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Sauerkraut Freeze or Can

8 years ago

Nephew is gifting us with 3 gallons of Sauerkraut he made. Appreciate it but how to store it

I have seen and heard people here talking about freezing it and of canning it. Are there advantages to one over the other? Special Equipment ?

Featured Answer

annie1992

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Hi, Katie!!

Adding vinegar makes it more like pickles and less like sauerkraut, you'll get a "pickled" flavor instead of a fermented one. Grandpa used to keep his crock of 'kraut in the root cellar and we'd just go down and dip as much out as we needed for meals until it was gone, and that was several months, at least through the winter and into the spring.

The trick is to find the room in the fridge to keep it. I have 35 pounds fermenting right now, and can't imagine trying to find enough room in the fridge to keep it. My backroom/storage stays cool, but not as cool as Grandpa's root cellar. So, until I get myself motivated to start on that root cellar I've been wanting since I moved here a couple of years ago, I'll have to can it.

Annie

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Comments (9)

lindac92
8 years ago
Freeze it....I think canned kills the good ferment in it.
annie1992
8 years ago
LindaC is right, canning the sauerkraut can compromise some of the probiotics present in fermented foods. That's why many people freeze it.

However, if you are going to heat it to eat it, it's a moot point. The heat from cooking will also compromise the probiotics.

I seldom have freezer space, so I always can mine. If you are going to make sauerkraut and sausage or sauerkraut balls or sauerkraut as a base for cabbage rolls like I do, either way is fine. If you plan to eat it "raw", something like a Reuben or as a side dish or garnish, like pickles, then you're better off freezing it.

In addition, it gets softer when canned, although I find the change negligible, probably because I'm cooking it anyway. Frozen will stay crunchier.

And remember, sauerkraut is just salt and cabbage. Sometimes it's intensely salty, I always rinse mine well before using it.

I have 35 pounds of it "working" away in my back room right now, it'll be ready in about 3 weeks or so, I think. Maybe sooner, it's bubbling like crazy!

Annie
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I did an amish sauerkraut recipe this year that I hadn't tried before. You don't can it at all. You shred 1 quart of cabbage put it in a canning jar and leave one inch head space, one Tablespoon of White vinegar, one teaspoon of non iodized salt and fill the jar up to 1/2 inch of the top with cold water. Screw on a clean unused canning lid, and turn it tight. Write the date two months from now on top. and put it in the cellar. When that date is reached, it's ready. I hope it's good, I made 14 quarts of it the other day!
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This whole thing was to avoid any fermentation since I am such an un-kultured person and can't be trusted caretaking a yeast cell. Admittedly, the only reason I may have been successful thru about 10 years of brewing beer was that the entire process was at Dad's place. When I took the equipment home, I produced something so unpleasant that I had to throw it out! We didn't always produce Grade A beer, especially there at first, but we kind of caught on. Maybe it was just Dad who caught on . . . Well, David, Ms. Ziedrich in the "The Joy of Pickling" recipe told me to, "Drain the vegetables, pressing out excess liquid." (There in that Oct. 22, 2010 post link.) It could have been that I didn't need to squeeze the life outta them but I thought that would be the "fun" part! Steve
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Depends on how dry it is. The liquid content of finished kraut varies widely. Some liquid is preferred so that it doesn't turn as mushy when thawed. So yes you may need to add some but I don't think it has to be covered. The more common recommendation is to seal it in bags - zip lock bags can be filled and most of the air carefully squeezed out. With vacuum bags you can fill the vacuum bag, set it in the freezer to partially freeze, then vacuum out the bag. There used to be a good discussion about how to do it on sauerkraut.com that is probably still available there. Dave
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Canned sauerkraut today.
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Comments (2)
It sounds like you have a lot of sauerkraut put up for the next year. I finished ours either in late June or early July and was glad to have it done! It always feels like it is fermenting forever, but it really isn't. I just don't want to get overly busy in the summer and forget that the sauerkraut is in process.
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Mokinu
8 years ago
How long would you like to store it? / How fast will you eat it?
twoyur
Original Author
8 years ago
Looks like freezing maybe the best solution It gives us some leeway between cooked and raw. Probably will last 6 months to 9 months. Within the guidelines for freezing or canning
Mokinu
8 years ago
Adding vinegar to further pickle it might extend the raw shelf life. Some people can raw pickles with vinegar (without heat), and they can last a good while (not sure how long). Somehow, the jars self-seal (I'm not sure why or how). I haven't found instructions for this online, though.
KatieC
8 years ago
I ferment mine in half gallon jars and then store it in the fridge, covering with additional brine if necessary. The National Center for Home Food Preservation says, Fully fermented kraut may be kept tightly covered in the refrigerator for several months or it may be canned..."
laceyvail 6A, WV
8 years ago
My kraut keeps in the fridge for well over a year.
Mokinu
8 years ago
laceyvail, how long do you ferment it, and what do you store it in? What kind of lid do you use in the refrigerator?

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