Canning red cabbage?

[ORChick]

I've been trying to find guidelines for canning German red cabbage with apples, but not having any luck. It would seem that canning cabbage is not recommended unless it is fermented (Sauerkraut) or has enough vinegar added to make it almost a pickle - which is what the only recipe in the BBB is like. My DH doesn't "do" sour - and I don't want a pickle in this instance - so I usually add only enough vinegar or red wine to give it a bit of zip, and to retain the color.

My recipe is sliced red cabbage lightly sauteed with peeled sliced apples, and some onion, with a few Tablespoons of ACV added (which helps keep the color). When the cabbage is soft I add some broth, cover, and let it simmer till the cabbage is cooked. I usually add pepper and some caraway (and my German cookbook suggests a spoonful of sugar, and a pinch of cloves; and then some red wine at the end, which I don't always add)

For canning I would probably take it to the point of adding the broth, and then put it in jars for the pressure canner, but can't find any guidelines for this. Anybody done this?

 

[ORChick]

OK, I've done some more research, and found a few sources saying that the texture of canned cabbage isn't good, and that it can become unacceptably strong flavored, and that is why it is not recommended - not because it isn't safe (though I did run across that comment a couple of times as well). I found only one source giving the amount of time in the canner, although that was a poster on another forum, and not any sort of "authority figure". At least one source said that red cabbage doesn't get as strong flavored as green cabbage.

So, I think I am going to try this. According to the one poster who gave times, canning pints of plain cabbage for 45 min., or qts for 55 min (at 10# pressure) should be fine; and as my recipe has some (though not much) added acid that should also help. I will use a vegetable broth, rather than the beef broth I usually use, and maybe a little more ACV.

 

[animalfarm]

You have me drooling. That would go really well with my smoked ham and be a nice change from sour krout. I do believe I am going to give it shot with canning as well. I have some old German cookbooks and will give them a look see for any suggestions.

 

[ORChick]

You have me drooling. That would go really well with my smoked ham and be a nice change from sour krout. I do believe I am going to give it shot with canning as well. I have some old German cookbooks and will give them a look see for any suggestions.

Getting a recipe from your German cookbooks is a good idea; I love mine, and use them a lot. But I would hesitate to use any recipe for canning from those sources, even if you find them. I am always looking for food preservation ideas when I am in Europe, and also have checked a couple of German websites, but some of the things that are suggested scare me. Pickles, fermentation, jams and jellies ... all fine and good. But anything that the BBB says ought to be pressure canned? No, I won't follow European suggestions. Sometimes I think that the "Canning Powers That Be" in this country are way over the top when it comes to some of their guidelines, but on the other hand some of the suggestions I have read in German books or on German sites seem to have no consciousness that botulism even exists; if the jar seals, then all must be good :/. My personal feeling is to use the BBB as a guide, and temper it with common sense, and extrapolate a little if necessary (as in this red cabbage thing)

 

[ORChick]

OK, beating a dead horse here, as well as preaching to the choir, but here is an example of what scares me about some European preserving recipes.
I just found a recipe for red cabbage which is very like what I use, though she specifies using lard or goose fat for the initial sauteeing, and 2 cups of beef broth, as well as thickening the sauce with 4 Tbls of flour. And for preserving it? Fill some screw top jars (like jam jars) to the very top (to exclude oxygen) with boiling cabbage, twist the lid on tightly, and when its cool store it in a cool dark place.
In the comments was a question about whether this was enough, or if the jars should be sterilized in some way. Her answer was "If your jars have the lids pulled down after cooling you can store them forever, similar to jam" (Translation mine)

Scary!

Oops! I know its my thread, and all, but I apologize for the thread drift!

 

[moolie]

When hubs and I were first married we went camping one weekend with another couple. We were over at their home one evening a few days before the trip, and the wife was showing me some dinners that she had "canned" for the trip--a quart of stew, a quart of chili, and a quart of spaghetti sauce with meat--all "open kettle canned" similarly to what you've described above.

I think the only reason they didn't die was that her husband insisted that they keep the jars in the cooler on ice.

I can't imagine what would have happened if they had got sick--because we were at a campsite reached by motor boat across a big lake from the end of the logging road near Ucluelet/Tofino BC (a pretty place called Kennedy Lake).

 

[moolie]

ORChick, would you mind posting your Red Cabbage with Apples recipe? I think I've had something similar in the past and it was delicious, I'd love to try it on my family

 

[ORChick]

When hubs and I were first married we went camping one weekend with another couple. We were over at their home one evening a few days before the trip, and the wife was showing me some dinners that she had "canned" for the trip--a quart of stew, a quart of chili, and a quart of spaghetti sauce with meat--all "open kettle canned" similarly to what you've described above.

I think the only reason they didn't die was that her husband insisted that they keep the jars in the cooler on ice.

I can't imagine what would have happened if they had got sick--because we were at a campsite reached by motor boat across a big lake from the end of the logging road near Ucluelet/Tofino BC (a pretty place called Kennedy Lake).

DH and I got further up Vancouver Island than just Victoria for the first time a few years ago. It was a very pretty drive to Tofino, even in the rain. The rain forest walks were just stunning.

 

[ORChick]

German Red Cabbage - Rotkohl, or (in some parts of Germany) Blaukraut (Blue cabbage)


This is adapted from a basic German cookbook that was given us as a wedding present lo, these many years ago (38, to be exact, in just about a week from now )

1 kg/2 lbs red cabbage
80g/about 5 Tbls lard, or bacon grease, or goose fat, or whatever fat you want
3 cooking apples
1/2 onion, peeled and diced
Salt
1 Tbls sugar
2 Tbls vinegar (I use ACV) - This helps to keep the color
Caraway seed, to taste - optional
1/4 liter/1 cup beef broth or water
1/8 liter/1/2 cup red wine if desired


Cut the cabbage into shreds. Peel the apples, and cut into thick slices. Heat the fat, and turn the apples in pan for a minute or two, along with the chopped onion. Add the cabbage, salt, sugar, vinegar and caraway. Cook on low heat for about 5 minutes, and then add the broth. Cover, and simmer till done (the book says one hour; I don't cook it that long). Before serving add the wine, if using.

ETA: This is how I usually make this, more or less. For canning though (my experiment for tomorrow) I will make it vegetarian, and use vegetable broth, and a plant based fat.

 

[moolie]

Copied and saved, THANKS! Sounds very yummy