How to Make Sauerkraut

Oh, my, I am shocked you aren’t promoting the excellent probiotic qualities of homemade sauerkraut. For many years I would make kraut in my Marshall pottery five gallon crock every summer and then would can it for long term storage. We seldom ate it all before a new season began, and by ‘cooking’ the fermented cabbage, the resulting product lost the wonderful flavor of raw sauerkraut. At the time, I failed to realize I was ‘murdering’ the wonderful health benefits of uncooked sauerkraut.
I would encourage those of you who are serious about creating a delicious, healthy food rich with friendly bacteria to hold off making sauerkraut in large quantities, but rather use quart jars with fermenting lids (such as Pickle Pipes or The Easy Fermenter brands) and DO NOT can the final product! One tablespoon of raw sauerkraut far exceeds the benefit of taking several probiotic capsules to promote gut health.

When should I add caraway seeds & in what amount?

I have seen them, I have one, but it's not exactly an official potato masher , They were used for canning and packing the product . My grandma had one and I got it. And yes, it will mash up potatoes in a pinch. If there are any official type wooden potato mashers, I haven't seen one.

You mention wooden spoon and/or potato masher...."wooden potato masher"??? I have a metal can I use a metal potato masher? Never saw a wooden potato masher? Please clarify! Thank You!!

This is second year attempting kraut (1st yr disaster). This year we are trying small batch of carrot and cabbage kraut, fermenting w/o warmth (our daytime average high temp in summer is 70F, low 60F at night in house). We started, kept clean and skimmed and then after two weeks forgot it. Today I took out weights and rinsed them. Noticed few fruit fly eggs on top of upper weight out of brine and at edge of crock lip. No scum visible but did notice few ribbons about the width of egg noodles barely rise then settled to bottom out of sight -- its not cabbage as it splits easily into pieces. It doesn't smell bad in the crock but there isn't a sharp smell of kraut either. I'm afraid to taste it because of this white thing(s) that floated. Can someone out there advise? Do you think it is safe to eat?

Having had problems with old crocks contaminating recipes, I have switched to 5 gallon (19 litre) pails - I buy two new ones from hardware store - wipe down inside with bleach, rinse and air dry. Shred cabbage to preferred size and take 1000 grams (2.2 pounds), place in bottom of pail and mash/tamp down as tightly as possible with a potato masher. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of pickling salt and repeat layers until pail is completely full. I like to take white wine and pour a cup over the top layer (Royal White in a gallon jug) and then sprinkle top layer with 2 more tablespoons of salt. Take a clean, unscented plastic bag and put over the top of the cabbage in the pail. Take second pail and sit it on top the first pail and then fill the top pail with water to act as a weight. Place outside or in a tray, as the brine will over flow as the cabbage is squished down by the top pail. Check daily to make sure that there is enough brine - you can take top pail off after a day or two and replace with a plate weighted down with a bleach or vinegar jug of water. Make sure that it does not dry out down to cabbage level and allow cabbage to mold. I leave mine outside in the heat to ferment faster, covering them up with a garbage bag to prevent dirt and insects getting into the top brine. When you are satisfied with the taste (1-4 weeks of fermenting) , bring inside, do not drain and pack into clean jars. Top each jar with another tablespoon of wine, seal and water boil for 30-45 minutes. Hope this helps!

Ace Hardware has a 1 gallon crock kit available. It comes with the crock, 2 crock weights and a lid. It is perfect for 1 head of cabbage, about 5 pounds. The weights keep the cabbage under brine and the lid keeps it covered. I put a zip lock gallon bag full of water on top of the weights to seal out the air and add extra weight. I just started my second batch and it is perfect. To crush the cabbage, I took a length of PVC pipe and cemented 2 end caps on. It works well, is easy to clean and inexpensive. I get a lot of requests for sauerkraut when it is ready.

Grandpa usedto shred the cabbage, i guess salt, put in a 5 gallon bucket, and fill a plastic garbage bag with water and put it on top. He said it kept weight pushing down on it, and kept air out because it pushed to the sides. Yes,,, no,,,? He also kept it in a cool room. I want to make kraut, simple is good! Help?!

I planted 61 cabbage plants this spring. When it is ready, I want to make sauerkraut. I know that when I can it, I will kill the beneficial probiotics, but I can't keep a crock of kraut, as I have nowhere to keep it. So for convenience sake, I will can it. I will keep a couple of jars of "raw" sauerkraut in the refrigerator to eat first. My question is this, after I open a jar of canned kraut, can I pour juice from the raw kraut into the jar of canned kraut to jump start the good probiotics? Would I need to leave it on the counter a day or two to let the "raw" juice go to work, or put it in the refrigerator immediately? And can I reuse the juice from jar to jar until I have used up all my canned sauerkraut?
Thank you for your replies.