Kraut-Making Day A Successful Marketing Tool For Michigan Vegetable Grower

Long after the last pumpkin is carted off in a family’s wagon with donut holes and caramel apples, and long before the first quart of juicy u-pick strawberries get smeared across a toddler’s face in June, George VanHoutte of Macomb County has hit upon another great family attraction at his farm: sauerkraut. The tart cultural food is fun to make and eat.

VanHoutte and his employee, Wayne Bondy, came up with the idea 12 years ago when customers asked how to make sauerkraut with the winter white cabbages that hit the farm stand late in the season. Instead of just handing out a recipe, they decided to invite everyone out to learn together, for free. They chose the second Saturday of January, when things finally slowed down at the farm, and the kraut makers liked the post-holiday timing too. They decided to make kraut pounders from four-by-fours and PVC tubing, and encouraged bringing a dish to pass and BYOB: Bring Your Own Bucket. Twelve years later, VanHoutte’s free community event keeps bringing in new kraut-makers.

The process for making sauerkraut is simple. Cabbage is peeled until the head is clear of any blemishes. Then, it is cut in half, cored and thinly sliced. Next, kosher salt is added at a rate of 3 tablespoons per 5 pounds of cabbage. Then, a couple of inches of the salty mixture is added to the bottom of a crock or bucket and pounded with a wooden baseball bat or mallet until juicy.

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