Grandma's Kraut Cutter

Kraut Cutters are a great primitive wall art collectible.  They look great in your kitchen or even in your laundry room along side of your washboard.  I am fortunate to own my grandmother's kraut cutter.  It's the one in the bottom picture.  The small square box sitting in front of it is a cabbage box.  You would place half of a head of cabbage, cut side down, in the box and use the box to move the cabbage back and forth across the kraut cutter blades to keep from cutting your fingers.  The middle picture has the cabbage box attached to the cutter for display purposes.  The top two cutters are very old and will be for sale in the Persnickety Primitives shop.  There is nothing quite like home made sauerkraut.  Recently my brother made a batch of sauerkraut the old fashioned way.  Making sauerkraut the old fashioned way is quite an adventure.  First you have to have just the right fermenting vessel.  A straight sided crock works great.  Once the cabbage has been shredded, it is mixed with coarse salt and layered until the cabbage is several inches below the rim of the fermenting crock.  The salt brings out the moisture in the cabbage to start the fermenting process.  If the moisture does not cover the cabbage, you can add a little boiling water.  Once done, the cabbage is weighted down with a plate with something heavy on top of that to keep the cabbage covered in the liquid while it ferments.  The fermentation process takes several weeks.  Once finished, the sauerkraut can be kept in the refrigerator or canned in Mason or Ball jars.  There is nothing like the taste of homemade sauerkraut, whether it is served as a side dish or piled high on a Reuben sandwich.  If you would like to try your hand at making sauerkraut, there are numerous recipes available on the internet.