In the old days, salting 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 pood kegs, thereby preparing a vitamin reserve, which should have been enough for the whole long winter. Nowadays, there is no need to harvest cabbage in such quantities, but the salting rules have remained the same.
Features of modern salting
A rare modern apartment boasts an extensive pantry, in which there would be room for a pot-bellied keg, and in general there is no need to pickle cabbage for the winter in such quantities. In the old days, it was required to process the harvested crop as quickly as possible so that it does not deteriorate. Today, all year round, you can go to the store, choose the head of cabbage you like there, pickle it in an ordinary three-liter jar and this cabbage will in no way be inferior to the one that our ancestors got.
Late-ripening cabbage varieties are most suitable for salting. Their heads of cabbage are distinguished by increased density and elasticity.
Shredding cabbage
The head of cabbage prepared for salting must be chopped. This can be done in various ways. For example, using a special shredder, grater or even a food processor. But the very thinnest shavings can only be achieved by classic manual cutting. To do this, cut the cabbage forks into 2-4 or even 8 parts, depending on its size, and remove a thin layer from the side of the resulting cut over and over again with a sharp knife.
Preparing carrots
The next step is to prepare the carrots. Moreover, the amount of this vegetable is not regulated by any rules. Someone likes only its rare inclusions, while someone, on the contrary, likes it when the cabbage itself and the pickle turn out to be a rich orange color. Therefore, in this matter, you need to focus solely on your taste, any variations of the 1: 1 ratio are allowed. From one carrot for one head of cabbage, to putting together one kilogram of each vegetable, as you like.
Adding salt
Shredded cabbage and carrots grated on a coarse grater should be laid out in a slide on a clean table, sprinkled with salt at the rate of 1 tablespoon per kilogram of vegetables and, imagining that this is not cabbage, but dough, carefully knead the resulting mass. At the same time, juice should begin to stand out from the cabbage, the more it is, the better.
Salt for pickling cabbage must be taken large and without any additives. You should especially beware of iodized salt. It will make the cabbage slippery.
Stacking in containers
The prepared cabbage must 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. Correctly laid cabbage should literally drown in brine.
Fermentation and storage
Cover the salted cabbage with something. For example, the top leaves previously set aside removed before shredding, a plate, a saucer, an inverted lid from a saucepan of a smaller diameter. Press down with something heavy and put in a warm place for 3-4 days. During this time, you will need to pierce the cabbage with something sharp to allow the gas bubbles formed during the fermentation process to escape. Ready cabbage can be put into the refrigerator, where it will be stored at least all winter without losing its taste and vitamin qualities.
