Whole-head sauerkraut

Method

1. Use firm, heavy heads of late cabbage. Remove the outer leaves and hollow out the core.
2. Put a spoonful of salt into each core and pack the heads tightly into a clean barrel or fermenting bucket, cores facing up.
3. Dissolve the rest of the salt in lukewarm water and pour it over so the heads are fully covered. Weigh them down with a board and a stone.
4. Keep at 15 to 18 °C. After three or four days, and then once a week, turn the brine: draw it off at the bottom and pour it back over the top, so the cabbage sours evenly.
5. The cabbage is ready in four to six weeks. Skim off any scum and keep the heads under the brine at all times.

When to make it

Best: September, October, and November. Possible: June, July, August, September, October, November, and December.

October: The right time is now.

How we count

1 kg (Cabbage) makes about 1.25 l.

The heads are packed tightly and the brine must cover them completely, so count on 1.2 to 1.3 litres of barrel per kilogram of cabbage. A 50 litre barrel takes about 40 kg of heads. The salt is about 6% of the brine plus a spoonful in each core.