Sweet Sour Red Cabbage, canned

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   I had this 5 gallon pail of red cabbage from a neighbor we barter with--they didn't know what to do with the red cabbage (and lots of green--used for sauerkraut) and so I made sweet sour red cabbage, canned it, they get half and we get half.

My son and I chopped (in little squares versus shredding like you might do for sauerkraut) all the red cabbage filling 2-5 or 6  quart kettles, sprinkling each with a few tablespoons of canning salt. Let it sit for 24 hours to draw out the moisture.

The next day, I added 2 cups vinegar to each kettle and steamed it down until it's volume was reduced by about half. Steam slowly to avoid scorching, stirring often.
All of it went into just one kettle. I added 1/4 cup salt (it already had some salt in it), and 4 cups of sugar, 2 Tablespoons of Cinnamon, brought it to a boil--now the liquid level was almost to the top of the cabbage.

We packed it into 11 sterilized pint jars with sterilized lids and rings and kept it in a water bath canner boiling for 20 minutes. Remove to a counter covered with a towel in a draft free area of the kitchen. They all sealed, ping, ping. 

This tasted good hot, as a side dish for meat. It would be good hot or cold alone or as part of a pulled pork sandwich.

There are numerous sweet sour recipes out there, some with many more spices though I worried about them turning bitter in canning them. Some recipes added chopped apples, some used green cabbage, some were a conglomeration of cabbage, apples, green tomatoes and more, calling it a chow chow.

We'll have 5 meals with this, this winter, I hope the neighbors like it too since they aren't big fans of plain cabbage. ~Feather