Posted on 09/15/2009 9:17:23 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Talk to local gardeners, and they’re going to talk about the late spring and the unusually cool summer growing season. In that monologue, you’re going to hear about the so-so onions and slow tomatoes, but also about the stupendous production of cabbages, broccoli and cauliflower.
Charles Szakacs reaped the benefits of a cool growing season when his Copenhagen cabbages more than doubled their weight and size. These select giant cabbages weighed around 19 pounds, but more came in at 15 and 16 pounds a head.
“I picked one batch of 14 cabbages that weighed 183 pounds,” he said.
On the family homestead between Caputa and Farmingdale, Szakacs plants a quarter-acre garden. Only 120 feet from Rapid Creek, he is able to irrigate the entire garden daily over several hours. He adds compost to the soil to keep the weeds down. It’s surrounded by a 6-foot chain-link fence to keep the deer out. An electrified wire on top of the fence keeps the raccoons out of the corn.
Inside of this fenced plot is a cornucopia of vegetables. “My father liked to garden,” Szakacs said.
His garden includes 180 tomato plants, 1,200 onions, beets, cucumbers, asparagus and potatoes.
“She (wife Marion Grant) got me started gardening nine years ago and I got carried away,” Szakacs said.
This year, his 100 Copenhagen and 225 cabbages produced a bumper crop for his favorite condiment — sauerkraut.
“The only reason why they got this big was because of the cool weather,” he said.
Using a giant-sized mandolin slicer, he runs his cabbages through in a matter of minutes, creating a raw cabbage slaw that is crisp and pungent. He will grate about four of his large cabbages — 75 pounds of slaw — for his 10-gallon crock that will eventually be packed and salted. Then it will be left to ferment for three weeks.
“Out of that, I’ll get roughly 60 quarts of sauerkraut,” he said.
Each quart jar weighs about two pounds, including the jar. Dozens of jars of golden sauerkraut gleam in their glass containers, ready to add biting flavor to sausages, kielbasa and hot dogs.
“Yeah, I got a lot of friends who like it,” Szakacs said. “Howard Nold started me three years ago making the stuff. He was so busy he couldn’t make it, so he started me.”
Luckily, Szakacs loves to cook.
His mother was an organizer of the local 4-H clubs and a member of the South Dakota Cowbelles, where she served as a state officer. Gardening and cooking were introduced into Szakacs’ life at an early age. He generally does his picking on the weekends, prepping the produce for drying, freezing or canning, then begins the canning process. His jars not only fill the pantry shelves, but offer other healthful benefits.
“I work in construction and I do this for a hobby to relieve stress,” he said.
Making sauerkraut
You don’t need gigantic cabbages to make sauerkraut, but it helps. Charles Szakacs reaped the benefits of a cool spring and summer with cabbages that were more than twice the size expected. He offers his simple recipe for sauerkraut.
Sauerkraut
75 pounds cabbage, cored and grated
2-1/4 cups pickling salt
Caraway seeds, optional
1 10-gallon crock
1 cheesecloth
A fitted lid for the crock
8-pound weights
Wash, core and cut out blemishes of 75 pounds of cabbage. Grate into a rough slaw and set aside. Layer the slaw cabbage into the bottom of the 10-gallon crock, salting the layer with about 2 tablespoons of pickling salt. Sprinkle lightly with caraway seeds. Pack down tightly and go to next layer. Continue in the manner for the first 50 pounds of cabbage. Szakacs said he has used about 1-1/2 cups pickling salt at this point.
For the next 25 pounds, use 3/4 cup salt to sprinkle each layer lightly, using only several teaspoons on each layer. Pack the cabbage slaw tightly. When finished, cover with cheesecloth, cover cheesecloth with lid and keep lid weighted with an 8-pound weight.
During the three weeks of fermenting, take the cheesecloth out each day to wash, wring out and replace. Pack the cabbage and replace cheesecloth on top of cabbage, replace lid and add weights. Change cheesecloth and pack cabbage daily.
At the end of three weeks, it’s ready for canning.
“It will take about 7-1/2 hours to can that entire crock,” Szakacs said.
Hot-Pack Method from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
Prepare canner, jars and lids.
In a large stainless steel saucepan, bring sauerkraut, with brine, to a simmer over medium-high heat. Do not boil. Pack hot sauerkraut and brine into hot jars, leaving 1/2-inch or 1 cm headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding more brine. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process pint jars for 10 minutes and quart jars for 15 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.
Tips
Fermentation may take up to six weeks, depending on atmospheric conditions and variations in the cabbage itself.
A jar lifter is very helpful for handling hot, wet jars. Because they are bulky and fit loosely, oven mitts — even water-resistant types — are not a wise choice. When filling jars, an all-purpose rubber glove, worn on your helper hand, will allow you to steady the jar.
A clear plastic ruler, kept solely for kitchen use, will help you determine the correct headspace. Each filled jar should be measured accurately, as the headspace can affect sealing and the preservation of the contents.
He shredded it into a big earthenware crock that must have held about 10 gallons. I don't know what he put into it other than cabbage and salt. Then he covered it with a cloth and a big plate, weighted down with ceramic-covered bricks. Then it just set, got juicy, and fermented. That was it.
It just saddens me when I think of how, when he moved from PA down to TN in his old age, we sold off all his equipment to a junk dealer for chump change. It must have been worth hundreds of dollars.
And the kraut was priceless. Long-fermented at cool temperature (down in the fruit cellar) and with a heady, exquisite taste.
Kraut cooked with apples and onions, plus pork and mashed potatoes and butter: heavenly.
That was rude.
We love Reuben sandwiches! Yum, yum, yum!!!
Here’s a link to sauerkraut making products from Lehman’s Non-Electric Catalog.
http://www.lehmans.com/cgi-bin/lehmans/dyna/dynagiDM1Q?page_number=1
Oh my...so are we.
We absolutely love them homemade.
After reading this, I’m making reubens today.....with my own kraut that I canned this year! :-)
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You had to add that, didn't you? :)
Yay, Lehman’s!
Sorry I didn’t get back until just now....and yes! I sure did!! I put caraway seeds in mine too!
We had the sandwiches for lunch and they were wonderful with fresh pumpernickel rye and provolone with homemade dressing! :-)
Thanks for the recipe ... will be cooking it very soon. I don’t use the ‘spines’ of the cabbage either.
I’ll try the radish pods for sure and I thank you for the info. My husband loves radishes, but I don’t like them at all. Do the pods taste like radishes, or is it different?
It was a copy of metmom's post with sandwich substitued for the original reference. Posted to remind metmom of her rude post.
I sure didn't. But I notice that your crowd always manages to see the evil in the innocent.
*My crowd*? And who’s that?
tP for one.
Sorry that the thread got hijacked. I’m done with any responses to the troll.
That was in response to clearly stated references to homosexuality posted by another FReeper, nothing like this thread.
Your reason is not enough justification for stalking me across threads and harassing me about things off topic.
I wasn't stalking. It came up in the "Comments Tab". You do know that your posts are comming up in the Comments Tab.
They DO taste like radishes, but not as powerful. They are great in salads, and just to munch on when you’re wandering around your garden. The bees really like the flowers, too! They always seem to be buzzing around that bush when I’m out there!
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