 ° C. Keep it at this temperature for 4-5 minutes, and then hot pour into sterilized liter or half-liter jars and roll up.

How to ferment cabbage with whole heads. This method of sauerkraut is good not only because it allows you to save a lot of time: you only need to wash the heads of cabbage and remove the top leaves from them. Small heads of cabbage can be used for this fermentation method, which are usually considered unsuitable for traditional fermentation. Whole cabbage is fermented in a large bowl: barrels or enameled brews. Of course, the fermentation process with this method can be delayed - whole, even small, heads of cabbage reach the desired condition longer than slaw. You can do this in two ways.

Dry ambassador. Remove the top leaves from the washed heads and cut out the stalks. Chop 1-2 large heads of cabbage and mix with salt (for 10 kg of cabbage, take 200-250 g of salt), as usual. Put the prepared heads of cabbage in a barrel or enameled boiled water in rows, sprinkling with chopped cabbage mixed with salt. Then kvass cabbage in the manner described above.

Wet ambassador. Prepare the heads as described above. Then put them in a barrel or pan, cover with clean cabbage leaves and a linen napkin, put a wooden circle and oppression. Prepare the brine by dissolving the salt in boiling water (40 g of salt per 1 liter of water), pour the brine over the cabbage and then do everything as you would with ordinary sauerkraut.

By the way, cabbage sauerkraut will be more tender and at the same time remain elastic, and its brine will acquire a more pleasant taste for drinking if you pour a handful of coarsely crushed corn kernels between the rows of cabbages.

And my advice to you! To speed up the process of fermenting whole heads of cabbage, use old recipe quick salting cabbage. To do this, put the prepared heads of cabbage in a deep saucepan, pour salted boiling water over it, then bring the liquid to a boil again. When it boils, turn off the fire, and after half an hour, remove the heads of cabbage from the broth and rinse cold water. Place completely cooled heads of cabbage (loosely) in a dish for salting and fill with cold brine. It can be freshly prepared or drained from sauerkraut, but cucumber is best. Heads fermented in this way will be ready in less than a month.

How to ferment cabbage in brine. To begin with, let me remind you that it is customary to add brine to dishes with cabbage mass in two cases: 1) if little cabbage juice was released in the first fermentation period; 2) if during storage the brine level dropped below the top layer of cabbage. Whether or not to do this depends primarily on the quality of the cabbage and how dry the summer has been. Ideally, the brine water should be hard, preferably from an artesian well or from a good well. And so that it does not lose its useful rigidity, it is better not to boil the brine. If the water is chlorinated (from the water supply), it must be defended for 10 hours and, of course, boiled. Salt for brine is usually taken at the rate of 20 g of salt per 1 liter of water. But this is not a law - the amount of salt can be reduced or increased to taste. You can add sugar or honey to the brine. But hardly anyone will do this with brine, which is poured into a bowl of sauerkraut. Another thing is when cabbage is fermented in brine. In my opinion, sauerkraut in brine, although it is an exception to the rules of traditional sauerkraut, has a number of advantages. Of course, this is a subjective opinion, but it is the result of my personal experience. Firstly, cabbage fermented in brine does not cause as much trouble as the one that is fermented according to the traditional recipe, and the fermentation process in it does not proceed as rapidly, but rather quickly. Secondly, it does not need to be rubbed with your hands, and this is very important not only for the skin of the hands (it can be protected by wearing gloves), but also for the joints of the hands.

Thirdly, cabbage fermented in brine becomes edible faster - cabbage fermented in a three-liter jar with sugar or honey is enough for 3 days. Of course, she still needs to be given time to ripen in the refrigerator or on the balcony (at 3-10 ° C), but you can already eat it. Fourthly, ready-made cabbage in brine turns out to be more crispy than grated.

It increases resistance to stress, activates metabolism, stimulates the production of red blood cells, promotes cell growth and tissue rejuvenation, regulates fat metabolism and lowers blood cholesterol levels, thus preventing stroke, strengthens muscles (especially heart), improves immunity. Guess what we're talking about? This vegetable is very familiar to you! And it's cabbage. And not just cabbage - but sauerkraut. The most popular autumn-winter dish. Of course, to cook it, you have to tinker longer than with salting or pickling. But the product will turn out not only tasty, but also very useful, even healing.

If, when cooking cabbage, almost half of vitamin B9 (folic acid) is destroyed in it, then during pickling it remains intact. And after fermentation, there is even more ascorbic acid: up to 70 mg per 100 g. In sauerkraut, 20 times more than in fresh, and vitamin P. Due to lactic acid fermentation, a large number of probiotics, which makes it possible to equate sauerkraut to kefir in terms of usefulness.

Sauerkraut is an excellent prophylactic against bowel cancer. The brine is also very useful - it contains substances that prevent carbohydrates from turning into fat, and therefore it is excellent for the prevention of gastritis with high acidity, and is also recommended for people who monitor their weight.

It's easy to say - sauerkraut. And how many failures have already been: it turns out gray, then sour, then soft, then it gives off rotten ... From the first time, not every housewife succeeds in cabbage. As in any business, there are rules and subtleties.

Only late and mid-late varieties of cabbage are suitable for pickling. Early cabbage is not suitable: it has little sugar and therefore fermentation processes go worse.

There is nothing complicated in the fermentation technology itself. The main thing is to do everything clearly and consistently. Clean the heads of cabbage, remove the dirty and greenish leaves, cut out the rotten and frozen parts. No need to wash! Cut off the stalk: it is an "accumulator" of nitrates and other harmful substances. Chop the cabbage on a shredder or with a knife. It is necessary to shred the cabbage across the veins into strips about 2-3 mm wide. If planed along, there will be many rough parts. And the cabbage itself will lose its attractive appearance. Can be cut into pieces - squares or triangles. The larger the cut, the more vitamins and other vitamins are stored in it. useful substances. In this sense, pickling with whole heads of cabbage is ideal.

The taste of traditional sauerkraut can be improved not only with carrots, but also with berries (cranberries, lingonberries), fruits (apples, plums), mushrooms (salted and pickled), vegetables (peppers, beets, celery, etc.), spices (cumin , hot pepper, cloves, bay leaf, horseradish, etc.). If you decide to add seasonings to cabbage, then follow these proportions: for 10 kg of cabbage you need carrots - 200 g, apples - 800 g, cranberries or lingonberries - 200 g, cumin or anise - 5 g, bay leaf - 3 g, sweet pepper - 1 kg, beets - 1 kg.

Pour chopped cabbage and prepared additives on the table, sprinkle with salt and rub lightly with your hands, adding the necessary additives until the cabbage starts to juice. You can use an enameled wide pan or basin - the wider the better. The larger the area of ​​contact with air, the faster the fermentation process.

Some housewives add not only salt, but also sugar when pickling cabbage. It will definitely speed up the fermentation process. But at the same time, it will make the cabbage softer.

Prepare the container. It can be either a large capacity or a regular 3-liter jar. Lay the cabbage leaves on the bottom. Sprinkle 10-15 cm of cabbage and tamp tightly so that after laying the juice stands out on the surface. And so layer by layer until the very end. Upstairs again cabbage leaves, on them a clean cloth, a circle and oppression. If sour cabbage in a large container, put a small whole head of cabbage inside the cabbage mass. A 3-liter jar can be covered with a plastic lid with holes.

So we leave the cabbage for fermentation for 2-3 days at room temperature (plus 17-21 degrees). If everything is done correctly, then in a day bubbles and foam should appear on the surface. So, the fermentation process has begun. During it, juice will stand out, so it is better to put the pickling container in a basin or other dish. In the future, this juice can be (if necessary) added to the cabbage.

If for some reason the juice does not appear for a long time, you need to increase the oppression or add brine. It is prepared at the rate of 1 tbsp. l. with a slide of salt per 1 liter of chilled boiled water.

Remove the foam constantly. At first it will become more and more, and then it will decline. And when it is gone completely, it means that the cabbage has fermented.

In order not to spoil the cabbage, it is also necessary to get rid of the gases with an unpleasant odor formed during fermentation - hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide. Otherwise, the cabbage will be bitter. Therefore, every day (or even twice a day), pierce the cabbage with a long wooden stick in several places to the very bottom of the container.

After the cabbage settles, remove the load. Remove the top leaves and browned layer. Wash the mug and napkin thoroughly with soda, and then soak in saline. Wring out the fabric and cover the cabbage with it, put a circle, and already less weight is oppressed on it. The brine should protrude to the edge of the circle.

Depending on the temperature, cabbage is ready in 15-20 days. To keep it longer (ideally, maybe up to 8 months!), It must be stored in a dark and cool place at a temperature of about 0 degrees under a closed lid. For safety, you can moisten the top cloth with alcohol: this will protect against mold. At room temperature, cabbage quickly darkens, becomes soft and gains excess acid.

Salt for fermentation is better to use the usual large, you can sea, but not iodized! Enough 200-250 grams per 10 kg of cabbage.

Work on mistakes

Almost every housewife was disappointed when sauerkraut did not work out. Instead of juicy and crunchy - sour soft mass. So why cabbage

...TOO SOUR

In order for cabbage to ferment well, butyric acid bacteria are needed. They multiply rapidly if the fermentation temperature is above plus 20 degrees. An excess of butyric acid gives the vegetable a sharp, unpleasant odor and a rancid taste.

...BITTER

Too low (up to plus 18 degrees) temperature during fermentation. Perhaps the heads of cabbage were slightly frozen. You could oversalt. Since the taste of cabbage depends on the growing conditions, it is possible that fertilizers were added to the soil in excess of the norm.

...SOFT

There may be several reasons. They took an early variety - its leaves are soft on their own. Or you set the cabbage to sour in the warm season. It is possible that, along with healthy heads of cabbage, several frostbitten or overfed with fertilizers were caught. Perhaps there was not enough salt: they poured less than 20 g per 1 kg. The fermentation temperature was too high. Or, finally, the air did not leave well during sourdough.

...SLIMPER

Sauerkraut "slips" due to excess air, which provokes the growth of mycelial yeast. But they are needed only at the beginning of fermentation, and then in small quantities. If there are too many of them, putrefactive bacteria begin to actively develop. As a result, the cabbage spoils. Therefore, make sure that it is always covered with brine, and does not protrude above it, in contact with air.

..."PAINTED"

Cabbage changes color for various reasons. If it turned green, it means that there was a lot of air during fermentation. From contact with metal, the product turns black. Because the best dishes for pickling - wooden, glass. It is strictly forbidden to ferment cabbage in aluminum dishes. Lactic acid corrodes aluminum, and substances that are extremely undesirable for the body get into the dish. The vegetable turns red due to an excess of salt, and also due to the fact that the pickling container was poorly washed and a little old brine remained in it.

Attention

Sauerkraut, although useful, is still (especially in large quantities) contraindicated in diseases of the thyroid gland, liver and kidneys, with increased acidity, with peptic ulcer, internal bleeding of the gastrointestinal tract and hypertension.

From folk wisdom

In the old days, it was believed: cabbage is a success if it is put on men's days - Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. To make the cabbage tasty and crispy, it must be fermented on the new moon. Do you want softer? Then get to work in the last quarter. But on the full moon, rest: the cabbage will turn out very soft and sour.

Cabbage Bust

They ferment not only white cabbage, but also its other types.

RED cabbage by palatability not inferior to the white one. Its fermentation differs only in that less salt is given (200 g per 10 kg) and sugar is necessarily added (200 g per 10 kg): in red-headed it is much less than in white-headed. Carrots are not added to it, but hard green grapes, slices of green apples and sweet peppers will give it a rich taste.

2 kg solid and sour apples cut into strips. 500 g onion peeled and cut into strips. 10 kg red cabbage chop, grind with your hands with 200 g of salt, mix with apples, onions, 25 g of cumin seeds or dill. Place tightly in a bowl. Top with cabbage leaves, cloth, put a circle and a stone.

COLOR cabbage is rarely fermented. And in vain: it is very tasty and useful product. For its preparation, only intact dense white heads are used. They are carefully divided into inflorescences, which are blanched for 3-4 minutes in water (1 g per 1 liter of water). citric acid or 10 g table salt), and then immediately lowered into the cold. Then they are tightly placed in a prepared container and poured with cold brine: 1 liter of water, 50 g of salt, 3 g of citric acid. Top covered with canvas or gauze, put a wooden circle and oppression. Keep at room temperature. When fermentation begins, transfer to a cold place. pickled cauliflower eaten raw, boiled and served as a side dish with butter and breadcrumbs.

Can ferment and BRUSSELS cabbage. First, the sprouts are soaked in cold water for 1 hour. Then they are blanched for 3 minutes in salted boiling water. After that, they are tightly placed in half- or liter jars and poured with hot 2% saline. Pasteurized for 40 minutes and rolled up with lids. Store in a cool place.

"Original"

Divide the head of cabbage into 8-12 parts, cut 1-2 beets and 2 carrots into thin slices, 3 pieces of sweet pepper into strips, chop 4 cloves of garlic and a bunch of dill.

Put everything in a container in layers, sprinkling with salt (to taste) and sugar (1 tbsp. L.). Boil water, pour 1 tbsp. l. citric acid and pour boiling water so that the water covers the cabbage. Cover with a clean towel and put oppression. After 3-4 days, the cabbage will be ready.

Spicy with beets

Cut the head of cabbage into 8 pieces. Grate 2 beets, chop 2 heads of garlic, chop 2-3 parsley roots and 2-3 horseradish roots, finely chop 1 pod of hot pepper.

Put the cabbage in a container, sprinkling with chopped vegetables and salt to taste, pour hot boiled water and put in a bowl where excess brine will pour out. Leave for three days warm, piercing with a wooden knitting needle. Refrigerate at the end of fermentation.

With pumpkin and herbs

1 kg of pumpkin, peel and seeds, cut into large slices, pour 3 tbsp. l. sugar and leave until the juice comes out.

Chop 4 kg of cabbage, mix with a bunch of chopped greens and 130 g of salt. In the prepared container, lay cabbage and pumpkin slices in layers. Leave at room temperature for several days.

With pickles

Chop 1 kg of cabbage and add 20–25 g of dill seeds to it. Grate 500-600 g of pickled cucumbers on a coarse grater.

Mix everything and pour hot brine: 1.5 tbsp. l. salt per 1 liter of water. Put under oppression for 12 hours, and then arrange in jars and store in the refrigerator.

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Excellent material. Thank you.

Yuri, you want to say that we need leaven???

Irina, Yuri wanted to say that preservatives from store-bought cabbage are definitely needed to stop fermentation. Without them, his process continues and the cabbage deteriorates.

Excellent article!!! Thank you. I also want to add one recipe: Mix shredded cabbage of late varieties with a small amount of carrots, pack tightly into a 3-liter jar, put bay leaves and black peppercorns on top (5-10 peas), pour 1 a tablespoon with a slide of salt and 1 teaspoon of sugar and pour cold running water, as when pickling cucumbers, so that the cabbage is completely in the water, that is, salt and sugar are evenly distributed. Sometimes I add more salt. Cover with a lid with holes or with gauze and put in a warm place for 2.5 days, and it’s also unforgettable to pierce the cabbage several times a day, releasing “gaziki”. I kept the cabbage by the battery, making sure that it didn’t peroxide. ).

Yuri. I know one single proven recipe for sauerkraut, according to which my mother fermented. And I sour No snot and industrial cabbage (who trampled it with their feet ...)
Take cabbage. Shred. Salt. Just salt, without pouring, not in layers - salt. Like a salad, but good. Lightly rubbing in the hands (not into molecules). Third carrot... well. For her to be there. Approximately one large head of cabbage. You mix cabbage and carrots, ram this thing into a bowl in which you will ferment, put oppression on top and that's it. Then, the next day, pierce holes in it and let it breathe, and after another 1-2 days, transfer it to jars and put it in the refrigerator, that's it, you can eat. No sourdough, no sugar, nothing. There is enough sugar in carrots, and then it will ferment itself. I promise you try.

Cabbage was always salted according to one recipe: a 3-liter jar filled with slaw cabbage with carrots, one tablespoon of salt and two tablespoons of sugar was poured with cold water. After three days, the cabbage turned out great. Delicious crispy and beautiful in appearance. This year, nothing like that no. Everyone did the same, but the cabbage is soft. Why, we can’t understand. They’ve already salted it three times and everything turned out the same

"The brine is also very useful - it contains substances that prevent carbohydrates from turning into fat, and therefore it is excellent for the prevention of gastritis with high acidity"
- But what, gastritis is it from fat?

You messed up with the moon phases.

Sauerkraut is considered healthy and delicious dish. It was also prepared by the Russian princes, as it well made up for the lack of vitamins in winter period. There are many rules for its preparation, but all methods adhere to the same standards. But sometimes, subject to all sourdough technologies, the cabbage turns out to be snotty. The brine is cloudy and at the same time there are incomprehensible slimy threads in it. How to avoid it?

Reasons for the appearance

Fermentation is considered the most acceptable way to preserve vitamin composition. But why does snotty cabbage show up in the recipe? The main reasons lie in the following:

1. It is important to choose special varieties for sourdough. Late varieties with white heads are suitable. If you choose a vegetable with green leaves, then the taste of the dish will be bitter. Heads of cabbage should differ in density, juiciness and have small stalks. Good taste fermentation is given by sweet cabbage leaves.
2. If the cabbage is snotty, adding sugar may be a possible cause. He is able to provoke a slimy state.
3. The appetizer acquires a pleasant taste if fermentation occurs at a temperature of twenty degrees Celsius to 25 degrees.
4. It is important to rinse the container in preparation for sourdough. In addition, it is better to select dishes from natural materials, it is desirable to avoid plastic. Suitable wood or glass.
5. When the cabbage has become snotty, you need to check the quantity and quality of salt. Spices should not be small and it should not be finely ground. Coarse salt is suitable for pickling.

But the main reason that the cabbage turned out to be snotty is the non-compliance with the cooking technology. Excess air causes the growth of the wrong bacteria, as a result, the snack turns out with an unpleasant odor and mucus appears on the brine during scooping.

What can be done

How to save an already cooked dish? What to do with cabbage that has changed appearance and quality? Do not immediately throw away the result of labor. You can’t eat such an appetizer in its natural form, but it can be used to prepare some dishes, for example, cabbage soup.

To use snotty cabbage for certain recipes, it should be washed well and well before starting to run in a dish.

Folk omens

There is an opinion that salting is best left to men and not to cook when the moon is full. This has not been scientifically proven, while many believe folk signs to avoid the appearance of snotty cabbage.

Alexander Gushchin

I can't vouch for the taste, but it will be hot :)

Content

Many people are familiar with the process of sourdough cabbage. experienced housewives, but even they, subject to all the rules, are faced with the fact that instead of sourdough, the preparation of vegetables acquires a musty smell. Why cabbage does not ferment, but rots and how to avoid failures in this process? Can a failed pickle be saved? How to choose the right vegetables and do delicious salting?

Why cabbage does not ferment

The fermentation process is a chemical reaction that results in the formation of lactic acid bacteria, thanks to which the cabbage reaches the desired degree of leaven. For the reproduction of these bacteria, it is necessary to observe a certain temperature in the room - from 17 to 21 ° C, the proportions of salt, the cleanliness of containers and vegetables. Hence the answer to the question: “Why doesn’t cabbage sour?”.

Why cabbage rots

It would seem that you did everything right, but instead of the expected starter, the product deteriorates - it becomes dark in color, a characteristic musty smell and an excessively sour unpleasant taste appear, instead of crispy, it becomes soft and slippery. You can find out why cabbage does not ferment, but you can go out. There are a number of reasons why the workpiece may deteriorate after cooking:

1. Not highlighted right amount juice. Before putting chopped cabbage chips into a container, you need to mash it until the juice is released.
2. The quality and proportion of salt is not respected. In cooking, use rock salt or ordinary salt. coarse salt, without additives. It is recommended to add 1.5-2 tablespoons of salt per 1 kg of vegetables.
3. “Suffocated” by fermentation gases. On the 3rd day, the contents of the jar must be pierced with a wooden stick to release the accumulated hydrogen sulfide (carbon dioxide). You need to do this at least 3 times a day.
4. Air access. Do not allow oxygen to enter the container with the product. You need to make sure that the brine completely covers it.
5. A fungus has sprung up. On the 2nd or 3rd day, foam appears on the surface of the workpiece. It must be removed until it disappears completely, otherwise it contributes to the formation of fungus, which leads to attenuation.
6. Use of unsuitable varieties. Late (winter) varieties of heads of cabbage are suitable for sourdough. They are harvested at the end of September - at the beginning of October.

How to revive sauerkraut

In some cases, pickles can be returned to the normal fermentation process and the product will again please you with a pleasant color and smell, and eating will become tasty and healthy. When the product has a musty smell, nothing can be done, so carefully monitor the process in the container from the moment you put the jar to ferment in order to save all the contents in time.

If it doesn't ferment

On the 2nd day, the prepared billet should begin to ferment, but upon examination it is clear that the process is not moving. In this case, if the cabbage does not ferment, but has a normal appearance and smell, you will need to follow a few simple steps to save it:

1. It is necessary to add a little sugar diluted with water to the container with the product - 2 teaspoons per 1 kg of vegetables.
2. Adjust the temperature of the environment where the cabbage is sour. She does not like cold environments and severe overheating. About what temperature it is necessary to maintain, it was said above.

If oversalted

The product can be reanimated when oversalting has occurred, and it has become tasteless. Ways to restore salt balance:

1. It is necessary to remove the contents from the container and mix with previously prepared fresh vegetables(carrots, peppers, apples, etc.). They will absorb some of the salt and add a piquant taste to the cabbage.
2. If the brine has already managed to stand out and cover all the cabbage chips, then you need to scoop it out with a tablespoon (but not all - only from above) and add boiled water at room temperature.

If these methods did not help reduce excess salt, do not despair. Such a blank can be used in cabbage soup, borscht, dressing for gravy, fillings for pies, make a hodgepodge with the addition of meat and rice, which will draw off excess salt. Can be used as a separate dish, but after generously seasoning it vegetable oil and onions.

How to pickle cabbage

Sauerkraut is a product of natural fermentation, containing a rich complex of vitamins and nutrients: Vitamin C and fiber help improve bowel function, ascorbic acid strengthens the immune system. By the amount of minerals, this product is among the leaders. The sourdough process must be approached very carefully, taking into account all the features: the use of a certain variety, the selection of a container, the regulation of the temperature of the external environment where the container with the sourdough will be located.

Variety selection

An important role in the preparation is played by the variety of cabbage for pickling. It must be late varieties. Suitable varieties for obtaining juicy, sweet fruits are as follows: “Moscow late”, “Valentina F1”, “Kharkovskaya winter”, “Geneva F1”. These varieties are late-ripening and must be harvested in late September-early October. Such forks have a yellowish color, when cut, they secrete juice, the leaves of medium thickness are elastic with a sweetish aftertaste.

Proportions

For delicious sauerkraut, it is important to respect the proportions of the ingredients: salt, spices, carrots. Some people like to add hard apples, pomegranate seeds to fermentation. It's up to your taste. The main thing - you need to put salt 2 tbsp. spoons per kilo of product. Failure to comply with the proportions will lead to oversalting or undersalting of the product, and undersalting leads to rottenness. Vegetables should take up no more than 1/4 of the volume of cabbage.

Terms

The container must be either glass or wood. Plastic and metal containers are contraindicated - plastic can give off its smell, and the metal will oxidize. Be sure to put a load or oppression in another way on top of the cabbage chips cooked and packed in a container. Oppression should not be stone and metal. Between oppression and leaven, you need to lay a pre-prepared linen or cotton fabric. If fermented in a bottle, then oppression is not necessary. Some housewives believe in omens and prepare fermentation according to the recommended days of the lunar calendar.

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