HOMEMADE SLAVIC STYLE SAUERKRAUT FROM START TO FINISH 

I am Romanian and this is exactly the way my mom, Grandmother and I make sauerkraut. We spice it with dill and summer savory rolled up in cheesecloth packages. We put it up in November so it is ready for Christmas dinner of stuffed cabbage. We also sour whole cabbage leaves for the dish. My grandmother and mom are gone now but I am so happy to continue this tradition. Every time I make it I think of them and I'm sure you thinkof your family as well. Thank you for the wonderful video! Peace to you and your family. Pofta Buna!!

This is the best, easiest to make, delicious, and clearest sauerkraut recipe on the web. Thankyou for keeping the old style ways, going forward.

I'm just a old hillbilly this is the best sauerkraut I've ever had and it doesn't take weeks well done.

I am also Slavic, from ex Yu. We usually add salt directly into the cabbage, massage it a bit and let it release its own juices. Then we do the same as you do. Sometimes we add tart apple slices instead of the carrots, just to speed up the fermentation.

I'm so glad I found your videos. I'm 66 and that's how my grandma made sourkraut.and that's hou she would serve it. I love it and you are so right it's so very very good for you too. Love you in Christ and God bless you and your family

If you massage your cabbage (in that big silver bowl) you won’t even have to use water. It makes its own cabbage flavored brine. Next time massage your cabbage with your salt and watch what happens! You will thank me for this tip!

We make it just the same way. Glad to know that this has Russian roots, the best sauerkraut makers.

Thank you very much for sharing your sauerkraut recipe. I'm from Australia-New Zealand (everybody's adding their place of birth and their different ways of preparing their dish which is fascinating so I thought I'd add my location) - and I'm new to fermenting. Besides you wonderful video with your clear instructions, I'm finding the comments invaluable. Everyone is sharing their history - how their grandma and mother taught them to make sauerkraut - and I'm starting to see that it does seem a forgiving recipe which can stand to be made different ways - I'm excited to try all the ways and all the seasonings and additions and seeing what may come from it all 😊

Best part of your cooking is that your processes are easy and straightforward. And delicious!

Love this. The closest to the way to the way my mama made her kraute of anyone on You Tube. The difference is she didn't use peppercorns or brine. She stuffed all her qt or half gallon jars with the shredded cabbage then added salt to each jar and filled them with well water. She Placed them in the cellar and we ate kraute from canning season to canning season. None of this beating and squeezing the cabbage to death before putting it in the jars.

We had a big family and put it up in a 90 gallon wooden barrel. Sliced it up with a wooden frame very sharp slicer with a sliding box to hold the cabbage. Just put a layer of cabbage in and salt down, pound down the layers with a piece of peeled log with handles, continue this process until the barrel is close to full. Place some leaves on top if you like sour cabbage rolls. Put a board on top and a round rock to hold it down. When fermentation is finished then can it in jars. Went to a crock when the family became smaller. This method was brought here from Croatia by my Dad.

I am Armenian and we have done same way and always tasted super.Great Job!What I like about this version is maintaining the crispy nature of the cabbage.I dont like other versions when they squeeze the cabbage almost to a pulp.

God Bless Your Mum. This was a delight to watch and learn from. Sending much love from Australia.

Love your channel. Homesteading is my passion and I make everything I possibly can from scratch, including foraging herbs for natural medicines. Your instructions are easily understood and your personality is so likeable... like a friendly neighbour. ❤️

It’s been over a year since I have been making your sauerkraut recipe and I absolutely love it and so do all my friends. This year I tried adding.Dill out of the garden and it really gave it a nice flavor as well. it makes wonderful Christmas gifts. I have a 3 gallon crock that I just leave on my counter and I don’t even refrigerate it. I just draw from that for my own personal use throughout the year thank you for giving this video.

My mum was Latvian. She used onion instead of carrot Still delicious with boiled potatoes, carrots and corned beef with white parsley sauce. Eric

My one great-grandmother was from Czechoslovakia and all four of my husband's great-grandmothers were both from Poland - I am sure they must have made sauerkraut like this. (It's a shame our grandmothers wanted to be modern Americans and didn't cook the old ways or pass any recipes down!!!) - So I look for wonderful sites like yours to learn the old ways. Thank you. (I thank a temporary step-father of German heritage for introducing me to sauerkraut and brats.) Keep posting- you are a Godsend.

In Poland we add a bay leaf as well. Tastes even better. We used to ferment it in a large oak barrel and store it in underground basement. It was a big part of our diet in different dishes for the whole winter. Make it yourself and enjoy it!

I`m glad that I FINALLY found the right recipe. THANK YOU !

Thank you for the Video, I am happy to see I am not alone in the world making lots of fermented food. Good fermentation has 2 stages, the first one a fast ferment takes 3-5 days, then the slow ferment takes 2-3+weeks in a cellar or basement. Btw nothing Russian about that recipe, I am fermenting that way for quick consumption for the last 60 years taught to me by my German grandma that learned it from hers and so on. Sauerkraut for quick consumption will go through 3-5 days of fermentation but unfortunately it doesn't have a long shelf life. Sauerkraut for longer storage needs to go through both phases of fermentation and one is able to store it for up to 7 month in a fridge. I ferment 3 10 gal fermenting stone jars (with air lock)every year for long term and 1 5gal for short term. After the ferment, I fill it into 1/2 gallon canning jars and store them in one of my large fridge that I use solely for that. I also ferment other fresh vegetables from the garden my fermented vegetables area large part of my food during the winter with ample of vitamin C. I have sauerkraut and fermented veggies all winter long into April / May sometimes June of the next year. I ferment in stages with the last ferment of the year in November with cabbage and root vegetables from the cold storage.

Very nice, thanks for cutting all by hand! I will follow you from now on. Thanks Luli!!!

I always purée an apple and mix it with the cabbage and some salt. It makes its own brine. If I don’t have enough brine I mix distilled water with a little bit of salt. I love sauerkraut! I also put the outer leaves on top then some weights.

Love it! German farm boy from North Dakota; German heritage, helping mom make quarts of it, lining peach boxes with newspaper to catch the overflow under the quarts of sauerkraut. We would occasionally use accordion mayonnaise jar, and it would break because the glass was thinner. We used zinc lid caps with white plastic sealing discs in them!

I assisted my mom and dad making sauerkraut back years ago in the late 50s and early 60s. Previously they had been farmers, but had moved to the city, so dad shopped the farmers market year round. We made the kraut very much as you have here but we used a 5 gallon crock pot with a plate and towels on top. It sat on our back porch under a huge oak tree. The order became very potent, but tolerable if not appetizing. We ate kraut and sausages, ham, or bacon throughout the winter. It was delicious. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you so much for sharing this traditional way. Your method is the most simple as I found on the internet. The taste is what I like the most.

Спасибо что продолжаете русские, украинские рецепты наших Мам. Спасибо что помните язык, на котором говорили с рождения. Моё Вам уважение и от души благодарность.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I've been wanting to make sauerkraut for a while now, but even after watching multiple videos on how to, I didn't feel at ease with the idea. But your video has struck me differently! It felt like I was in your kitchen, sitting across the counter from you, as you were showing me how your mama taught you, bake when you were a kid, how to make the family sauerkraut. Tomorrow I'll be buying a great bid head of cabbage & a couple of carrots, sterilizing my tools, and chopping up my very first batch of Slavic Russian Sauerkraut! And I have no doubt I will be thanking you again, four days later, when I serve my family their taste of your mama's recipe. :-)

What a wonderful Momma you had. Thank you so much for sharing her ways of doing things.

Been making kraut for years in a stonewear crock. I use 3 tablespoons of salt for five pounds of cabbage and very seldom have to make a brine. I age mine for 21 days on the counter then transfer it to one quart jars for storing in the refrigerator. Adding a tablespoon of caraway seeds at the beginning adds a very nice flavor.

I made it Luli, absolutely delicious! Even my younger picky eaters are enjoying it. I saved the leftover juice and drink some every day. Thank you!

My family loves the fermented cabbage with this method. My son especially. He says the more garlic & peppercorns the better!

Milton here from southeastern North Carolina. You say a lot - this is how Mama or Mama made this way. Horner and respect you have. Nothing but great.

Great video Luli. Thanks for sharing your mother's recipes with us.

Thank you for showing how to make Russian pickled cabbage at home. I used to buy it in the market in Central Asia but now I can try making it at home.

Canning and pickling salt works real well and cheap!

I have always pounded my cabbage to get its own juices going. I liked your idea so I tried your recipe. With a 10 day ferment I achieved a PH of 3.5, the taste is much better , much more juice to drink and I love the crisper texture! You have won me over! The only thing I did differently was I first used 2 tablespoons for the first quart of water but I needed more to completely cover a gallon container so I only put 1 Tablespoon in the next quart of water. It took about 2/3 of that 2d quart to top off. I’m not sure what the salt ratio would be at that point but it turned out perfectly.

Looks wonderful and so healthy! It’s so sad to see people canning in a pressure cooker they loose all of the amazing benefits...sometimes people come over and ask WHAT VINEGAR DID YOU USE? I have to laugh and try to,educate them on the wholesome wonders of this simple food...I grew up in Bavaria and this was a common as bread...but we added caraway seeds...another benefit for the digestive system ...thank you for sharing from your corner of the world...stay blessed.

When I was little my mom used to make sauerkraut (I am Polish). Thank you for sharing!

Thank you!! My husband and 4 year old daughter love Sauerkraut.

Thankyou so much for this video on slavic sauerkraut. Started it last Friday morning. Just tried some now, not as salty as I expected more sweet. Still has a good crunch. I added onion & caraway to mine because that’s what I had to hand. Thanks again for all of your lovely videos 💖

My husband and I just made your sauerkraut recipe. Super easy and no canning or cooking. We filled a Qt jar to give away and a half gallon jar to keep. Love your channel!

I just found this channel ,Best and easiest recipe on the web ! Thank you !

Next time I will make it this way! It would be good for people with chronic illness, arthritis or disabilities so you don't have to massage the cabbage. I am put off making bread by hand as I don't want to knead it, my hands hurt and I get tired (I have a chronic illness) so the easier the better for me. I made some the other day (using the massage method) but wondered if it would do anything as my kitchen is pretty cold. I need to check it today, I put a plate under it too after learning the hard way the other year haha! I am tempted to try and grow cabbages just so I can make with my own grown Also I forgot to say I really like your style of video and presentation, very comforting to watch. Thank you and greetings from Wales!

Спасібо! I'm sure others have mentioned this, but instead of water, whey from cheesemaking and previous sauerkraut brine are really tasty & wholesome to use!

I’m making German sauerkraut next week. I’ve never brined but I love this recipe so I will make both. I love that this is your mama’s recipe. It’s worth trying and I’ll probably share both with close friends and see which one wins! :) Many thanks. Love old skool stuff!!

Oh, I can’t wait to try this! My Ukrainian mother made huge jars of this, and used it in one of my favorite dishes which was a cold version of stuffed peppers. So refreshing in the summer!

Luly, great recipe and channel! Thank you! One tip. In the beginning of cutting onions or, if someone is not used to cut onions it'll make them cry, if you want a trick from my momma to avoid crying in your beginnings, get a mouth full of water, hold it in your mouth, cut all the onions you need to, once finished with cutting the onions, throw the water away. Test it. You shouldn't cry. This crying eventually will pass as you keep consuming or cutting more often onions!

Thank you, I loved the video! I do something similar with cabbage and carrots. But instead of a brine, I weigh the cabbage and add salt to 3% of the weight of the vegetables. I crush the cabbage by hand and with a wooden pounder until the cabbage releases enough juice to make its own brine. It takes about 1/2 hour of work. Then I put it in a jar, add brine if needed, put a cabbage leaf on top, and then a weight. I always use an airlock of some kind. I rarely get any overflow. I let is ferment for at least a week and often longer. By the way, I didn't grow up eating sauerkraut, except on hot dogs. And that was the (ugh) canned stuff.

Very interesting, I always thought sauerkraut was sauerkraut. I didn’t realize that there are very different types to what we think of as “traditional sauerkraut”. I also make my own sauerkraut, but I make it in the German traditional way which involves adding 2-2.5% salt by weight and then pounding the cabbage soft until desired consistency and we use the salted cabbage liquid as it’s own brine. Then we allow the cabbage to ferment at room temperature for 7 weeks (yes I said WEEKS, we like very sour sauerkraut). I’m definitely going to try yours now too, i sounds like a very mild, slightly tangy, salad as opposed to mine. Thank you for the insight into your culture.

Thank you for this recipe and method. I use the salt and rub technique that I learned from my father. I think the advantage to that is that you can pack a whole lot more kraut in a jar or crock, We never processed it like people seem to nowadays and I still use wax on my jams and jellies. I make my kraut with juniper berries and fennel since I grow both . I am going to try this crispier version next.

Thank you so much from Australia. You are the clearest and most straight forward channel I have found. 💕🇦🇺

I am a beginner, and I like your teaching instructions. You are very clear and easy to understand.

I am so glad to have found you and your beautiful channel!

I learned something new from you. Thanks so much. I have been using a Thai style mortar and pestle, and pounding the cabbage until juices flow, then placing it all in a Japanese pickle press, pressing until the juices are above the cabbage. (I throw in sea salt, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, and thinly sliced dulse (and maybe sliced ginger/garlic/ carrot, etc etc etc.) into the shredded cabbage . YUMMMY.. I love saurkraut and going to use this idea of salty brine.

This is great. Thank you. Love the music. Lived in Germany for a time and can appreciate the Slavic food.

It's SO nice to see the correct sized bowl for a job... so many food videos show attempted mixing in clearly a bowl too small for the task... props to you Luli.

I grew upon on sauerkraut my mom is German and she puts fennel seed with a pork roast and potatoes. And I have been making it fermented. Going to try it with the carrots. Thanks

Luli. When I was a boy. age 10 my. I am now 72, my next next door neighbour, Alex Belozeor, every fall would hire 4 weman to make sourkrut for him. They would cut ,salt and pound a 45 gal. (55 gal U.S.) barrel of cabbage. Itoolthem a coulple of days.He would leave it out side in the winter, I remember him breaking the ice to get the krut, untill it was halt eaten then he would help to take it in side. The barrel sat all summer filled with rain water.

Oh I wish I had known this when my Daddy was still here with us!! He would have loved this!!

Awesome music in the video. My grandmother was of German descent. I grew up in SE 'Misery'! She put the cabbage in a big bowl and sprinkled the cabbage with salt. Then she squeezed the cabbage and worked it until it released its liquid. She stuffed quart jars and added a yellow banana pepper. If she needed more brine, she would add well water and screw on a rubber and zinc lid with a glass insert inside the lid. Store it in a dirt floor cellar until ready to eat. It was awesome! Try adding a banana pepper instead of the pepper corns. Keep the videos coming!

I just watched your video and subscribed. The sauerkraut looked delicious, and I will try to make it, too. Also, I loved the music in the background.

Lovely work! I cut almost the same fine cuts that ferment evenly. I usually add dark green shreds of Plantago , green onions or even Fig leaves! Small amount of fig leaf shreds as you did the carrots. Midsize leaves are tender enough and add a sweet fruity flavor that is wonderful. What a surprise! Sometimes I have a handful of almonds and a small dish of raw Kraut for Breakfast. Great video Luli! I wish to visit your land someday and see wonderful gardens and spiritual friends...

I just followed your instructions to the letter, using a 5.5 pound (avoirdupois) white cabbage, two raw carrots. I sliced the cabbage on a beech wood cabbage slicer made in Poland that makes quick work of the process. I used a Cuisinart with a julienne wheel to cut up the carrots. I put the julienned vegetables in a three-liter Kilner jar, then compacted the vegetables with a wooden pestle called a mathani in Hindi (It is used in India as a whisk for making dal more creamy and for breaking up yogurt curds when making lassi.) It seemed to work fine as a cabbage compactor. I had some Ukrainian/Polish style fermented beet kvass in the refrigerator so I added two tablespoons of Diamond Crystal salt to a liter of beet kvass and began to pour it on the cabbage mixture in the jar. The mass of vegetables accepted less than half of a liter of the salted kvass. Did I do something wrong?

I made a gallon of your recipe. Worked perfectly and I myself am one third through that delicious gallon. Thank you

I believe that rose patterned salad plate she is using is a Rosenthal signature Moss Rose pattern. Very lovely.

I enjoyed your sauerkraut recipe very much. It is a little different than my German-from-Russia Grandma's recipe, but every mother and grandmother has their own way that their family loves. I am looking forward to seeing more of your videos and recipes. God bless you. 🌸 Michele

I'm from Eastern Europe, oh wowwww...I needed this recipe, and I'll make stuff cabbage with the natural method .....Thank YOU so much !!!

Excellent, excellent video. Easy clear steps and no nonsense ingredients ! Thank you for making and posting this!

I have tried making fermented cabbage, but you mentioned using non-chlorinated water. I just checked the water quality report for my tap water and there is probably enough chlorine to kill off the friendly bacteria on the cabbage to deter the process. I am going to try buying jugs of distilled water. Thanks for the encouragement to try this again.

Thank you, I will be making some of this, and I am glad you made it just like mama made it. Looks delicious 😋

I tried all three - Bavarian (German), Polish and Slavic. Each has a distinct flavor and all are delicious. Danke schoen, Junkoje, Spasiba

Love the accordion music. Thank you!

The sauerkraut looks wonderful, but your serving bowl is beautiful!!! Thank you for sharing this recipe!!

Loved this video! Thank you! Can’t wait to make this recipe!

Спасибо огромное. Искала руководство на English, чтобы отправить моим друзьям в Индию и Пакистан. Нашла Вас, очень рада! Привет из Казахстана!

I have wished many times I had our "kraut hobel" as a kid we put up usually 2 30 gallon crocks, still have one, no lid though. We had our own spring water, now I boil the water to get rid of chlorine. Let get cold. Most times I don't need water, as it's usually fresh out of the garden, sometimes the store cabbage is a bit dry and won't weep enough juice. I make a 1 gallon batch many times and get it properly fermented, and then it goes into fridge. My Mom would add carrots, cauliflower, fresh green beans, small onions, usually in the top layer of the cabbage, it was added after a couple of days as we would push down the cabbage to get it firmer, and then on the carrot etc crock we would massage in carrots, etc and use a bit of the extra juice from the other crock. I occasionally still do a veggie pickle batch, it was a Romanian specialty, still see the pickled veggies in European stores.

Dear Luli, your video is excellent. I will make this. My grandparents used to make "kislo zelje" sauerkraut back in my homeland Slovenia. Really enjoy your friendly, natural presentation.

Love the way you serve it!! I must try it!

And the music accompanying it all was perfect!

My Hungarian grandma made home made sauerkraut. Thank you for sharing this. I am going to try it.😁

Thank you Luli for making such a great video. I will try this recipe. Thanks for your hard work.

Luli, it really helps when you have the shreds in the bowl to manually crush, knead , mash the cabbage before putting in the fermentation jar. It releases the juices in them much more easily. And adding the carrot is what we've always done for the same reasons you give. But the Black pepper , never tried but will now, thanks, nice to watch you do that. Also needs some Caraway seed , to my taste anyway, ha

I would post a lengthy post about how much I enjoyed your video, but you have inspired me to make my own and I am craving it now. So off to try your recipe. thank you so much!!

I'm going to make sauerkraut for the first time this year and this video is very thorough and I've learned a lot thank you for sharing

I had the same no jars problem and pickling spices at the end of summer 2020 - back to normal 2021 BUT more expensive now. Never used carrots will try my next batch, thank you Luli

New subscriber here from NH. There are lots of sauerkraut recipes on YT, but I really like this one. I also like the way you teach so thank you very much.🦋

She knows how don't chef the chef she's an amazing expert

I loved this video! I have made homemade sauerkraut many times without brine, but it always comes out too salty. I've never seen specific instructions on salt to water ratio for brine--turns out it is exactly the same ratio I ferment other vegetables. I should have known! My friend from Ukraine makes wonderful homemade sauerkraut and finishes it with toasted sesame oil and parsley. I've never been able to get mine to taste as good as hers. Maybe now I will! Thank you for these very clear directions and doing everything with food safety in mind!

Amazing recipe! Thanks a lot ❤️

Thank you for this really inspiring video! 🙏❤️ I’m definitely going to do my sauerkraut! 👍😀❤️

I AM FROM BANGLADESH.MANE MANE THANKS TOYOU MAM FOR SAUERKRAUT PRESENTATION

Thank you for presenting such an easy to follow video. Will certainly be trying it.

Love your style of cooking!

Please stay safe during these crazy times. Hellos from Georgia! You did a great job going through the process and I appreciate the fact that i can now attempt this myself 😁 . I love my Kraut!!!

This is great for young kids to do! Kimchi is on the same lines. It is made with red pepper paste or without any pepper (white kimchi)

My grandmother made it that way too. She spoke Polish and so did my mom, who didn't pass the language on to me or my brother. She would drink tea regardless of what kind of cup with a spoon in it. I guess it was an old habit from the Glass they use to drink tea out of back in Poland it where they were it was part of the Russian Imperial Empire and that is how I drink my tea. If you know where to look you can find a lot of Russia, Ukraine, and Poland here .

Usually in Russia we do it traditionally without adding water, just use the juice from cabbage itself that comes out after smashing a little bit cabbage and salt… also press it down to the jar that the cabbage juice cover the the cabbage

Thank you for sharing your version. I've never seen the olive oil added with the onions and chives. I'm looking forward to trying it once my batch is fermented!

Thank you for sharing. This is a great dish. My grandparents used to make a similar dish and I lost the recipe. Thank you again. Excellent.