In former times, pickling cabbage turned into a real holiday, when friends and relatives gathered in the house, shredded tens of kilograms of cabbage, laid it in layers in pound barrels, thereby preparing a vitamin supply that should have been enough for the whole long winter. Nowadays, there is no need to harvest cabbage in such quantities, but the rules for salting remained the same.
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Features of modern salting
A rare modern apartment boasts an extensive pantry, in which there would be a place for a pot-bellied keg, and in general there is no need to grease such amounts of cabbage for the winter. In former times, it was necessary to process the harvest as quickly as possible so that it would not deteriorate. Today, all year round, you can go to the store, choose a head of cabbage you like there, pickle it in an ordinary three-liter jar, and such cabbage will in no way yield to the one obtained from our ancestors.
Late-ripening cabbage varieties are most suitable for salting. Their heads are characterized by increased density and elasticity.
Chopping cabbage
A head of cabbage prepared for salting must be chopped. You can do this in various ways. For example, using a special shredder, grater or even a food processor. But the very thinnest shavings can only be achieved with classic manual cutting. To do this, cut the cabbage forks into 2-4 or even 8 parts, depending on its size, and remove the thin layer from time to time with a sharp knife.
Carrot preparation
The next step will be the preparation of carrots. Moreover, the amount of this vegetable is not regulated by any rules. Someone loves only its rare inclusions, and someone on the contrary likes it when the cabbage and pickle are saturated orange. Therefore, in this matter you need to focus solely on your taste, any variation of a 1: 1 ratio is allowed. From one carrot to one head of cabbage, to combine together a kilogram of each vegetable, as you like.
Adding salt
Chopped cabbage and grated carrots should be laid down on a clean table, sprinkle with salt at the rate of 1 tablespoon per kilogram of vegetables and, imagining that you are not a cabbage, but a dough, carefully knead the resulting mass. In this case, the juice should start to stand out from the cabbage, the more it will be, the better.
Salt for salting cabbage must be taken large and without any additives. Especially beware of iodized salt. She will make the cabbage slippery.
Packing
Prepared cabbage should be folded into any dish suitable for salting - a jar with a wide neck, cabbage, a small bucket. Moreover, you cannot dump it all at once, you must carefully tamp the previous layer before applying the next one. Properly laid cabbage should literally drown in brine.