I want to pickle some red cabbage but would love experienced advice.

I tried quite a few times, years ago, but it always came out so damn salty it was inedible and had to be thrown out.

So I gave up trying!

Does anyone out there pickle their own red cabbage and if so, do you layer it in salt or weight it down in brine or spread it on a very big dish and just scatter a small amount of salt over it?
I've found recipes advising all of those! I was using the layering-in-salt method which works fine for pickling onions, but obviously not for red cabbage, although plenty of recipes say to do it...

Any experienced advice welcome!

laura

Laura, I have pickled red cabbage in the past using the the following method and it worked okay.

You've probably already tried this, but I:

Shredded the cabbage (1 medium size) and put it into a large dish- not metal
Sprinkled 3 tbsp of salt over and mixed with the cabbage
Put a weighted plate on top and left it for 24 hours to draw the excess moisture
Rinsed cabbage thoroughly and drained
Put it into airtight jar and cover with vinegar and sealed
Left it for 3 weeks

It's also nice with allspice berries added.

Hope that helps.

It's a LOT less salt than I used before when I packed it in layers of salt like with onions!

I'll go and shred and sprinkle and leave it... and get back to you in about three weeks' time to let you know if this one worked!

I bet it works - I reckon half the "old fashioned" recipes out there have been copied from somewhere without being used... the fact that this one is from someone who has actually used the recipe bodes well!

Thanks!

laura

Fingers crossed!

Three jars of gleaming glowing gorgeous garnet-red cabbage.... and I was surprised how much liquid was in the bottom of the dish from only 3 spoons of salt. It obviously doesn't need as much as I was directed to use in other recipes!

laura

That's good Laura, I hope it turns out okay. It's been trial and error for me, but this amount of salt seemed to do the trick.

I love pickled cabbage (pickled anything really) with good quality ham and mustard mash...better go, I'm drooling now.

Donna x

Drooling here too! ;-)

I'm about to give up smoking, so I'm looking for sneaky ways to reduce calories without feeling deprived, since I'm expecting to eat a lot to replace the cigs... and so I'm going to have pickled red cabbage (fat - zero, sugar - zero, calories - tiny) with my lunch to replace the big dollops of full-fat coleslaw I usually have! ;-)

laura

IT'S GORGEOUS!!!!

I just ate lunch with the most crisp and crunchy and bright bright red pickled cabbage and it tastes WONDERFUL!!!!!

Thankyou so much... booklady, you've no idea how nice it is to be able to pickle my own cabbage again after all these years! I shall copy it into my Stillroom Book and call it Donna's Pickled Red Cabbage (unless you'd rather be 'booklady' when my nieces' grand-daughters read it!)

Mmmm... lovely! Really good texture and flavour and not at all salty!

laura (exceedingly happy)

Good gracious this sounds amazing. I'll have to try it! How long does it keep?

I like the sound of this...going to have a go myself. Just some questions...I've never done anything like this before....


- What type of vinegar is best (white, brown or pickling?)
- Airtight jar? (would a jam jar be ok with a screwtop lid?)
- Seal? (just screw lid on jar? or ???)
- What are allspice berries?

Told you I hadn't done anything like this before? (lol) Thanks for any pointers you can give. Also....how long will it keep (need refrigeration after opening???) Ta.

Jacquie x

Jacquie, I used Sarson's Pickling Vinegar, ready-made, but in the past when pickling onions I usually use malt vinegar and simmer it up with peppercorns, allspice berries (which I found in a normal big supermarket).

I just use jamjars and screw the lid on. It's not like preserves that need an airtight seal. The only thing is to check the lid has a plastic lining or varnish (they nearly all do now) as if the vinegar is against a raw metal lid, it tastes like eating tinfoil against your fillings, eeeeuuuuwwwww... I remember that from childhood when jars often had raw-metal lids, horrible!

Pickled red cabbage doesn't keep as long as pickled onions, well it does but goes soft sooner - but at the rate I'm crunching through booklady's recipe, the shelf-life is a bit of a non-question!!!!

laura

Thanks Laura...I'll be giving this a try very soon.

Jacquie x