Wash your jars, then sterilize them by pouring boiling water over them. Set aside to cool while you prep your cabbage.

Prep your head of cabbage: remove the tough outer leaves and set them to the side, you will use at least some of them later. Slice off the base as well.

Slice cabbage as thinly as you prefer. I like the texture best when it is very thinly sliced-if you have a mandolin, it may work well for this.

Zero your kitchen scale with a large bowl on it and set it to grams. Add your cabbage.

To add 2% salt by weight, take the weight of your cabbage (in grams) and multiply by .02. I sometimes go up to 3% salt by weight.

Using clean hands, massage the cabbage and salt. This serves to release the liquid that will become the brine. It takes awhile-up to ten minutes! You really want to make sure that enough liquid releases, since the sauerkraut will need to be fully emerged in its own brine in the jar.

Once the liquid has released and the cabbage has reduced in volume, add any seasonings you wish to use.

Make sure your jars have cooled fully to room temperature, then transfer the cabbage mixture into them. Press the cabbage down to compact, avoiding any large air bubbles. The brine should rise above the level of the cabbage. Fully submerging the cabbage prevents mold growth.

Fold the outer leaves of the cabbage, place on top and press down to keep the cabbage submerged. Leave a little space in the top of the jar, there may be a little expansion. If you have a fermentation weight, you can add that as well. Cover the top of the jar with your cheesecloth and secure with a rubber band.

Place the covered jar in a shallow bowl or on a plate-if you have lot of brine there may be a little overflow, and the bowl will catch it.

Leave the jar to ferment in a cool place on the counter. I prefer to keep ferments out of direct sunlight, though it doesn't have to be a totally dark place. Check every day for signs of the fermentation process-within three days you should see little bubbles appearing. After three days you can begin to taste test your sauerkraut.

Continue checking and tasting your sauerkraut daily until you like how it tastes! As the fermenting process continues, the sauerkraut will get less sweet and a more tangy flavor, because the bacteria eat the sugars in the cabbage.

Sauerkraut can take three days to two weeks to ferment, depending on your climate. I usually find five to six days to be the sweet spot. When it's done, remove cheesecloth and replace it with a cover. Store in the fridge.