I use Johnsonville Brats for this recipe and brown them whole, let them sit for 10 minutes before slicing keeps in the juice. A great recipe and a family favorite.

[QUOTE=LittleDog;1462917 In addition to it tasting good it also is a great laxative.

John[/QUOTE]

Way TMI!

This made me hungry reading yesterday so as I'm typing the crock pot is doing its job with pork chops and kraut will be ready at 4:00 I'm ready for it right now.

Thanks! But did you know you can drink beer even when you're not eating it? :beer3:

Oh! Add the dumplings, but deny you did it. ;)

Gracie, dear, you just reminded me of a moment. I was a sophomore in college in Boston. At the conservatory, due to space limitations, only freshmen could live in the dorm, so I had an apartment. My (100% Polish) father came to visit and I decided to make a Polish dinner for him including pierogis, herring in sour cream, I forget the main dish, and stewed sauerkraut. He loved it all!

And BTW, he was called Henry. Or Hank. Of course, his name was Henryk like mine, but after WWII, one tried to make one's name sound "American," not "foreign."

Love the recipe. My mother used to do that.

My Polish grandfather would occasionally call the kids "kapusta głowa." (If you can't see this well, try Ctrl+ a few times.) The "ł" is unique to Polish, I think. It's hard to transliterate, but instead of sounding like "ell" it's sort of eh-wlh, so it sounds like kah-poos-tah gwo-vah, which means "cabbage head." LOL.

LOVE kraut! Going to have some with my meatloaf at lunchtime today. Yes, we have made our own. All it takes is some cabbage, salt, water, and time. We put the "raw" cabbage in canning jars. After tending to the water level in the jars for 6 weeks, we pop them into a pressure cooker and process the jars for canning. Comes out great. Always add caraway seeds when heating it up.

In answer to your question.....IMO, sauerkraut does not have to be 'cooked', as it is already 'cooked' in it's own juices during the fermentation process. Sauerkraut is made by layering sliced or shredded cabbage and salt and then breaking down the cabbage with the salt to release the moisture from the cabbage. It then is allowed to sit, lightly covered for a period of weeks and the reaction of the salt and the cabbage ferments. At that point the bubbly fermentation at the top of the container is carefully removed and the cabbage & juices can be canned or kept under refrigeration until used.

It is not necessary to cook it further, with heat, unless that is your preference. My grandmother would make a wonderful salad with her 'new' sauerkraut, fresh out of the crock in the basement, mixed with celery, carrots and radishes and a dressing of a bit of cider vinegar, water, sugar and celery seeds. She also taught me how to layer the sauerkraut with pork and allow it to bake, low and slow, until the pork was 'fall-off-the-bone' tender and the kraut was soft and mellow, without it's sharp sour taste. Sometimes she would add sliced or grated apple to 'sweeten' the kraut.

So, in answer to your original question, NO, it is not absolutely necessary to cook sauerkraut. You do so to alter the flavor or crispness. It's all a matter of personal preference.

And let me add, whether you cook it or not ~ it's a wonderful addition to so many meals and a personal favorite of mine!

LOL! My grandmother referred to that as 'the mother'. Same thing with jelly and jam sealed with wax. Just scrape it off.

Today, you can pay a premium for apple cider vinegar with the mother. It is a bacterial/amino acid complex, and foodies claim it is really good for you.

Thanks for your reply. I think I'll try to make my own. I've made kimchee a few times with good success. Kraut has got to be easier than that!

Actually, if your mother is still active, you can use it to start a new batch, too.

We make all the wonderful Polish foods on New Year's Day. We buy kraut, pierogies and kielbasa at the Polish deli in Leesburg. Bob cooks the kielbasa, kraut and beer in a crockpot just until heated. Sometimes the kraut needs a little brown sugar. So good.

For a lazy way, go to Aldi's and buy the Deutsche Kutchen (spelling?) brand straight from Germany. Very good. I do cook it a bit and any good pork based products can be added. Bacon, chops, pork ribs, Kielbasa, or these days, lower fat Turkey sausage. I’m only half German and cooked with my German grandmother. And yes, she added dumplings. I drank and sang with my Irish father! The best of both worlds. How I long for those days again.

I buy prepackaged in a bag. Rinse it once and throw it in crockpot for few hours with kielbasa. Tastes great.