The cold preservation method, which is salting cabbage for the winter, allows you to maximize preserve all the useful properties of this vegetable and the vitamins contained in it. Earlier in Russia, salted cabbage was the only type of canned food available to every family that ate during the whole winter and spring, escaping vitamin deficiency. But salted sauerkraut in itself is an excellent appetizer and a side dish for many dishes.
Pick your recipe
The time when you need to harvest salted cabbage
In almost every family there were and are salted cabbage recipes that are passed down from generation to generation. Tasty, fragrant and crispy sauerkraut was the pride of any housewife. But it was important not only to use the right recipe and the right ingredients, but also to observe the time frame in which the cabbage was really great.
First of all, the heads of cabbage were not removed until the first frosts hit, still weak enough to freeze the heads of cabbage, but under the influence of which the acid was converted into sugar. Usually, in the middle lane, salting of cabbage began in mid-November, on the 10th, 10-14 days after the start of frost.
Salted cabbage, in addition to vitamins and minerals, contains nicotinic and lactic acid, as well as fiber, useful for peristalsis and digestion.
In addition to this period, which is fully explained by obvious reasons, there were other beliefs. A rational explanation did not exist for them, but, nevertheless, they should be scrupulously adhered to. The days of the full moon were considered unsuitable for pickling cabbage, they believed that if you harvest it these days, it will turn out acidic and soft, will not crunch. But the 5-6 day of the new moon was considered the most suitable. In addition, cabbage needed to be salted only on the "male" days of the week - Monday, Tuesday or Thursday. And of course, cabbage categorically did not work out if the hostess was engaged in its harvesting during her critical days.
How to choose the right cabbage
But all the same, how tasty the salted cabbage will turn out to be depends not on the phase of the lunar calendar, but on what quality the raw material will be. When choosing white cabbage, it is better to take large well-ripened head of cabbage weighing 3-4 kg, white in color with leaves closely adjacent to each other. A distinctive feature of such a cabbage is the shape of a head of cabbage - it is slightly flattened.
For salting cabbage, you can not use iodized salt - only coarse grind.
When salting for aroma and taste, apples of hard varieties can be added to cabbage, in this quality they usually use Antonovka or Semirenko. Layers of cabbage can also be sprinkled with cranberries, sometimes it is replaced with lingonberries. From spices, add dry dill seeds, bay leaf. Salt cabbage with carrots, grated on a coarse grater.
Related article
Which moon salt cabbage