Sauerkraut, Chapter 2

I will not go into the how of making sauerkraut again this year but refer you to last year's sauerkraut adventure.  With the sauerkraut cutter restored, I was able to really refine the process into a much smaller time frame.  It took me less time to make my sauerkraut from start to finish than it took the Packers to play a football game.

The combination of a sauerkraut cutter (four blades vs one knife) and a pounder (one large chunk of wood with a long handle vs a wine bottle) made all the difference.  I had a one-woman assembly line going in my kitchen.  The cabbage went from sink, to cutting board (cut in quarters), to cutter, to weighing and salting, and into the bucket to be pounded and juiced.  I was so happy with how it all went.  Six large heads of cabbage are happily fermenting in the corner of my dining room.  I was able to get my husband to pound one round of cabbage during half-time when he popped in for a little coffee.

During the whole process, I was able to spend some time just thinking about how long the cutter has been making cabbage into fine shreds for our family.  It sat dormant for so many years, that seeing it in action again brought a little part of family history to life again, for me.  My dad was the person who ran the cabbage over those same blades.  Instead of a stainless steel bowl, my mother had her large, stoneware crock underneath it to catch the cabbage.  My younger sister and I were positioned underneath on either side throwing into the crock any stray pieces of cabbage as we watched our mother reach under to occasionally add salt to the layers.  As the crock filled, it would be slid out and one of my older sisters would take the pounder and push and pound the cabbage and salt together as it wilted.  The liquid would flow out from its cells to form a brine.  The process would continue until the crock was nearly filled.  It was covered with a large plate and a rock or other weight to keep the cabbage underneath the brine as it fermented.  The crock was pushed to a corner of the dining room until it was ready to be canned.  I remember it also being in the basement which may have been during a storage or fermenting period, but our basement wasn't really all that warm for fermenting. The University of Wisconsin Home Extension has a very good publication for making sauerkraut that explains the process very well.

I felt a connection to my father as I ran the cabbage over the blades.  I remember one time that he cut his finger pretty deeply when he allowed his hand to get too close to the cutting blades.  Adding a new quarter head to the top of the lower one kept my fingers out of harm's way.  I cut up the last portion with a knife to avoid the same fate as my father.  It is amazing to me to think he was younger than I am now when I sat on the floor at his feet picking up stray cabbage.  Parents always seem older until we reach that age ourselves.  

It was good to make that first run on my own to allow myself to swim in those memories a little deeper than I would have if I was distracted by conversation.  Now that I know what I am doing, next year it will have to be a party.  I think perogies should be on the menu...with dandelion wine!