What kind of salt is needed for pickling cabbage: fine or coarse?

Chemical composition

Sauerkraut is 34% enriched with vitamin C and 12% with potassium. In turn, vitamin C improves the body's immune system and helps iron be better absorbed. Potassium normalizes blood pressure and has a beneficial effect on the nervous system.

This product also has a large amount of lactic acid, which helps improve the functioning of the intestines, improving its microflora, eliminating dysbacteriosis and cleansing the stomach of a putrefactive environment.

100 g of sauerkraut contains only 28 kcal. This amount of product contains 0.1 g of fat and 4.7 g of carbohydrates. White cabbage pickles contain proteins, starch, monosaccharides, disaccharides, organic acids and ash.

This fermented vegetable can enrich the body with calcium, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus, sulfur, zinc, iodine and copper and boasts significant levels of manganese, cobalt and fluoride.

Features of storing workpieces

There are several options for storing sauerkraut cooked in a saucepan for the winter. The first is to leave it for storage in the same container. In this case, it is necessary to remove the load, cover the vessel with a lid and send it to a cool place (increased fermentation will be observed in the warmth).

In private homes, the basement can become a storage area for the product - here the product will not take up much space and will retain its freshness. In an apartment, an alternative would be a refrigerator, where the temperature of the chamber does not exceed +5°C. Sometimes a coating forms on the top layer of pickling in the pan - it must be removed with a spoon and thrown away.

Important! Jellied cabbage cannot be stored in an aluminum pan, since during the fermentation of the shredded vegetable, lactic acid is formed, which will oxidize the metal. As a result, an unpleasant odor and taste will appear.

The second option involves transferring the finished product into 3-liter glass jars. The snack placed in the container must be filled with juice and covered with nylon (plastic) lids. The workpiece is also stored in a cool place. It should be taken into account that cabbage is perfectly preserved only when filled with brine, otherwise the quality of the product may decrease.

Another option is freezing. It is worth knowing that soon after defrosting, the product loses its beneficial and tasteful qualities, so you need to eat it quickly enough. When sending cabbage to be frozen, you should provide the amount of cabbage in the package that can be eaten in a short time.

Cabbage, pickled in a pan, is an excellent dish that will not only cheer you up on gloomy winter days with its unique taste and aroma, but will also fill the body with essential vitamins and minerals. Use the recipes provided and your dish will be appreciated.

Which salt is best to choose for pickling cabbage?

Most often, 1 kg of vegetable requires about 1 tbsp. l. salt, but if you are not going to make brine, then you need to take more spices. To prepare cabbage for the winter, you need to correctly decide what kind of salt to salt it with. There are types that are absolutely not suitable for preparing this dish.

By appearance

In accordance with government regulations, all salt presented on store shelves is divided into several types. They are determined depending on the production method, processing method, quality and particle size distribution.

Food

The best option for preparing cabbage is to season it with table salt without additives. Sometimes it can be identified by the inscription on the package “pickling” and the blue color of the pack.

This seasoning requires no more than 25 g per 1 kg of vegetable. If you overdo it with the addition of this preservative, the fermentation will take place very slowly, and the product itself will significantly change the taste.

But you should not neglect this flavoring additive, since this can lead to molding of the pickles, and the product itself will be very soft.

Marine

Regular salt, although good for sauerkraut, is only a preservative. To add more beneficial minerals to your dish, it is better to use sea salt. It includes more than 40 micro- and macroelements, which helps preserve the crispy taste of the vegetable. In addition, the product does not over-oxidize, since sea salt does not contain a large amount of sediment.

Iodized

Among the abundance of products on store shelves you can find iodized salt. Artificial iodine is added to its composition. But such a product is not recommended for making sauerkraut, since iodine prevents the development of lactic acid bacteria, and they are necessary for the product to have a pleasant sour taste and crunch.

By grinding

Depending on the grinding and the method of extraction of raw materials, the mineral is divided into 2 categories: large and small. The quality of future pickles depends on the correct decision about which salt to take, so it is important to carefully understand the characteristics of each of them.

Large (stone)

This variety is the most common and popular. Deposits of this mineral are located all over the world. It is usually mined underground, at a depth of up to 1000 m.

Huge blocks are crushed by special combines, after which crystals of different sizes are obtained. The largest ones are used for production purposes. But smaller crystals are used as a food additive.

This salt has the least amount of impurities and dirt, there is practically no moisture in it, and it consists almost entirely of sodium chloride, which is the reason for its rich and pronounced taste. It is best used for making sauerkraut.

Fine (Extra)

Extra salt is made from rock salt, but in this case it is heavily bleached using aluminum hydroxide and potassium ferrocyanide. These elements prevent crystal caking and lump formation.

Experts do not recommend using a similar product for fermenting cabbage.

Basic rules for salting

There are several simple rules for pickling cabbage at home, following which you can properly prepare a quality product:

For pickling, you need to choose the whitest head of cabbage from late varieties, then the pickle will be as crunchy as possible.
The head of cabbage should be firm and crispy, with no signs of frostbite.
To prepare cabbage, it is best to use a wooden or glass container. You can also take enameled containers, but in this case it is important that there is no damage to the coating. It is not recommended to use stainless steel containers and plastic utensils.
Salt should only be taken from rock or sea salt. In other cases, salt can harm the quality of the dish.
The vegetable must be finely chopped, but not very thinly, as the product will be soft. The stalk can also be finely chopped and added to the preparation. This can only be done if you are sure that the head of cabbage has not accumulated nitrates.
You need to add carrots to the pickles. At the same time, you can put it in large quantities, since this root vegetable will only add flavor and crunch to the dish.
You can add beets to the cabbage, then the pickle will have an unusual rich color.
Sometimes spices are added to the leaven in the same quantity as salt. You can add any sour berries.
If you decide to ferment cabbage in brine, it can be either warm or cold. In this case, the vegetable is ground with salt and only then poured with liquid.
You need to place a weight on top of the pickle, which can be a stone (clean) or a jar of water.
The best temperature for storing sourdough is considered to be 0.+2°C. But it is not recommended to freeze this product, as it can become soft, so you should store sauerkraut in the cellar, refrigerator or on the balcony.

Useful tips

To ensure that canned food always turns out tasty and is stored well, it is important not to forget about the following recommendations:

do not use colored or exotic salt, as a rich composition can negatively affect the quality of the final product;
Beginners are advised to use a medium grind product, as it is easiest to work with;
finely ground salt should not be used for marinades or pickling, as canned food often turns out over-salted;
It is important to take into account the quality of water, so only spring, filtered or well water is suitable for preparations.

The ideal option, which never fails and is universal for salting and marinating any food, is coarse and medium-ground table salt.

The right choice of salt will save the housewife from disappointment and allow her to enjoy the taste of homemade pickles all year round.

What you need to make sauerkraut

To begin with, what exactly are we going to use to prepare the cabbage? The container can be metal (enamel), glass, wood (barrel or tub); in southern Russia, Poland and Germany, cabbage is fermented in clay and ceramic pots.

Of course, you will need salt for fermentation - it comes in different varieties! Iodized salt is very useful - we all really lack iodine. Crimean red salt is used to prevent colds. It contains bromine, beta-carotene (vitamin A), calcium, sodium, magnesium and copper - this unique cocktail reduces the risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases; This salt is also extremely beneficial for vision. Regular table salt will also work. The main thing is that it should be coarsely ground. We’ll talk about spices separately, but dill, currants and bay leaves - this set will not ruin any of the recipes.

Actually, cabbage is the most common, white cabbage. We remove green leaves mercilessly. We also remove the stalk - the cabbage is fed with nitrates, and wise nature has arranged it so that the stalk retains the excess.

You can shred cabbage with a shredder, a manual bread slicer, or a sharp knife. You will need a wooden pestle (for fragile vessels) or something heavier for a barrel or tub. What not to use to suppress the cabbage planting! Even old irons, dumbbells, and even gymnastic weights! But remember about cleanliness.

Subsequently, you will need a sharp stick, sharpened fittings, and a pitchfork - depending on the scale of the harvesting container. The cabbage will need to be pierced to the very bottom. They say that even the famous Russian triangular bayonet was once used for this.

If you grow cabbage yourself, keep in mind that not all varieties are suitable for pickling. You can choose the seeds of the “correct” cabbage or simply get acquainted with those varieties that are most suitable for fermentation for clarification when purchasing on the market, in our market, which unites large online stores. Take a look at the selection of Cabbage for pickling.

Let's start fermenting

Much depends on the fermentation container. An enamel bucket, a glass jar, a wooden tub, a barrel, even a clay pot - everything gives its own specificity. You simply cannot spoil the final product if you adhere to a simple rule: the amount of salt is approximately equal to 2-2.5% of the weight of the cabbage . If you want slightly sour cabbage, or very sour cabbage, this can be regulated, among other things, by the amount of salt. But not only her.

Fermentation is scientifically called fermentation, or lactic acid fermentation. This won't mean much to a non-specialist. But everyone understands that there are means that can enhance fermentation . If you put a crust of bread at the bottom of the vessel, even greased with honey, or pour vodka (1 glass per 5 liters of volume), or add sugar - about 100 g per 10 kg of cabbage, or 1-2 tablespoons of honey without bread...

You will determine the proportions, as they say, organoleptically. Need to try! The taste of the preparation should resemble an over-salted, but edible salad. Sugar - according to your personal preference.

Even if you just use salt and cabbage, everything will work out! Supporters of classic recipes troll on forums anyone who writes something different from what they are used to. The main recipe: do what you want, don’t be afraid to experiment and remember that you don’t have to do it “like others” or ferment all your cabbage the same way.

Popular ways to pickle cabbage

The simplest and most famous is cabbage with carrots . A 5-liter jar usually contains about 4 kg of cabbage.

To prepare you will need:

cabbage;
carrots (10 part of the weight of cabbage);
salt (2-2.5% by weight of cabbage);
a little sugar (if desired).

Recipe:

Chop the cabbage not very finely, not very coarsely. Grate the carrots. Stir with cabbage and place in a container, adding salt and squeezing firmly to squeeze out the juice.
You can put cabbage leaves at the bottom of the container
Currant leaves, bay leaves, garlic, cranberries, dill - all this is added if desired.

Lay very tightly, compact, sparing no effort . But remember that later, for successful fermentation, you will need to remove gas from the pickle, and therefore, pierce this entire mass to the very bottom.

Cabbage is fermented for 3-5 days at a temperature slightly cooler than room temperature (or even at room temperature). Ideally – about +16. +18°C, but provided that you pierce it regularly. If it suddenly happens that the cabbage does not produce enough juice (although this is difficult to imagine), add a two percent salt solution.

Cabbage with cranberries , cabbage with chokeberries , with lingonberries and plums - everything is about the same. It is better to remove the pits from plums first.

You will determine the proportions yourself, but additives should not exceed 10% . You should be especially careful with sweet additives. The problem is not that you end up with dessert (why not?), but that instead of brine you risk getting mash!

German-style sauerkraut can be prepared by chopping it very finely – into thin strips – and adding caraway seeds. A tablespoon of this spice is pre-heated in a frying pan until a thick, pleasant smell appears, and is gradually added to the cabbage along with salt and a small amount of sugar.

A recipe worthy of a holiday table

To prepare you will need (for a 5-liter jar):

approximately 3.5 kg cabbage;
6 Antonov apples;
lingonberries or cranberries;
some carrots;
5 juniper berries;
approximately 25 g sugar;
1 crust of bread;
salt - to taste;
currant leaf;
a little cumin;
2 glasses of vodka.

Recipe:

Place a few white cabbage leaves and a crust of bread at the bottom of the jar.
We cut the cabbage as thin as possible, tightly lay one layer (5 cm) of cabbage mixed with salt, sugar, carrots and cumin (we put very little cumin). On top are several currant leaves.
Remove the seeds from the apples by cutting them into several slices (in halves or slices, as desired). Layer a layer of cabbage with apples. The next layer is cabbage with a small amount of lingonberries or cranberries and cumin. Then another layer of cabbage and carrots.
We evenly distribute juniper berries throughout the entire thickness of the bookmark.
In the middle of the process, pour 1 glass of vodka into the workpiece.
And then everything is as in the basic recipe: 3-5 days, +16. +18°C, pierce, remove the resulting foam.

There are ways to ferment other vegetables and even fruits with cabbage . You can find a lot of recipes on the Internet. Everyone chooses according to their own taste. But the main thing is to learn how to ferment cabbage! The rest comes with experience.

If you are preparing a large amount of cabbage in solid containers (barrels), you should not take the risk. But without any experimentation, you won’t surprise anyone, and preparation is still a creative matter.

Selection and preparation of the main ingredient

Winter varieties with a dense leaf structure are suitable for pickling. Such vegetables are stored longer and do not soften during fermentation.

The leaves should be juicy, white, without dark spots, cracks or signs of rot.

The larger the head, the better and tastier the salted cabbage. It is better to shred ½ or ¼ of a large fork than 2 small ones.

Before use, wash the product and remove the top leaves. Start cutting. A special shredder with one, or even better, two sharp blades is ideal for this purpose. If you don’t have such a kitchen appliance, use a vegetable peeler or large grater. Manual or electric shredders greatly facilitate the slicing process.

The photo shows options for chopping vegetables.

Salt the cabbage

Useful tips for pickling

I don’t know how, but I always remove foam if it appears, this is important. When there is no more foam, it means the cabbage has fermented.

If the cabbage is dry, did not give juice when you rubbed it with your hands, and does not ferment, it’s okay. For Russian varieties, sometimes it is enough to increase the oppression.

Russians also love Dutch hybrids, but they are a bit dry and often only require adding a little brine. This is how he prepares. For 1 liter of boiled water 1 tbsp. l. with a heap of salt, pour cold.

Why is cabbage too sour? Perhaps the fermentation temperature was too high and the fermentation process did not go as expected.

Bitter cabbage means it was fermented in a cool place, not for three days, but for a whole week. Soft - may be an unsuitable variety, or the temperature during fermentation is too high, or the air was not released.

Slimy cabbage (what an unpleasant word) - yes, it happens. According to the scientific explanation - there is too much air, in everyday terms - cabbage should always be covered with brine, otherwise putrefactive bacteria will develop. It is possible that the container was poorly prepared.

The cabbage is darkening. It happens, but rarely. It is clear that you cannot ferment cabbage in a metal container, only in glass, wood or enamel. There should be no chips or damage at the bottom of the enamel container.

The cabbage has turned red - most likely this is due to excess salt or carrots.

Happy pickling everyone!

The time has come to salt cabbage for the winter. Pickling cabbage is a very important moment for any housewife, because it may not work out, even according to grandma’s proven recipe. Why is this happening?

A little about the benefits of cabbage

Fresh cabbage, of course, is good for the body, but sauerkraut must be on the table throughout our long winter. It increases resistance to stress and has a positive effect on metabolism.

Contains a lot of vitamins, helps rejuvenate tissues and cells, protects against heart disease, intestinal cancer, and is good for weight loss. It even contains probiotics, which are now fashionable, which grandmothers had never heard of.

Folk signs and superstitions

Well, where would we be without them? If you want good cabbage, you’ll believe in everything.

Firstly, pickled cabbage must freeze and thaw more than once in the garden, and now there is a scientific explanation for this: the sugar content increases. I completely agree. Until the head of cabbage freezes, it’s tasteless.

Secondly, in warm autumn cabbage is fermented later, this is also understandable. It is supposed to count 10 days after the daytime temperature reaches sub-zero temperatures. Signs say it's the best time.

It is recommended to ferment the heads of cabbage immediately after harvesting. If they sit, the cabbage will be less tasty. But hardly anyone still has cabbages in their garden beds, and the autumn turned out to be warm.

Well, about superstitions. A man should chop vegetables. I like it. The workpiece will be well stored and crunchy if it is made on days of the week that contain the letter “r”. On “critical days” it is better not to eat cabbage.

Even the Moon is believed to influence the taste of cabbage. There are different opinions, but among them there is a common one - do not be salty on the waning moon. Well, if you managed to take into account all these rules, then it’s time to start pickling.

Where to begin?

From the choice of cabbage. Varieties and hybrids of cabbage are added every year, and it is difficult to understand them. There are many of them, but no one has yet come up with anything better than our old Russian varieties for fermentation.

These are Slava, Gift, Nadezhda, Belorusskaya, Moscow late, others. These varieties do not have thick, coarse fibrous veins and smell sweet. When you chop them, the cabbage already gives juice, and this is the guarantee that it will be tasty.

In a good pickled ripe head of cabbage, the upper leaves turn slightly yellow or red, become thin and even dry out. At this time, the greatest amount of sugar accumulates in it.

Which salt to choose?

Experienced housewives buy only coarse, “rock” salt for sauerkraut and other preparations. It seemed to me that this does not affect the pickling of cucumbers and other things, as long as it is not iodized.

But for sauerkraut, you must use only coarse salt. And there is a scientific explanation for this. Fine salt immediately goes into brine, and this inhibits lactic acid fermentation. The large one dissolves gradually, and the fermentation process proceeds as it should.

What to add to cabbage?

Here, of course, it is a matter of taste. But I highly recommend adding carrots even to jars of cucumbers. It makes cucumbers and cabbage crispy, gives color and flavor.

Then there is room for imagination. You can add cumin, dill seeds, cloves, hot and ground peppers, beets, apples, cranberries, and lingonberries.

But in any case, you must put whole cabbage leaves on the bottom of the fermentation container and on top, under pressure, it will turn out tastier.

Various tricks

If you grate the carrots, the cabbage will take on a pinkish color. If you are not lazy and cut the carrots thinly, the cabbage will remain snow-white.

Lactic acid fermentation is a difficult process, it does not like foreign microbes or bacteria, and the containers must be scalded; few people do this.

Grandmother scalded a barrel of juniper, specially brought from the forest, and then smeared the walls with honey. It was believed that honey and juniper would ensure proper fermentation.

Cabbage has never spoiled, neither cucumbers nor tomatoes in barrels, this is a fact. There were no refrigerators, but there was a glacier; in February they put ice in the cellar, and the ice did not melt until almost the next winter. Cucumbers and cabbage were stored, I believe, at a stable temperature of 0 degrees.

To make the cabbage crispy, it is useful to add horseradish roots. And if you cover any pickles, be it mushrooms or cabbage, with horseradish leaves on top, they will never become moldy.

By the way, very often mold appears on top of jars with salted mushrooms, and there is nowhere to get horseradish leaves. A few years ago they suggested a brilliantly simple method. Place cabbage leaves on top of the mushrooms; they can be easily replaced with fresh ones all winter long, and there will be no mold.

When the cabbage begins to ferment, it must be pierced to release gases 2-3 times a day. Otherwise, it will acquire a rotten taste and may become soft. A little cucumber pickle will add flavor to the cabbage and make it crunchy.

Where should city residents store sauerkraut?

Immediately after fermentation, the cabbage is placed in a cold place.

The optimal temperature is from 0 to -2 degrees, but in practice you have to store it in the refrigerator, where the temperature is several degrees higher. Fermentation processes at this time, although slowly, continue, and as a rule, the taste deteriorates.

Sauerkraut does not like temperature changes, and refrigerators have to be opened often, this also affects shelf life. In this case, you will have to freeze it over time.

Many housewives immediately put the cabbage in bags and freeze it on the open balcony. Or, as an option, you can ferment or pickle it several times in the winter in small batches.

How to salt cabbage in jars for the winter so that it is crispy?

First we prepare the marinade. Finely chopped cabbage and carrots should be placed in jars. Now prepare the brine. For a liter of boiling water, pour two hundred grams of sugar and 4 tbsp. l. table salt, six bay leaves and three hundred milliliters of sunflower oil, ½ cup of table vinegar. After this, boil the brine and pour it into jars, put them in the refrigerator. In a day you will be able to eat the prepared pickles. This easy and quick pickling of cabbage will please every housewife and her guests.

To increase shelf life, you can preserve it. It is enough to heat the filled jars and roll them up. Here is such an unusual recipe for how to salt cabbage at home in a delicious way.

Cabbage in jars with honey and cranberries

This recipe uses honey instead of sugar. The following ingredients will be required :

cabbage – 1 kg;
carrots – 3 pieces;
honey – 1 tablespoon;
salt – 20 grams;
bay leaf – 1 piece;
black pepper – 5 peas.

Cranberries and sunflower oil will be needed just before serving.

Cooking steps:

Shred the cabbage and grate the carrots.
Place the vegetables in a bowl, add salt. Mix thoroughly, pressing lightly.
Next, add the remaining vegetables and ingredients. Transfer the mixture into jars and compact thoroughly.
Cover with nylon lids, having previously made holes in them, and put them in the refrigerator.
After 24 hours, we take it out and pierce the mixture with a wooden stick, thus releasing the gases from the product.
It will take a week to fully prepare. But you should not forget to release gases from the mixture 2 times a day. It is very important!

Before serving , sprinkle the cabbage with cranberries and add sunflower oil.

Pickling cauliflower in a jar for the winter

And finally, I would like to show you a recipe for not pickling white cabbage, but cauliflower. On the blog, there are other options that you can find here. But, if you don’t want to do this, you can watch it in this video.

Cabbage in jars with tomatoes

For cooking you will need small and ripe tomatoes with a dense texture. Main ingredients:

cabbage – 10 kg;
tomatoes – 5 kg;
salt – 350 grams;
to taste - dill seeds, currant and cherry leaves, pepper, celery.

Recipe:

The washed vegetables are chopped. If the tomatoes are small or medium in size, then leave them whole.
Place chopped cabbage and tomatoes in a large container and add salt. Top with berry leaves, dill and celery. In this way, sandwich three layers of cabbage and tomato.
Cover the top of the salad with gauze or a clean cloth and place it under pressure. Fermentation and release of vegetable juice should be monitored.
On day 4, the salad is transferred with tomatoes into jars and cooled for 12–15 hours.

That's it, the cabbage salad is ready to eat .

Pickling cabbage with cold tap water

I got the recipe for pickling crispy cabbage with cold tap water from my aunt.
I like this method because it makes it easy to make a nice, slightly tangy snack. For a cold water snack you need:

medium cabbage;
a couple of carrot roots;
filtered tap water – 2 l;
coarse salt - 3 tbsp. l.;
1 tsp. ground black pepper;
sugar – ½ cup.

Cabbage marinated in cold water is done like this:

Using a shredder, I grate the cabbage into thin shavings.
I also grate the carrots (sometimes I use a grater for Korean carrots).
I mix the vegetables and press them with my hands. I put the mixture in a clean 3-liter jar.
If the water in the tap is drinkable, then take 2 liters from there, and if not, then pass it through the filter. Pour salt and pepper into the liquid, mix, and pour into a container with cabbage so that all the slices are immersed in the brine.
I put the vegetables in brine for 3 days on a warm windowsill. You can place the jar in a large container so that the released juice does not leak onto the floor.
When 3 days have passed, I drain the brine, add sugar to it, pour it back into the cabbage, and cover the container with a plastic lid. After 3-4 days, I move the workpiece into the refrigerator and store it for about a month.