You Kraut Do It

It's easy. Shred some cabbage. For every 5 lbs. Sprinkle and mix in 3 TBL of salt in a large bowl. Let it sit for a few minutes and the salt will extract moisture from the cabbage making its own brine.

Transfer to a gallon container (pickling crock or food-safe plastic container), pressing down as you go. I used glass jar, covered it with cheesecloth and weighted it down. I used a smaller glass container filled with water. Others have used a large, clean rock (that's been sanitized by boiling).

Store in a cool, dry place (but not the fridge...it's a retarded fermenter, I mean, it slows fermentation). Every day or so, check on it and remove the scum from the top. It will be ready in 3-6 weeks. It's up to you and your tastes. Then you can put in fridge or can it. Although "fresh" kraut has an amazing number of live cultures, so if you can (or preserve) it then you basically kill all that good stuff. I bet you it would still be tons better than the stuff you buy in the store though.

Good luck. That's my first batch when it was a week old. It is now a week gone!