Cabbage is stored in winter in different ways. One of the most delicious and popular methods is pickling. What could be better crispy salted cabbage with sunflower oil?
You don’t even need to add anything; many people simply eat a healthy snack with bread. According to the amount of nutrients and vitamins, pickled cabbage is the leader in winter. It improves digestion processes, maintains intestinal tone, and supports the immune system.
The salting process occurs when the necessary ingredients are combined. There are a lot of recipes, but it is necessary to dwell on some nuances of the process.
Useful tips
Before you start pickling cabbage in a bucket, you need to know that this simple task has its own subtleties. Firstly - deadlines. Naturally, no one salts cabbage in the summer. For recipes, only winter varieties are used. Therefore, the optimal time is the onset of the first frost. One more nuance. A pickled vegetable turns out to be tasty and crispy on the waxing moon, and sour and soft on the waning moon. It’s good if you are used to being guided by the recommendations of the lunar calendar. This is a useful tool in cooking, especially when fermenting vegetables in a bucket.
Secondly, the choice of variety for pickling in a bucket. To get crispy, elastic cabbage, choose late or mid-late varieties with white, dense heads of uniform color.Winter varieties and hybrids are distinguished by dense heads of cabbage with rough leaves. If you take loose forks with green leaves, you may not get the expected result.
There are more leaves, but only one stalk. Therefore, there will be less waste, and a large head of cabbage will be easier to chop.
Thirdly, a container for pickling. It is generally believed that the most delicious cabbage comes from a wooden container. barrel or a tub. Naturally, the tree has magical properties for cooks. But in modern conditions of high-rise buildings or small garden houses, not every owner will want to buy large containers for pickling. Therefore, summer residents are looking for other options. A good taste of pickles is obtained by using enameled pans, basins or glass bottles. Be sure to check the integrity of the container. There should be no peeling, chips or cracks on it. Cabbage is often salted in a plastic container or bucket, which is very convenient. However, the taste of cabbage is not as rich as in a wooden container.
The acid present in the snack reacts with aluminum. This is unhealthy and the cabbage will have a metallic taste.
In this article we will tell you how to pickle cabbage in a bucket. Such a container is present in every home, and it will not be difficult for the housewife to allocate a separate bucket for pickling.
Preparatory procedures
Almost all housewives know how to pickle cabbage for the winter. For this you need salt, carrots and dense heads of cabbage.
But you need to prepare high-quality components. Let's focus on choosing the main ingredient for pickling - heads of cabbage.
White cabbage is suitable for pickling in a bucket.Choose forks with whole green leaves on top. If the leaves are removed, then the cabbage may be frozen. Try not to take these heads of cabbage. The inside of the forks should be white. After salting, such cabbage turns out juicy and crispy.
Be sure to check the ripening period of the variety. When pickled, early and middle varieties turn out soft and not crunchy. Choose cabbage heads that are a comfortable size for your hand. It is inconvenient to chop small heads of cabbage, but when you cannot wrap your hand around the forks, this also causes discomfort.
Choose carrots that are sweet and juicy. It is important that root vegetables, like cabbage heads, are free from severe damage and signs of rotting.
The classic proportion for pickling 5 kg of cabbage is 100 g of salt and carrots. To make the finished dish look brighter, housewives increase the amount of carrots to 150 g.
The following additives add piquancy to the taste of sauerkraut in a bucket:
- Fruits, berries - cranberries, apples, lingonberries;
- vegetables – bell pepper;
- spices – cumin seeds, dill.
To make sure you get a crispy snack, chefs advise adding grated horseradish and oak bark in a pharmaceutical package to a bucket (5-7 g per 1 kg of vegetables).
Cooking options
For pickling, prepare a plastic bucket of convenient size. It is important that there is enough for the whole family and not to offend guests. Salting vegetables in a plastic bucket is convenient and profitable. The container can be selected in any size, the cost of the container is low and purchasing it will not be difficult.
Let's prepare the carrots in advance. Wash, peel, grate. The beautiful orange hue of sauerkraut is thanks to the bright carrots.
We free the cabbage forks from the top green leaves and stalks. It is better to cut the head of cabbage in half or into 4 parts.
It depends on the size of the cabbage.Shred the cabbage with a paring knife or a regular chef's knife. If you have never worked with chopping, then be extremely careful. You should not achieve too narrow strips; such cabbage rarely turns out crispy.
Place shredded cabbage and carrots in a bowl. You need to add salt and mix the vegetables in it. Mix with your hands until the juice begins to stand out. Now we transfer the “salad” into a pickling bucket in layers. We compact each layer well until the juice is released. The layers in the bucket are interspersed with additives (if necessary) - cranberries, dill seeds, lingonberries. So, we continue until the bucket is completely filled. Cover the top of the bucket with clean cabbage leaves, which were removed from the heads of cabbage before shredding.
The next stage is to put pressure on the bucket. Before laying the load, cover the cabbage with a wooden circle or a lid from a saucepan smaller than the bucket. You can use a dish or plate by turning it upside down. A clean stone and a bottle of water can serve as a weight perfectly.
Before placing it on a plate, cover it with a clean cloth or gauze.
Storage rules
We salted the cabbage in a bucket. Now you need to know when it will be ready and can it be stored for a long time?
For the first 3-6 days, keep the container with the vegetable at room temperature (20°C - 22°C). The number of days depends on the volume of the bucket in which the cabbage was salted. The larger the volume, the longer we keep it in the room. If temperatures in the first days are lower, the ripening process may slow down or stop. When warm, cabbage ferments quickly.
It is very easy to find out how ripening proceeds.If there is foam and bubbles on the surface, then everything is fine. Once the process is started, remove the foam regularly, and pierce the cabbage daily with a wooden stick to release gases.
When the volume settles and the juice almost stops releasing, this indicates that the product is ready. You need to taste the cabbage before storing it. If there is not enough acid, leave it in the room for a couple more days.
Further storage takes place at a temperature of 0°C…+5°C. We place the bucket in the cellar, basement, balcony or refrigerator. For convenience, you can transfer the product to a smaller container.
The modern storage method is freezing. Place the sauerkraut, like fresh vegetables, in bags and place in the freezer.
Sauerkraut is a wonderful product that no meal is complete without. Bon appetit and new recipes!
