Need some help on canning sauerktraut. Please see questions below
1.) when making sauerkraut I want to add hot peppers. do i do this during fermentation or after when adding to jars.
2.) I have quart jars. when doing a hot water bath do i need the water boiling before I add jars or put jars in cold, wait until it comes to a boil then time it.
3.) I want to pack the jars cold then give a hot water bath. for a quart jar is the boiling time 25 minutes. I want my sauerkraut crisp
4.) what is the salt to cabbage ratio.
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2 Comments
1.) Combine the hot peppers with the cabbage; they should be part of the fermentation.
4.) I do 2.1% salt by weight. If you go too low (like 1.9%) you'll risk having secondary fermentations, most of them unwanted and unpleasant. The cutoff line between unwanted microorganisms and lactobacillus is around 2%. If you go too high the high salt content will slow down or even prevent lactic fermentation. 2.1% is the same percentage I use for my kimchi batches. If I feel that the vegetables themselves might throw off enough moisture, I'll add a 2.1% brine. Some people weigh down their fermenting vegetables in a receptable with a ziplock bag full of this brine. If the bag leaks/breaks, it won't upset the saline balance.
Haven't made it in a while, so won't go from memory.
Here are a couple guides that give most of what you want (temp, time, salt ratio).
Don't know and couldn't find anything quickly about adding peppers. To be safe, I might can them separately, then mix in the sauerkraut as I open each jar of it.
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/21154/sauerkraut-for-canning/
https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-homemade-sauerkraut-in-a-mason-jar-193124
https://extension.psu.edu/lets-preserve-fermentation-sauerkraut-and-pickles