Sauerkraut is easy to make at home; it mostly requires cabbage, salt and time.

First, clean and core the cabbage.

Next, finely shred the cabbage to about the thickness of a nickel.

The key to good sauerkraut is controlled fermentation; this is acheived by cool temperatures and lactic acid-loving bacteria. Your hands and the container need to be immaculately clean so that the cabbage does not pick up bacteria that may rot it instead of fermenting.

A large, enameled stockpot is a good place to make sauerkraut should you lack a wooden barrel or a piece of glazed crockery. The heavy metal will help to keep the temperature steady and the enamel will prevent the salt and lactic-acid brine from reacting with the metal. Under no circumstances should you use a bare metal pot to make sauerkraut, as the acidic brine would leach metals out into the cabbage.

After thoroughly coating the shredded cabbage with salt and layering it into the crock of your choice, make sure that there is enough brine covering the cabbage. (This may take an hour or so for the liquid to leach out of the leaves and cover the future sauerkraut.) A little extra brine may be made from boiling water and salt, cooled and then added to the shredded cabbage before covering the whole assembly with plastic wrap and a heavy plate. The plate will serve to keep the mixture submerged so that fermentation is undisturbed.

After a few weeks of fermenting at 50F, the finished sauerkraut is a pale, creamy color and full of rich, briny flavor. It is recommended that sauerkraut is rinsed and drained before use to control the salt levels in the dish.