# Sauerkraut



## moondancer (Dec 21, 2013)

So I love it and am going to make my own on a larger scale my question is can I use plastic five gal buckets to ferment it or do I have to buy more stoneware crocks 


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## camo2460 (Feb 10, 2013)

moondancer said:


> So I love it and am going to make my own on a larger scale my question is can I use plastic five gal buckets to ferment it or do I have to buy more stoneware crocks
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Survival Forum


It's okay to use plastic buckets as long as they are food grade. You obviously don't want to use a bucket that had some kind of chemical or cleaning fluid in it.


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## Dixie (Sep 20, 2010)

*Do you have a recipe?*


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## moondancer (Dec 21, 2013)

Old family ways except for plastic bucket we have done it the same way for 100 years . First used wood pale then crock now I'm going to try 5 gal buckets 


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## IlliniWarrior (Nov 30, 2010)

mostly about brining using plastic containers .... but pertains to pickling as well

www.virtualweberbullet.com/plastics.html


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

The plastic pails are vapour permeable so for fermentation and odours that can be an issue, sauerkraut is not all that finicky imo though.


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## juston33 (Mar 31, 2015)

So I love it and am going to make my own on a larger scale my question is can I use plastic five gal buckets to ferment it or do I have to buy more stoneware cro


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## zimmy (Aug 17, 2012)




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## zimmy (Aug 17, 2012)

juston33 said:


> So I love it and am going to make my own on a larger scale my question is can I use plastic five gal buckets to ferment it or do I have to buy more stoneware cro


Not all food grade plastics are created equal, use glass or ceramic.


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## zimmy (Aug 17, 2012)

http://www.archive.org/details/edu.alaska.fnh-01284.1


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

Here is a link to a kraut recipe that I have used. I never had anyone tell me not to bring them anymore. You can read it online or download the pdf. I use plastic buckets.

http://www.uaf.edu/ces/pubs/catalog/detail/index.xml?id=323


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## perpetualsharon (May 11, 2015)

My husband is German and we have been using his great grandmother's recipe for making sauerkraut. We were lucky enough to inherit one of her 2 gallon crocks. It doesn't have a lid so I typically use a salad plate from my china (fits perfectly inside the crock) and weigh it down with a quart jar of tomatoes, lol. It works, ferments beautifully and it's easy to check the brine level without much mess. 

We rarely can our kraut since we use it so quickly. Once the kraut is finished I just put it in quart jars or a gallon ziplock bag and store it in the fridge. Then start a new batch. Other family members are always begging off my kraut and I rarely have enough to go around. I stopped by Firehouse Subs today because they sell their 5 gallon pickle buckets for $2 each. I am hoping to get my new kraut started by the end of the week. I can't imagine it would be much different, but I'll have my German taste test it and let you know.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*Canning jar idea*

A current trend in making kraut is to make it in canning jars. I haven't tried it yet, but it is on my list to try to make it this way.


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

perpetualsharon said:


> My husband is German and we have been using his great grandmother's recipe for making sauerkraut. We were lucky enough to inherit one of her 2 gallon crocks. It doesn't have a lid so I typically use a salad plate from my china (fits perfectly inside the crock) and weigh it down with a quart jar of tomatoes, lol. It works, ferments beautifully and it's easy to check the brine level without much mess.
> 
> We rarely can our kraut since we use it so quickly. Once the kraut is finished I just put it in quart jars or a gallon ziplock bag and store it in the fridge. Then start a new batch. Other family members are always begging off my kraut and I rarely have enough to go around. I stopped by Firehouse Subs today because they sell their 5 gallon pickle buckets for $2 each. I am hoping to get my new kraut started by the end of the week. I can't imagine it would be much different, but I'll have my German taste test it and let you know.


Pickel buckets are noted for holding onto the pickle odor and imparting that odor and flavor to other food products stored in them. I have had good luck at many grocery store bakeries getting free buckets. Mostly these are frosting buckets. Mostly I can find the 3.5 gallon round buckets with the same size lid as the five gallon buckets. Once in a while I get the two gallon or the square four gallon buckets. They almost always come with a lid that has a gasket for an airtight seal.

Any chance you might share Great Granny's recipe?


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## perpetualsharon (May 11, 2015)

Caribou said:


> Pickel buckets are noted for holding onto the pickle odor and imparting that odor and flavor to other food products stored in them. I have had good luck at many grocery store bakeries getting free buckets. Mostly these are frosting buckets. Mostly I can find the 3.5 gallon round buckets with the same size lid as the five gallon buckets. Once in a while I get the two gallon or the square four gallon buckets. They almost always come with a lid that has a gasket for an airtight seal.
> 
> Any chance you might share Great Granny's recipe?


Well, crapola! I suppose the pickle bucket may just be the new fire brick bucket. Son came home today and told me they get tons of food buckets at work, some pickles but not all. He serves dinner at a nursing home. He's going to bring a few home for me this week.

When the hubby gets home this week, we are doing the kraut. The recipe is all in his head and he doesn't measure! I will measure, write it down and post it


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## rhrobert (Apr 27, 2009)

Wait, what? There is a recipe for making sauerkraut? Guess we've been doing it wrong all these years 
Wooden barrel, soak for a week to swell it up so it doesn't leak, then start shredding cabbage. Layer of cabbage, handful of salt, stomp it with the stomper i made in high school wood shop 30 some years ago, more cabbage, more salt, more stomp....repeat til the barrel is full. Garbage bag with water in it on top for weight, give it a few, taste every day, then can it up.

If we made 2 barrels, we would put caraway seeds in one.

Well, maybe that is a recipe. 

Don't make it in barrels anymore, not enough of us left to eat that much.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

weedygarden said:


> A current trend in making kraut is to make it in canning jars. I haven't tried it yet, but it is on my list to try to make it this way.


A few years before my grandmother passed on, she started making kraut in quart and half gallon jars and it was pretty good. Not as good as the real fermented stuff but better than store bought.

The only thing about it is that the jars tend to leak as the cabbage ferments and unless you keep them in a basin or pan, you'll wind up with a room that smells like the fermenting cabbage.

She would pack the jars and put a tablespoon of salt in quart jars and 2 in half gallons then add water until all the bubbles stopped coming up. I dont remember how long it took to "make" but it was a lot less time than a 5 gallon crock or bucket.



rhrobert said:


> Wait, what? There is a recipe for making sauerkraut? Guess we've been doing it wrong all these years
> Wooden barrel, soak for a week to swell it up so it doesn't leak, then start shredding cabbage. Layer of cabbage, handful of salt, stomp it with the stomper i made in high school wood shop 30 some years ago, more cabbage, more salt, more stomp....repeat til the barrel is full. Garbage bag with water in it on top for weight, give it a few, taste every day, then can it up.
> 
> If we made 2 barrels, we would put caraway seeds in one.
> ...


Thats about the way my family has been making it at least since my great grandmother was a young girl, she taught my grandmother and my grandmother taught me.

The only real difference is that we use 5 gallon crocks and use our fists to pound the cabbage down instead of a "stomper", kinda hard on the knuckles with the salt and all but it's worth it in the end.

That top layer of kraut from each crock goes straight into the pot with bacon drippings, have to test the batch!


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## perpetualsharon (May 11, 2015)

rhrobert & davarm: Yep, that's pretty much how hubby's grandmothers did it. We just do it on a much smaller scale. Hubby says the 2 gallon crock takes about 2-3 weeks to make. I don't think we've ever put caraway seed in it though. I may have to try it.


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## rhrobert (Apr 27, 2009)

Davarm said:


> Thats about the way my family has been making it at least since my great grandmother was a young girl, she taught my grandmother and my grandmother taught me.
> That top layer of kraut from each crock goes straight into the pot with bacon drippings, have to test the batch!


In our family it was the men who made it..invite the neighbor men over, had 2 people cutting the heads in half, and four using kraut cutters, and me stomping.
Lots of beer was drank on those days if I remember correctly.

Many of the things we did were neighbor affairs. Butchering day was another.
One of the many things I'd like to see make a comeback...miss it.



perpetualsharon said:


> rhrobert & davarm: Yep, that's pretty much how hubby's grandmothers did it. We just do it on a much smaller scale. Hubby says the 2 gallon crock takes about 2-3 weeks to make. I don't think we've ever put caraway seed in it though. I may have to try it.


It adds a nice flavor. many of the people who try it like it better, but there are some purists who might want to flay you for it


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## perpetualsharon (May 11, 2015)

rhrobert said:


> In our family it was the men who made it..invite the neighbor men over, had 2 people cutting the heads in half, and four using kraut cutters, and me stomping.
> Lots of beer was drank on those days if I remember correctly.
> 
> Many of the things we did were neighbor affairs. Butchering day was another.
> One of the many things I'd like to see make a comeback...miss it.


Well shucks, any day is a good day to get together with friends, do a little work and drink beer. As an adult, the changes in the seasons awaken some of the old traditions we had as a family. Hog killing was my favorite (not to sound mean, but...) because my grandmother always made fresh cracklin' while we butchered. I'd make myself sick eating it all day long. Thanksgiving Day the women cooked, the men deer hunted and after lunch the whole family butchered all the meat and divided it up. My dad comes from a large family, so 10 brothers/sisters, in-laws and kids, we numbered about 80 on those days. Makes short work of large tasks. Beef cattle, turtles, fish, rabbit, chickens, wild turkey, whatever... Butchering was a family affair.

In my husband's family, to "Twist the neck off an old bird" means somebody opened a bottle of Wild Turkey or Old Crow. lol


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

rhrobert said:


> It adds a nice flavor. many of the people who try it like it better, but there are some purists who might want to flay you for it


I had some of the sweet kraut made with caraway seeds while I traipsed around Southern Germany while in the Army. For me, it was one of those things that was good for change of pace but I'm one of those "purist" when It comes to making it.

I'll just add the seeds when cooking the "Real Stuff". lol


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## kemps (Jun 1, 2015)

My fiance and I are both German but he always jokes I am a bad German cause I don't like kraut. I should have a jar or two on hand just in case. Never made it myself but he has talked about his gramma's recipe being the best thing on the planet. I might have to suck up and see if she will share. He has said the same thing about her potato salad. Nothing tops German home cooking. My grandma is passed now so I can no longer get my grandfather's recipes (my grandpa was born and raised in Hamburg and was a chef so he was the primary cook). I would love to try my hand at it to be able to try the good stuff and, if for any other reason, be able to make my honey something he grew up on.


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## Mel223 (Jan 11, 2010)

I've made several batches of sauerkraut in five-gallon plastic buckets, but the one time I tried making it with the expensive cabbage...the bucket developed a tiny crack on the bottom (maybe from setting it down too hard)...and when I went to harvest my kraut, part of the bottom layer had spoiled and the brine had leaked.

I just couldn't take the prices on some of those nice brown crocks...so I went to WallyWorld and bought one of their heavy glass canisters. They come in about four different sizes, and the largest one holds almost as much as a five-gallon bucket. I use the heavy glass lid for other purposes, and keep the kraut away from light and sun while fermenting...but the glass canister does great and only cost about $13.


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## smaj100 (Oct 17, 2012)

Does anyone have a Claussen Sauerkraut recipe? I have the recipe for their pickles and they come out awesome. I'm the only one who eats kraut at our house so I only want to make a few jars for the fridge nothing that requires large scale.


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

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Lost the PIC! :dunno: :scratch


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