How To Make The Easiest Homemade Sauerkraut 

Just a hint from an old lady: since I don't have the strength in my hands anymore, I put my salted cabbage in large ziplock bag, and use a rolling pin to work in that salt. It works great! And saves wear & tear on arthritic hands.

Significantly better way of covering the cabbage than plastic wrap: Peel off the outermost leaf of your cabbage and keep that. Also keep the stalk. Now, instead of plastic wrap, cover your cabbage with that leaf and stack some pieces of stalk on top, until they rise slightly above the rim of the jar. Now screw on the lid and it will push down on the cabbage while its fermenting. After fermentation you can just go ahead and throw away that leaf and the stalk. I prefer it this way because you don't need any extra equipment and you don't have to worry about plastic in your Sauerkraut.

Just two small batches of this using your video as guidance. After six days, they are just right for me. I am surprised that it is better than the expensive jars I've purchased at Whole Foods. Thanks for the content. This video is a polished version of what made RU-vid great back in the day. A transfer of real and valuable knowledge.

As a Jamaican, never had sauerkraut before but I’ve heard so many good things that I’m planning to make it this week. Thanks for the video.

Remember, before you start cutting, wear headphones to drown out distracting cabbage screams.

I remember my great grandparents (old east prussian farmers) making Sauerkraut from their homegrown cabbage in a big stoneware pot. After the fermentation they kept it in the cellar. It lasted for the whole winter. That was the best Sauerkraut in the world!

For those of you do not know, this was how sailors beat scurvy back in the day. Sauerkraut was what was used to combat vitamin c deficiency. As it could be stored for a long period of time as well it was perfect for the ships.

I know this video is old but maybe random people will see this and it'll help them. Ball (the main company I've seen that makes mason jars) makes special fermenting lids. I got a 2 pack for about $8. It comes with 2 lids and 2 springs. The springs use the pressure from the lid to push down on your cabbage or whatever your fermenting to keep it below the water line. Walmart sells them so if you aren't much of an online shopper you can still get into fermenting :)

My German grandpa has been making this for decades. He leaves it in the fridge for up to a year. No issues.

1 AM here and I’ve never been so happy to have a cabbage a mason jar and 20 pounds of salt in the pantry...

I make enough sauerkraut from the cabbage and carrots that I grow to last one year in my refrigerator so right now I am eating 10 1/2 month old sauerkraut, and it only gets better with age but of course I have not eaten it past 14 months because it’s all gone by then the new batch is just ready to start eating.

Thank you soooooo much for keeping this short!! (Way too many RU-vidrs drag it out). This is what I consider the perfect RU-vid instruction video, and I'm gonna jump right into this saurkraut making 😀😀😀😁

I am German and I can say that this is pretty much the way my grand grand mother would do it to preserve the own farmed cabbage. Great job as always josh 👍

If you save the outer cabbage leaf before you do your slicing, you don't need to use plastic wrap 🙂 Just use that leaf as your oxygen barrier thingamabob ✨

Harbor Freight sells a really nice gram and ounce scale that works really well it also has the tare function. Great show by the way my father would make sauerkraut when I was a little boy my brother and I would get a fork and eat right out of the crock while it was still fermenting my father never knew. I’m 70 now and still making it and enjoying it. Take care everyone.

Hello, I'm glad you advertised how to make russian sauerkraut. That's is how we make it. You can add grated carrot, apples, cranberry, onion for flavor, but just plain is awesome too..thanks for sharing

Last week i went to a farm outside Princeton, NJ, Terhune's, bought an organic cabbage. Brought it home, honed my knife, sliced the cabbage, measured the salt, and kneaded the whole mess. It's now in the basement bubbling over. Thanks for the inspiration!

"It's actually really basic." Nope. It's acidic.

I must say you did a very simple and to the point video about making sauerkraut, actually the best one that I have seen, you did a good job showing the cabbage and salt mix being worked together to get the juices going, then the glass jar was a great idea so we could see what was going on , thank you

I've been wanting to make some sauerkraut for a little while, and thanks to you I just made my first batch, can't wait to try it. Thank you for sharing.

"MY CABBAGES" -Cabbage Merchant Didn't see this in the comments and felt it was missing :)

You can always top up the liquid level with a 2% solution of brine to ensure all the cabbage is submerged.

Add turmeric and you have a winner. So tasty

Man, you made me homesick, I remember my old German grandma, RIP, I enjoyed her awesome home made sauerkraut until I was 18, then left for college and one day went to the store and there in front of me there was the same jar that grandma use to keep her "home made" sauerkraut. I called mom and asked her about it, she busted out laughing and said, yeah, well, go to the bakery and you'll find "her home made" Käsekuchen (German Cheesecake). Sure enough, they had it and it was awesome, turned out that Grandma couldn't bake and was a lousy cooked and her famous fried chicken came from KFC. You can't trust anyone now a day...hahaha.

Not gonna lie I watched this vid then impulse bought a food scale, some mason jars, and am airlock off of Amazon. Apparently I'm about to ferment some cabbage this weekend!

It goes exceptionally well with any smoked and/or grilled meat. And if you brown it, it turns into the most savory thing in the world. But at home we used to eat it just like that, without anything else most of the time. At home, we used to slice up onions along the cabbage (about 1:10 onion to cabbage ratio) and add pieces or whole wild apples here and there - which turned out to be the best thing in the kraut. As for spices, we used whole black pepper corns and whole cumin. Also, we would press out and throw away most of the water. I guess it's one of those things where every country/region/village has its own way of doing it :).

I adore homemade sauerkraut. I used to make this with my grandmother. I can’t stand the taste of the canned stuff. It always has a metallic twang to it. Or at least my taste buds tells me there is. The stuff we made just by shredding the cabbages from the garden and mixing it with salt. We weren’t that finicky with measuring though. I was always told to just ‘work it up with the salt until it looks good and foamy’, then we put it in an old crockery butter churn, put some large cabbage leaves over the top and set it on the back porch until it smelled right. We’re country folk. Our ways were simple.

It's the first time that I make sauerkraut! I think I'm now officially obsessed with this thing!!!💙

Back in March, my grocery store sold cabbage for 29 cents/lb. So I made 30 lbs of sauerkraut in a food grade plastic bucket (dinner plate topped with a big jar of water for weight). Fermented for 3 weeks and stored in the fridge after packing in jars. It continues to ferment slowly in the fridge so after nine months, it's a bit more sauer than it was at first. But it doesn't go bad. I think I will be out at the one year mark and will never know what the true shelf-life is. I appreciate that you are teaching fundamental living skills that most of humanity have lost. Topic for you to consider for future videos: Kitchen ergonomics. It recently occurred to me that if a standard counter top is perfect for me to work effortlessly, it cannot be suitable for anyone who is 6-8 inches shorter than me. Women (primarily) lose whatever leverage advantage that being taller might provide. Hence, shorter people might find the work is dramatically easier if they take it over to the kitchen table, which is normally lower than a counter top. There are probably other labor saving aspects of ergonomics that you can think of.

Im getting older, Im cynical AF and i drink too much. But this channel brings a smile to my face. It genuinely makes me happy.

I made my sauerkraut about 4 years ago. Keep it in a lidded 1/2 ga jar. Never put it in fridge and still yummy. I’m making more this year as it’s getting low. I had 2 jars. In 1 jar I did cabbage and fennel bulb. Delicious!

Just found you vlog. I love the simplicity of this, you don't drag it out, you get to the point!! Thanks , I'm busy, need receipt not ya-deyaba,ba.

As a 29 yo waiter who loves his job, i can say you're a pleasure to watch. Now listen, i'm not the follow/subscribe/Like kinda guy but I've voted for you twice already now just because your videos really touch me. Keep rollin'.

how I miss my Oma’s homemade sauerkraut- she sliced the homegrown cabbage on an old fashioned board setup especially for this job ( had a slicing blade on/in it). - a 5 gallon bucket was used along with whatever amount of salt she decided on - that was then taken down to the tunnel ( yes tunnel lol that connected her house and basement to the front greenhouse way out front- Anns Greenhouses in Fbks btw on Sheepcreek Rd) and thats where 5 gallons of the worlds most incredible kraut lived - jeez my mouth is watering like you wouldn’t believe lol- anyhoo - heres to homemade kraut- it rocks!! 🦋

You can also use a cabbage leaf and a clean stone instead of a plastic foil. pressing the kraut down is super important to get all the air out, otherwise it goes bad. and juniper berries go well as an extra spice.

He said it’s good for a month in the fridge but then here I am using the leftover batch as a starter to ferment more vegetables. 🥳🥳🥳 You could also freeze them and they are great as a base flavor with stock for soups!!!

Make 3 jars. Let one go for 2 weeks, the second for 4 weeks and let the third go 6 full weeks. Its a fun food experiment and you might just find that the 6 week Kraut is THE BEST THING EVER!!!

”With as many cabbages as you want” Me: *proceeds to become the guy in a homework*

Appreciate the direct ratio of ingredients without tablespoons and specific salt grain sizes.

For anybody who doesn’t really want to put plastic and use a cool hack to prevent mold growth and keep the kraut below the liquid line, it’s pretty simple just before you do anything to the cabbage tear an outer large piece off, big enough to cover the top of ur sauerkraut and stuff it in there before putting the lid on ;D

Oh my gosh! You are the first person who has ever made this make sense with the amount of cabbage and salt. Thank you!

Perfection! Thank you for this, the 2% salt gives perfect results everytime. We have one of those huge German earthenware amphoras which easily fits four large cabbages, but still it never lasts a month in the fridge!

Just a note: At room temp, the fermentation will only last about 8-10 days on average. It'll go faster if you have a warmer environment, or take longer if cooler. Things will be more balanced if you let them age (this is where the 2-3 weeks comes in) On average, I like mine around the 10-12 day mark and consider it ready to eat. Note: in the fridge, the kraut will last indefinitely. It's texture will change over time, but generally speaking it just wont "go bad" (i've had kraut last in my fridge over a year and it was still tasty) Otherwise, you can can it (and destroy the probiotics in the process) and will last years in your pantry.

It's 5:57am here in India. And did I just spend the night rewatching your entire channel? Yes. Do my eyes feel like puffy bags? Yes. Am I slightly high on sleeplessness? Yes. Do I regret it? No.

I've never fermented anything in my life, but lately it's like these videos about sauerkraut and stuff keep popping up in my recomendations. And you made it look so easy man! Definetely will ferment some cabbage asap.👍

You also could do a salad with it. Add onions(half-ring or small cubes is up to you), grated carrot, boiled potato(diced in bigish cubes). Use your favored oil as dressing. You may want to add salt, or grated garlic to it (optional). But it's kinda good and filling by itself.

I love the way you get right to it and not drag it out unnecessarily like a lot of them do!!!

It's been 3weeks and my sauerkraut is ready and tastes great! Thanks Joshua :)

I love sauerkraut. I had it growing up. It's awesome as a pierogy filling.

Just finished my second time making this. Wowser, delish, just so crispy. Knowing the percentage of salt makes this so easy for a first-time cabbage maker. Who knew it was so simple to make sourkraut. Thanks for the vid.

Really appreciate this video, easy, to the point. It does last a while in the fridge... just finished mine that I made about 9 months ago!

I have found a jar of 9 month old homemade saurkraut in the back of the fridge and it was still flippin delicious. If it smells good and there is no mold, its still good

I am German, and I approve this tutorial.

Hi I'm so excited this actually worked for me! I've made homemade sauerkraut with other people but never by myself so I am jazzed that I am now independently making my own! And Joshua you are hilarious. Very funny and educational at the same time just what we need a mixture of. I tried finding you at the bottom to vote for you but it said the link has been removed or something like that. Just letting you know. Thank you again!

$20 for 2 1/2 gallon jars + $26 for 6 plastic lids with 6 air locks but now I'm waiting for my first batch to ferment. Kimchi is made with a similar process. I started with commercial sauerkraut and although I didn't prefer the excessive vinegar taste , the change to my digestive tract was day and night. So when I came across your video I knew what direction to take. Thanks again.

Thank you for this great video! It helps to get the cabbage as thin as possible. Texture and in my personal opinion taste gets better. A good vegetable slicer helps a ton. And this is also good for easier kneeding of the sauerkraut, especially when you are not a young man with a lot of muscle power.

4:04 - I'm trying to cop a pair of those tweezers!

I love how simple everything is on this channel :)

Thanks for the clear run down. I have grown a lot of cabbages this year so will give it a go.

It’s spring here in Australia 🇦🇺 and my Jalapeño plants have hundreds of Chillies on them so I bought some mason jars and pickle pipe tops and followed your fermented hot sauce video and then this came up in my feed. OMG! Just started some sauerkraut this morning!

2:10 Daddy Arms squeezing the lettuccy dough, yeah

Thank you!! Simple and easy is exactly what I wanted to get started. This is my first time fermenting. Please make more basic and super simple fermentation recipes.

Not "condescenting", just inappropriate comment with "beat that _ up", but thank you for the apology. I'm going to watch more of your content and, hopefully, if this was a one-off, I'd love to subscribe. You keep it short, accurate, and to the point. Thanks, Joshua!

Best batch of kraut I ever made was just cabbage and caraway seeds. Also, just let the salted cabbage sit on the counter for 30 minutes or more and you won’t need to do all that crushing.

My gran used to always add carrots, I never saw plain straight up cabbage. Must still be good. Add some cranberries or sliced Granny Smith apples or some bits of horseradish to spice it up. Cabbage is never a bad idea

You’re a badass. I made this recipe a few years ago and it went flawlessly and yielded delicious kraut. Well, I’m back to make it again!!

Great video! I just made my first batch today with a large cabbage grown in our garden. I am excited to see how it turns out.

This week's Fermentation Friday happened on my birthday and it was literally the best present I've ever received.

I've wanted to make sauerkraut for ages I was just waiting for you to make this video!!

I made your chilli oil. It was amazing. Came here just for the "that's not how you do it" comments. Here are my tips on sauerkraut, you need to add carrot (just a bit), and bay leaf, and caraway seed. Seriously, that will make it next level.

You don't have to place that plastic over the top of it before weighing it down, just use the outer leaves of the cabbage. Also, making a slurry out of the core of the cabbage and an apple and pouring that over the cabbage before weighing it down adds prebiotics to the probiotics of the cabbage juice and not only helps the fermentation, but makes it much healthier and richer in probiotics.

Homemade sauerkraut is delicious and I love making it. Made up a big batch that I just finished off and that was before I bought a specialized fermentation crock, sooooo, I might be making some more. Last time, I did a more German style with juniper berries and caraway seeds, with some added garlic and it was so good, however, everyone else thought it smelled too strong

I ferment mine for 2 weeks under my sink (it's probably the coolest spot in my house and it's dark so it's perfect for fermentation). So far I have done 3 variations: cabbage only, cabbage and carrots, and cabbage + carrots + garlic. The cabbage only version literally smelled like farts lmao, but still tasted delicious. The carrot does something to it that it ends up tasting fantastic and smelling delicious.

I love how your videos are short, sweet, & to the point. With some added humor. Keep it up bro

I ate some that had been in the fridge for 6 months. Perfect!!

Was just talking with someone last night about making kraut. Yusss.

I love how easy you make everything for us. Fermentation friday is also my favorite.

Just made 24.3g of cabbage with .4g of salt and put it in an empty peanut butter jar. Now will check daily. Very exciting, thank you!

Man I wish I would have seen this earlier I would have totally voted for you. You hooked me with your croissant guidance and I defer to you wherever possible. Thanks for the videos!

Joshua's arms got me feelin some type of way ngl 👀

the 28 dislikes are the cabbages we've used for this recipe

You made this simple and easy to understand…love your kitchen btw!

Never tasted sauerkraut but as I love cabbage and salt guess its worth a try to store up all my homegrown cabbages.You made this look so easy..thankyou.

I see the espresso machine on the stove! Can't wait to see a espresso video!

simple, clear, starting from the point. Thanks for a great instruction! Loved your approach. Now let's see how it all turns out. Question: is it okay if the vessel is completely sealed if you burp it daily? Or better to let air in? Thank you!

I used to work in a restaurant in Iowa which sold something called a bratburger. It was a bratwurst patty that they got from a local slaughterhouse. I used to eat them all the time. I would have them with nothing but raw onion and sauerkraut on a toasted bun. I didn't use a condiment. They didn't need it. I recently had a craving for a bratburger. I no longer live in Iowa so I had to reproduce the bratburger using what was available. I sliced a piece of bratwurst lengthwise, removed the casing and threw it away. Then I rolled the bratwurst into a patty and fried it over medium heat. I lightly toasted a potato roll. When the bratwurst was brown on both sides I put it on the bun, added thin slices of onion and sauerkraut and savored every mouthwatering bite.

I have the weirdest taste for foods. When I was a kid, I couldn’t stand kraut, greens, broccoli, anything fermented, foods that I now appreciate as gifts from the Gods, and can’t get enough of. I’m eating spicy cabbage patch stew topped with a ton of kraut right now. It’s so good. 😋🌶️🥵

I have concluded that a "Whale" is a measurement of time equal to that of the lifespan of an average sperm whale, that being ~75 or so years. That's some impressive Sauerkraut preservation!

And with the leftover brine you can make bread! Just brine + a little water (the brine alone would usually be too salty) + flour. It's like sourdough, the bacteria in the brine will ferment the dough. Never throw away the brine! :)

you make simple, its crystal clear. love it

I was searching for the easiest way to make Sauerkraut. Thank you.

I use a plastic bag filled with water to „close“ the sauerkraut. The great thing is that the built up air can still escape.

Any sorta fermented cabbage lasts for goddamn ever in a fridge. I've had a mason of kimchi sitting in my fridge since february and it's still good!

Thank you Joshua! For the third time I am making sauerkraut following your recipe, it works great!

Such easy peasy recipe, that I ended up making it just after watching this video.... Thank you for sharing this ❤️❤️

Wow beautiful 😍

Made a whole cabbage head and I've been eating sauerkraut basically every day since it's been done fermenting. Tastes frickin awesome, is always on hand, and the feeling to have made this yourself is unbeatable! I'd like to get going on some kimchi soon, but feels like you need way more ingredients for that, which are potentially hard to get in germany.

Exactly what I need, no bells and whistles. Thank you! New sub

Oh, wow. This video is just what I was looking for. Going to make a batch this morning.. thanks so much!

*I was watching your croissant recipe then the notification hit and then I ended up here*