Allotment Hub UKCollapse sidebar
Summer cabbage from an allotment harvest

PRESERVING GUIDE

Preserving Summer cabbage

Make the most of your summer cabbage harvest with careful short term storage and preparation.

Shredded summer cabbage prepared for freezing beside a fresh cabbage half

Freezing Summer Cabbage

General preservation or storage guidance

Preparation About 25 minutes active, plus cooling and freezing

Summer cabbage freezes for cooked dishes after a brief blanch; cut the head into shreds, wedges or leaves so each piece heats evenly.

Method

  1. Choose a freshly picked, solid summer-cabbage head. Remove coarse outer leaves, rinse the head and cut it into medium-to-coarse shreds, thin wedges or separated leaves.
  2. Bring a large pan of water to a boil and blanch the prepared cabbage for 1½ minutes. Work in small batches so the water stays boiling.
  3. Cool promptly in cold water and drain very well. Pat dry if needed to limit ice crystals.
  4. Pack in freezer-safe containers, leaving about 1 cm headspace in rigid containers, or seal flat in freezer bags with excess air pressed out.
  5. Label and freeze promptly. Frozen cabbage is for cooked dishes because thawed leaves become limp; keep continuously frozen.

Storage

Freezer at −18°C or colder · Keep continuously frozen; no exact quality period stated

Sources and scope

Shredded summer cabbage fermenting beneath brine in a glass jar

Fermenting Summer Cabbage

General preservation or storage guidance

Preparation About 30 minutes active, plus 3–6 weeks fermenting depending on temperature

Summer cabbage can be made into sauerkraut with a measured salt-to-cabbage ratio and controlled fermentation; keep the shreds submerged throughout.

Method

  1. Use fresh, firm summer cabbage. Remove damaged outer leaves, rinse and drain; quarter the heads, remove cores and shred the cabbage about 6 mm (¼ in) thick.
  2. Work in batches of 2.3 kg (5 lb) cabbage. Mix each batch thoroughly with 3 tbsp pickling salt, then pack firmly into a clean food-grade fermentation crock until the cabbage releases enough juice to cover itself.
  3. Repeat in the same measured batches. Keep the cabbage below the brine with a clean plate and fermentation weight. If the juice does not cover it, use only the source recipe’s boiled-and-cooled brine: 1½ tbsp salt per 1 US quart (about 950 ml) water.
  4. Cover the vessel with a clean cloth. Ferment around 21–24°C (70–75°F) for about 3–4 weeks, or around 16–18°C (60–65°F) for 5–6 weeks; below 16°C it may not ferment and above 24°C it may soften. Follow the tested recipe’s completion guidance.
  5. When fermentation is complete, transfer with its brine to covered containers and refrigerate. Do not treat unprocessed sauerkraut as a cupboard-stable product; use the separate tested canning process if shelf storage is intended.

Storage

Refrigerator, tightly covered and submerged in brine, once fully fermented · NCHFP states fully fermented kraut keeps refrigerated for several months

Sources and scope

  • Sauerkraut — National Center for Home Food Preservation

    Method-specific source recorded in the prior content audit

← Back to all preserving guides