Teresa I use Annie's recipe , hopefully Annie will see this and chime in but here is my two cents worth.

I don't see any reason why you could not do 5 pounds. The ration is 3 TBSP salt to 5 lbs cabbage. I kept the cabbage in my kitchen at about 68-70 degrees, the room gets lots of sunlight but I kept the kraut out of any direct sum light but it sure wasn't dark! . Worked like a charm.

1. I make a quart at a time and consume it raw. I keep the extra in the refrigerator (where it keeps well for 3-4 weeks), or frozen. Heat processing (canning) destroys the healthy benefits of the kraut. Kraut and kraut juice were a primary source of vitamin C in northern climates, many years ago. Heat it and the vitamin C is destroyed. Do a search on - health benefits of sauerkraut - for more information.

This recipe is a combination from the books, "Nourishing Traditions", and "The Splendid Grain".

SAUERKRAUT

Makes about 3-1/2 cups.

1 lg. head cabbage, green or purple
1 T. sea salt
1 T. caraway seeds (optional)
1-2 cloves garlic (optional)
4 T. whey (use an additional 1 T. salt if whey is not available) [Note: you can get whey from drained yogurt - I use whey from homemade kefir)

Remove the coarse or dry outer cabbage leaves. Cut the cabbage lengthwise into sections. Grate on the small holes of a hand grater or with the small grater blade of a food processor. Mix the cabbage with the salt, caraway seeds, whey and garlic. Pound with a wooden pounder or a meat hammer for about 10 minutes to release juices. Place in a quart-sized, wide-mouth mason jar and press down firmly with a pounder or meat hammer until juices come to the top of the cabbage. The cabbage should be at least 1-inch below the top of the jar.

Use a pint jar small enough to fit inside the wide-mouth jar as a weight. Fill the small jar with water and cover tightly. Place on top of the grated cabbage. Set the jars on a glass plate (I use a glass pie plate) to collect any overflow that might occur. A brine will form and rise to the surface within 24 hours. The water-filled jar will keep the cabbage submerged in the brine.

The kraut will be ready in 3-5 days, or when it has a pleasant and tangy fermented flavor and each piece is translucent rather than opaque. Remove the small jar. Wash the sides of the wide-mouthed jar and cover. (I use plastic jar lids designed to be used on canning jars.)

Helpful hint: Be sure your jars are clean. I scald my jars before using them for fermented foods.

2. It's easier than you think. A temperature of 60 to 75°F range seems to be a general fermentation temperature. You might find the link below helpful (a picture speaks a thousand words...)

Other sites:

Weston A. Price Foundation - http://westonaprice.org/motherlinda/sauerkraut.html

Health Dispatch - information and recipe
http://www.drdavidwilliams.com/Legacy/nc/dispatch_sample092704.aspx

-Grainlady

Teresa, I don't keep mine in a dark place either, I just put it in a 5 gallon food safe bucket and put the lid on, after weighting it down. I do know some people just let it sit and ferment in quart jars on the shelf, I don't think the "dark" part is very important. Dad's was always on his unheated front porch.

My recipe, which was Grandpa's, is 5 lbs. of cabbage and 3 tbls of salt. Michigan State University uses the same "formula". I don't see any reason why you can't do a much smaller amount, I just do a lot because it takes those weeks to ferment so I let a bunch ferment and then can it and I'm done for the year.

I weight mine with a plate and jars filled with brine, but Aunt LulaBelle uses a ziplock bag filled with brine to weight hers down and it works fine too.

How do I tell when it's done? I taste. (shrug) It's the only way that works for me. As for packing it, I don't use any tools except my hands, although Grandpa had a handy wooden tool he used to pack the sauerkraut into his crock. I just do a layer of 5 lbs of cabbage and 3 tbls of salt, mix with my hands then make a fist with each hand and lean on the mixture as hard as I can. It'll get pretty juicy in just a couple of minutes, then I add a layer. With a small amount, I don't think much packing is required, just enough to get "juice" to cover the kraut.

Here are the instructions from MSU, includign a table on times to allow to ferment, depending on temperature.

PROCEDURE: Work with about 5 pounds of cabbage at a
time. Discard outer leaves. Rinse heads under cold running
water and drain. Cut heads in quarters and remove cores.
Shred or slice to a thickness of a quarter. Put cabbage in a suitable fermentation container (see explanation following processing times) and add 3 tablespoons of salt. Mix thoroughly, using clean hands. Pack firmly until salt draws juices from cabbage. Repeat shredding, salting, and packing until all cabbage is in the container. Be sure the
container is deep enough so that its rim is at least 4 or 5 inches above the cabbage. If juice does not cover cabbage, add boiled and cooled brine (1-1/2 tablespoons of salt per quart of water). Add plate and weights, cover container with a clean bath towel. Store at 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit while fermenting. At temperatures between 70 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, kraut will be fully fermented in about 3 to 4 weeks; at 60 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit, fermentation may take 5 to 6 weeks. At temperatures lower than 60 degrees Fahrenheit kraut may not ferment. Above 75 degrees Fahrenheit, kraut may become soft. If you weigh the cabbage down with a brine-filled bag (6 tablespoons salt to 1 gallon of water), do not disturb the crock until normal fermentation is completed (when bubbling ceases). If you use jars as weight, you will have to check the kraut 2 to 3 times each week and remove scum if it forms. Fully fermented kraut may be kept tightly covered in the refrigerator for several months or it may be canned.

Good luck, I did a full 5 gallon bucket this year, and now I think I need to eat some pretty soon, I'd kind of forgotten it was down in the basement.

Gosh, I make kraut twice a year, and make enough to last 6 months in the fridge...never had any go bad. I don't want to can it, as I like the crunch.

I've made kimchee that has lasted for over a year in the fridge without problem, I don't see that kraut is all that different. If you let it get to the point where it is purely sour, and not salty, you can go ahead and make a big batch and just keep it in the fridge (or distribute jars to friends!). 5 pounds of cabbage really isn't that much.

It will be just me eating the kraut unless mom and dad want some so I wanted to start small. I bought one head of fresh cabbage at Steve's yesterday. I figured he would have the freshest produce and I was right. So I will use Grainlady's recipe today and see how it goes. If I have success I can do a 5 lb. batch. Last night I checked the laundry room temp and it was only about 50F, but then I left the door cracked open and it warmed up to 60-65F so I think that is the place to put the fermenting cabbage.

Thanks to you all for your help.
Teresa

Well my cabbage is nicely chopped and in the scalded food grade plastic container, mashed down with my plastic potato masher for 10 minutes, with a couple of whole cabbage leaves on top, then a small plate, then two bags of water to weight it all down. I used sea salt....but then checked the box and it has an anti caking additive!! OH NO!

Is all lost??? And I have kosher salt too!
Should I rinse the cabbage and start over with the kosher salt? Please help!

Teresa, since the cabbage has already given up its juice, I'd let it go as is. From what I understand the anticaking stuff may only cause cloudiness, and if it's "yellow prussiate of soda" type, it doesn't cause it.

Yes, I'm with Earl. If you rinse it and start over, I don't think it will have much flavor, as all the cabbage juice will be gone, and you'll have to add water to form the brine.