Inherited Cabbage

Can you guess from the picture what I made today? 

A friend of G's gave us a couple heads of cabbage. What better use for them than sauerkraut? 

I've tried a few recipes over the years, and my favorite so far is the one my grandma gave me for my first batch. 

In addition to the recipe variable, I had been tinkering around with different sizes of cabbage shreds made with different means. Last batch, I settled on using the food processor for most consistent sizes. G likes smaller, finer shreds for using on hot dogs and brats. I enjoy eating sauerkraut just plain 😅 or as a salad topping, where a thicker shred would be appreciated. We had enough cabbage to do both, about 6.5 pounds.

To make the thicker shreds, I tried using our new mandolin. It was quick and effective, and easy to clean. Depending on the angle of the cabbage, I got different lengths of shreds.

Here is the fruit of my labor. The container on the left is a fermenting lock and weights that G brought into our marriage. The container on the right is one of the canning jars I inherited from my grandma and a silicone fermenting lid I'm testing out from Mason Jar Lifestyles. I didn't buy the weights that go with the lid, so it's also an experiment to see if not having them makes a difference. 

 I'll do a taste test in a few weeks!