Our ancestors salted cabbage in barrels. And it turned out crispy, aromatic, and stored until spring. Today it is salted in enamel pans, glass jars and even bags. But cooked in a wooden barrel, it still holds the lead.
To get a masterpiece dish, you need to consider two points:
- preparing the barrel for salting;
- choice of cabbage variety.
If everything is done correctly, you will receive a supply of tasty and healthy vitamin products for the season.
How to choose a barrel
Barrels and tubs are suitable for pickling. They differ in shape. The barrel's upper and lower diameters are equal, and in the middle it is larger. The tub has a larger base diameter, smooth walls, and often has a lid. You should choose containers with hoops made of brass or galvanized steel.
Oak, beech, linden, and aspen barrels are used for salting. Containers made of ash and cedar are also suitable.
Oak is strong and durable and prevents the growth of fungi and pathogenic microorganisms. If you salt cabbage in an oak barrel, mold will never appear in it. However, wood contains natural coloring tannins. Therefore, closer to spring, the snow-white vegetable will darken. But if this detail doesn’t bother you, you can safely use oak for salting.
Beech containers have similar qualities, but its wood is less dense. The linden container gives the finished product a light and barely noticeable floral aroma. Aspen is neutral, more suitable than other materials for preparing and storing cabbage. But it is not recommended to use spruce containers, since they contain resins.
A new barrel should be properly prepared for use. She is soaked. To do this, fill the container with clean cold water for two weeks, changing the water every two days. In this way, the pickling barrel will swell and small cracks will close, it will acquire such a quality as tightness. You also need to soak the circle under pressure.
The next stage is evaporation. To do this, a barrel or tub is filled one third with boiling water and covered with thick natural material on top. You can put a hot stone on the bottom. After the water has cooled, it is drained and the procedure is repeated again. Then they wash the inside of the container with boiled water and soda and rinse.
How to choose cabbage for pickling
Now you have to choose the right cabbage variety. So, early and middle varieties are not suitable. Late or mid-late ripening vegetables are ideal for pickling: Kharkovskaya, Moscow late, Stone Head, Kolobok, Valentina F-1, Kupchikha, Miracle for Pickling F-1 and others.
We choose white and elastic forks weighing at least two kilograms.
If you press on the head of cabbage, it will not deform; you will hear a slight creaking sound.
Cabbage should taste sweet; a bitter vegetable is not suitable for pickling.
The stalk of cabbage is no more than three to four centimeters.
It is preferable for forks to be slightly flattened, resembling a “flying saucer” in shape.
Before we present several popular recipes, let us note how salted cabbage differs from sauerkraut. In the first case, the amount of salt is 6% of the cabbage’s weight, and in the second, 2.5%.
To prepare the dish, iodized salt is not used, but only coarsely ground stone salt.
Classic recipe for pickling cabbage in a barrel
It is the most common and is known as the classic way of preparing cabbage for the winter.
Product composition:
- 10 kilograms of cabbage;
- About a kilogram of carrots;
- 10-12 full tablespoons of salt;
- 100 grams of sugar;
- Black pepper and bay leaf to taste.
The dish is prepared in portions. The forks and carrots are chopped, mixed with the rest of the ingredients in an enamel basin, crushed well by hand and sent to a barrel. At the end, everything is compacted until the juice appears, which should cover the mass. Cover it with clean natural cloth, then install a circle. A cobblestone is placed on top of it.
The cabbage is kept warm for three days. During this time, they pierce it a couple of times with long wooden sticks to release carbon dioxide. In this way, the necessary enzymes are released. Then the container is sent to a cellar or basement, an unheated storage room. You can store supplies on the loggia. After a couple of weeks you can try the cabbage.
All this time, the material and the circle should be washed in clean water.
Secrets of successful cabbage starter
- For homemade pickling of cabbage for the winter in an oak barrel, you need to take the most common, coarse salt. Enriched with iodine is not suitable because it leads to softening of the product. Its quantity can be varied according to taste, but the most optimal proportion is 1 tbsp. (with a slide) for 1 kilo of shredded cabbage.
- If you add Antonovka apples to the barrel, the cabbage will become even more vigorous and aromatic. They can be laid (in layers) either whole or divided into quarters or large slices.
- Finely shredded cabbage can be layered with layers of coarsely chopped leaves or even small forks cut into quarters.
An indicator that our pickles are already ripe is the clarification of cabbage juice and the absence of gas emissions. It is advisable to keep the finished product in the same container, not forgetting to ventilate occasionally, in the dark and cold. At a temperature of 0-4 o C, the cabbage delicacy will be stored until spring.
Aromatic cabbage soup, a filling for homemade pies, a spicy stewed side dish for fried collards - none of these dishes can be prepared without tasty pickling. Your favorite sauerkraut, prepared in a barrel for the winter according to an old recipe, is a fertile topic for unbridled culinary imagination. But simply sprinkled with aromatic sunflower oil in the “company” of green onions, it is incomparable!..
The definition of the word fermentation implies a biochemical method of canning.
. The basis for it is the formation of a natural preservative - lactic acid. This substance gradually accumulates during the fermentation period and permeates the products, giving them a special taste and aroma.
ATTENTION
: In addition, lactic acid prevents the development of any foreign microflora. For comparison, this function during pickling is performed by vinegar, which prevents the development of other microorganisms in the product.
During fermentation, the following physical and chemical processes occur:
- penetration of cell juice into the brine;
- diffusion of salt into the cell.
How to salt cabbage with apples in a country style
This dish was traditional in our villages. The following ingredients are taken:
- 10 kilograms of cabbage;
- 500 grams of carrots;
- Two kilograms of late varieties of apples;
- Celery root;
- 200 grams of lingonberries (possible without them);
- Cumin to taste.
As in the first case, the vegetables are chopped, kneaded with salt in an enamel basin, caraway seeds and celery are added.
Layers of cabbage in a barrel are layered with apples, whole or cut into pieces with the core removed.
Next, keep the filled container for three days at room temperature and transfer it to the cold. You should periodically pierce the mass with a wooden stick. After 20 days, the dish is ready to eat.
Salting cabbage in cold brine
If there was little rain in the summer and the cabbage grew a little dry, this recipe will do. We take the following ingredients:
- 10 kilograms of white cabbage;
- 12 tablespoons of salt;
- 50 grams of sugar;
- A few black peppercorns;
- A liter of boiled water.
Cabbage is traditionally chopped and placed in a basin, lightly crushed and placed in layers in a barrel, adding pepper. Salt and sugar are dissolved in a liter of water and the product is poured. Just like in previous recipes, it sits in a warm place for three days, then the barrel is transferred to the cellar. After a couple of weeks, you can eat cabbage.
How to salt cabbage with cranberries in a barrel
It turns out with a slight sourness. To prepare the dish we take the following ingredients:
- 3 kilograms of cabbage;
- 1 kilogram of carrots;
- 200-300 grams of cranberries;
- 3 tablespoons sugar;
- The same amount of salt.
Chop the vegetables and grind them in an enamel bowl with sugar and salt. Add the cranberries directly to the barrel, layering the berries. According to this recipe, the cabbage can be kept warm for three days, but it is better to immediately put it in a cool room. It will be ready in 10 days.
Features of storing workpieces
Preparing sauerkraut in heads for the winter, placed in a cool place, can be stored for 6 to 8 months.
Important! When foam appears on the surface of the fermented product, it is necessary to pierce the vegetables with a thin, sharp object to facilitate the release of the resulting carbon dioxide.
The value of fermenting cabbage with heads lies in the ability of this product to retain twice as much vitamin as shredded vegetables. In addition, you can prepare more dishes in winter from whole forks (for example, cabbage rolls) than from chopped product.
How to pickle cabbage with horseradish in a barrel
Since horseradish contains substances that kill microbes, cabbage prepared according to this recipe is stored for a long time and does not spoil. For this spicy spicy dish you need the following ingredients:
1.10 kilograms of white cabbage;
- 500 grams of horseradish;
- One kilogram of carrots;
- 300 grams of rock salt;
- 700-800 ml of water;
- Black pepper and bay leaf to taste.
Vegetables are chopped, horseradish is grated, everything is mixed, pepper and bay leaf are added. The mixture is placed in layers in a barrel and compacted, filled with saline solution, and pressure is installed.
Caring for it is the same as for classic salted cabbage.
Terms and conditions of storage
Salted cabbage must be stored in basements or cellars at a temperature of 0 to +5 °C. High humidity is undesirable.
You can place a small barrel with pickled vegetables in a cool closet in your apartment, where it is usually customary to store all fruit and vegetable preparations in jars for the winter.
Another option is the basement or subfloor of the house. You should prepare the room in advance: check the ventilation, find backup heat sources, treat the walls with antifungal compounds.
Installing a barrel with pickled cabbage must take into account the following recommendations:
- the location is chosen close to ventilation, since the fermentation process is accompanied by a specific smell;
- the container with salted cabbage should be positioned in such a way that you always have access to the barrel to remove foam and pierce the workpiece;
- the barrel must be placed on a wooden or brick stand, this will prevent the formation of a fungal mass and prevent rotting of the wooden walls.
The shelf life of vegetables pickled in a barrel depends on compliance with the rules for caring for the preparation, which includes: timely removal of foam, periodic replacement of canvas fabric for washing. With proper maintenance and compliance with the thermal regime, cabbage placed in a barrel in the fall may well complement the menu even in early spring.
How to pickle cabbage in large pieces in a barrel
You can prepare the vitamin vegetable in pieces for the winter.
For preparation you will need the following ingredients:
1.10 kilograms of cabbage;
- One and a half kilograms of beets;
- 250 grams of garlic;
- One kilogram of carrots;
- 250 grams of horseradish;
- Fresh herbs to taste.
- 250 grams of salt and sugar.
After removing the stalk and upper leaves of the forks, cut into several parts. Beets can be chopped into strips or cut into thin slices, carrots - into strips. Horseradish is ground on a grater or using a meat grinder, the greens are finely chopped.
Cabbage is placed in a barrel in rows, interspersed with beets, carrots, horseradish and herbs.
Salt and sugar are dissolved in one liter of hot boiled water, and the cooled mixture is poured into the composition. Then the pressure is set according to all the rules and the container is kept warm for two days. On the third day, the barrel is transferred to the cellar or basement. But such vigorous and beautiful cabbage (beets turn it a rich pink color) is also stored on the loggia.
Advantages and disadvantages of fork fermentation
The disadvantage of salting whole cabbage for the winter is that the unchopped vegetable takes up a lot of space . To salt cabbage with forks, you will need not only a separate room, but also special containers, for example, barrels. Shredded cabbage can be fermented in ordinary three-liter jars and stored in the refrigerator or on the balcony.
The advantages include the simplicity of the process, as well as a large number of recipe variations : such cabbage is fermented with cumin, horseradish, apples, coriander, carrots, beets and other vegetables, as well as spices that give the vegetable its beneficial properties and taste.
Important! Sauerkraut in forks is a real super food containing vitamins and minerals that are essential for the human body.
The chemical composition of sauerkraut is given in the table:
| Vitamins | Amount, mg |
| A (retinoids) | 0,6 |
| B1 (thiamine) | 0,03 |
| B2 (riboflavin) | 0,021 |
| B5 (pantothenic acid) | 0,09 |
| B6 (pyridoxine) | 0,13 |
| B9 (folate) | 0,024 |
| C (ascorbic acid) | 31,2 |
| E (tocopherol) | 0,14 |
| K (phylloquinone) | 0,013 |
| PP (niacin) | 0,42 |
| U (methylmethionine) | 0,01 |
