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Homemade green sauerkraut with pale moist cabbage shreds in a ceramic bowl
Ebonie Garnica

No-Pound Sauerkraut for GAPS

Plain cabbage sauerkraut made with two thirty-minute salted bowl rests and stirring before packing. No pounding or kneading. Cabbage solids fit Intro Stage 3 onward and Full GAPS. Readiness is based on taste and stopped gas.
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Prep Time 1 hour
Fermentation (Approximate Minimum) 7 days
Total Time 7 days 1 hour
Servings: 1 batch; about 1 quart, depending on head size
Course: Condiment, Side Dish
Cuisine: GAPS
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 head fresh medium green cabbage reserve a clean whole cover leaf from the same head before shredding
  • 1 tablespoon plain natural sea salt
  • filtered water only a little if needed to maintain submersion

Equipment

  • Knife and stable cutting board
  • Large glass mixing bowl
  • Tablespoon measure
  • Clean tea towel
  • Wide-mouth quart glass jar plus extra jars as needed
  • Fitting glass fermentation weight
  • Pressure-releasing lid or ordinary screw lid with pressure release
  • Tray for the jars

Method
 

  1. Clean the bowl, utensils, jars and glass weights. Remove damaged outer cabbage leaves, reserve a clean whole cover leaf, quarter and core the cabbage, then shred it into thin pieces.
  2. Put the shredded cabbage in a large glass bowl and toss evenly with natural sea salt, using the amount in the ingredient list.
  3. Cover with a clean tea towel and rest thirty minutes. Remove the towel and stir, keeping all released juice in the bowl.
    Plain cabbage after its first thirty-minute salted bowl rest for GAPS, with lightly wet shreds and released juice in a glass bowl
  4. Re-cover and rest another thirty minutes. Remove the towel and stir again. The cabbage should be wet and flexible, with juice collecting in the bowl. Do not pound or knead.
    Plain cabbage after its second 30-minute bowl rest with a wet used wooden spoon and released juice
  5. Pack firmly into clean wide-mouth glass jars in layers, pressing out large air gaps and adding the juice from the bowl. Fold the reserved cabbage leaf over the shreds and add a fitting glass weight. Keep the vegetables submerged, with about two inches of headspace. Add only a little filtered water if needed for submersion.
  6. Fit pressure-releasing fermentation lids or ordinary screw lids. With standard lids, briefly loosen daily during the first few days to release gas, then close again. Continue checking as activity slows; follow airlock setup directions if used. Keep around 70°F out of direct sunlight. During the first twenty-four hours check a few times and press the cabbage beneath its liquid with a clean utensil as needed.
  7. Allow roughly one week to one month, depending on temperature. For GAPS readiness, the cabbage should taste sharply acidic and no more gas should be coming from it. Refrigerate the completed kraut with its brine and use clean utensils to serve.

Notes

Rest: Two thirty-minute bowl rests, separated by stirring, happen before packing. No pounding or kneading.
Time: Prep lists the source one-hour rest total; chopping and packing take additional unmeasured time. Fermentation commonly takes one week to one month. For GAPS readiness, use sharp acidity and stopped gas.
Yield: About one quart, depending on cabbage head size and packing. Use enough jars to maintain about two inches of headspace.
GAPS: Cabbage solids start gradually at Intro Stage 3 and continue through Full GAPS. Earlier Intro uses juice from the completed ferment. No-Plant GAPS has a separate juice role and excludes cabbage solids.
Storage: Refrigerate completed cabbage covered with its brine. Use clean utensils and keep the remaining food submerged.

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