I've been making homemade pickles for years. My husband prefers them over store-bought ones every time. I had never heard of food fermentation crocks before stumbling across some information about The Sauerkrock from Humble House. When I mentioned this system to my mother-in-law she told me a fascinating story about how her mother used to have a really huge fermenting crock and a special rock she used as a weight inside of it.

I'm always game to try new recipes and ways of making foods, so this is a DIY project that is right up my alley!

Features:

• 5 Liter / 1.3 Gallon capacity
• Ideal size for a family of 2-4 people
• Includes two heavy ceramic full-coverage weights
• Water channel feature seals foods from contaminants
• Food-safe glaze is totally free of lead and cadmium and easy to clean
• Thick ceramic walls are strong enough for daily use and light enough for easy carrying. They also keep out UV rays from light that aren't good for fermented foods

The recipe to make sauerkraut in The Sauerkrock is pretty simple. All you need is come cabbage, salt and water. It can take some time if you don't have a food processor and have to cut the cabbage into shreds with a cutting board and a knife. But, it's a very quick and simple process if you do have a processor since you can just cut the head(s) of cabbage in chunks and feed them through it.

To make a batch of sauerkraut, here's what ingredients are called for, according to the recipe featured on The Humble House website.

SauerKraut “AKA Sour Cabbage”

*We do not recommend using standard table salts or kosher salts because they are refined and often contain additives. The best salts we’ve used for making Sauerkraut and other fermented foods are Real Salt brand sea salt and varieties of Pink Himalayan Salt. These salts are natural and unrefined, which means they contain no artificial ingredients and maintain all of their original minerals which add to the quality and flavor of your recipe. —– Source: The Humble House

Other items you may need to complete this recipe are a cutting board, a knife, a large glass or stainless-steel mixing bowl, some measuring spoons, a larger spoon (to move it from the bowl to the crock), some plastic gloves, and one or more storage containers such as Mason canning jars.

Why the plastic gloves? Well, once the cabbage is cored and shredded you need to sprinkle the salt on top and then use your hands to massage the salt into the cabbage. The salt can sting your skin, especially if you have any tiny cuts. So, in the interest of making this task a pleasant one, I highly recommend the gloves. Humble House recommends gloves like these, but I just bought a pair when I was out shopping one day prepping for this activity.

 

Once the cabbage and salt are combined and massaged, transfer the mixture into the fermentation crock. Make sure to stop a few times during this process to press the cabbage mixture down and spread to the sides to maximize the amount of brine to be extracted from the cabbage.

Then, place the weights on top of the cabbage and press down again.

Finally add water to the water channel and place the lid on top. That's it! It took me about 10-15 minutes to complete these simple steps.

All that's left to do is make sure the fermentation crock is in a low traffic area to prevent it getting bumped around. The water in the channel around the lid serves as an air-tight seal to allow the cabbage to ferment while keeping out contaminants such as air and dust. Just make sure to check the channel periodically and add more water as needed until the cabbage is ready to move to a storage jar (anywhere from a few days to weeks, depending on when you decide the sauerkraut tastes good to you).

You can find all of the details to complete the recipe and how to properly drain and transfer the kraut to storage jars by reading the recipe page on the Humble House website.

You can also find recipes for DIY fermented pickles, kimchi and more at the Humble House.

 

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