How to salt cabbage in a barrel for the winter - an old recipe, proven by generations

Pickling cabbage starts with choosing the cabbage. This is the key point, and if the cabbage is not suitable, then the sauerkraut will not work.

Cabbage should be purchased in late October - early November. This is the time when the first night frosts appear, but in general it is still quite warm. The heads of cabbage should be white, without green leaves. It is important. When pickled, green leaves spread into mush and rot instead of fermenting. This gives the cabbage an unpleasant odor and discourages appetite with its unsightly appearance.

It is better to take bright orange carrots. You can use light carrots, it will not affect the taste, but bright carrots look beautiful on white cabbage.

You need rock salt, coarsely ground, not iodized. Iodized one is healthier, but it is absolutely not suitable for pickling vegetables and pickling.

The barrel must be prepared in advance. Wash the barrel with a brush and baking soda. Then, fill the barrel with cold water and let it sit with water for 3-4 days. If the barrel has dried out over the summer, cracks may appear in it, and water will fix this.

We're done with the preparations, it's time to learn how to pickle cabbage in a barrel.

For 10 kg of cabbage you need:

• 1 kg carrots;
• 250 gr. salt.

These are the main ingredients for fermenting cabbage, but there are also additional. To add color, when pickling cabbage, you can add cranberries, raw beets, cut into strips, or apples. Apples of the Antonovka variety add an amazing aroma to cabbage, and they themselves become incredibly tasty.

Wash the carrots, peel them and grate them on a coarse grater.

Shred the cabbage using a shredder. Mix the cabbage with salt and remember it well so that the cabbage releases its juice.

Now you need to very carefully mix the cabbage with carrots. This order is necessary so that the cabbage does not turn carrot-colored and remains white.

The preparation of the cabbage is completed, and it can be placed in a barrel. There is no need to rush here, and it is important to lay the cabbage so that there is no air left between it. Add handfuls of cabbage and tamp down as hard as you can. When tamping, you should see the juice on top.

After you have laid and compacted all the cabbage, cover the barrel with a wooden circle and place pressure on top.

If autumn is dry, then the cabbage will be dry, and this is bad. If it doesn’t have enough of its own juice, it will turn black and spoil. But you shouldn’t judge the amount of juice on the first day. On the second day from the start of pickling, look if the juice does not appear, make the brine yourself.

Add two tablespoons of salt to 1 liter of water and mix the salt well. When it dissolves, pour the brine into the cabbage.

It takes about 10 days to ferment cabbage. Every day, morning and evening, the cabbage needs to be pierced to the very bottom with a wooden stick in several places.This is necessary so that hydrogen sulfide, which is released when cabbage is fermented, is released.

The wooden circle used to cover the cabbage should be washed to remove excess mold. You shouldn’t get rid of it completely, because it is what is responsible for the fermentation of cabbage, but if there is too much of it, the cabbage will turn out harsher.

Ten days of fermentation at room temperature is enough. Now the barrel of cabbage must be moved to a cool place, where it will gradually reach the desired condition. Cabbage is not afraid of frost, and the barrel can easily stand on the balcony all winter. After thawing, the cabbage will not only smell like wood, but will also taste like fresh frost, which is always a new and pleasant taste.

How to salt cabbage in a barrel for the winter, watch the video: