Kraut Dinner

[LABS4ME]

I promised I'd post how I do my kraut dinner.... made it today along with some photos...

I know most guys have their favorite way to make this, but for those who haven't made this, try it... you'll love it. Very close to the way my great Aunt told my Mom how to make it.

Start with 1 or 2 pork steaks or 4 bone in Country Style ribs. Season well.

Chop 1/2 - 1 onion and 1 clove of garlic, place smoked hock in center

Cut small red potatoes into wedges and place around hock

cut up one kielbasa ring and place on top of potatoes

put sauerkraut on top of sausage. I use karoway sauerkraut as all my polish relatives use it in their dishes. You'll need 2 cans or one large bag of kraut. squeeze out most of the liquid. Add 1/2 cup chicken stock or a half can of beer to increase moisture and flavor. I add a couple of dollops of butter and sprinkle a little brown sugar over thetop of the kraut. Some fresh cracked blk. pepper, cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or high 4-5 hours

and you'll come home to this... a little fresh rye bread and you'll be in heaven. Coverted several kraut haters to lovers with this dish.

Good Luck!

Ken

[pushbutton]

Looks great...am burping just looking at those picts....will certainly give that a go sometime!!!

[chaffmj]

Looks mighty fine Labs. Thanks for the recipe and the pics. If you have a shot of it done and out of the crock please post it.

[OnAFly]

That looks really good.

[thirdeye]

Boy does that look good. I happen to have everything except the kielbasa on hand, so I might do a second smoke on a hock tomorrow morning and have that ready when Mrs ~t~ gets off work.

[reinhard1]

that is definatly on my plans. Third Eye, that double smoke on the hock or shank was the first thing i was thinking of. Lab's thank you very much for that recipe. it brings back huge memories for me. my parents lived on pork steaks and still do. bone in country ribs are often on sale here in the County Market store for 1.98 lb. i have plenty of kielbasa

so now to get the rest of the stuff. i was thinking of using my kraut/bacon recipe on top of that also but i will try it this way first. thanks again. good luck.

[pike79]

labs that looks great, going to try that in the future.Thanks for sharing.

[Leaky]

Boy, does that look like a deer camp hit! Thanks Labs.

[picksbigwagon]

Could a guy make that in a dutch oven in a gas oven? Our deer camp has no electricity, but a lot of kraut lovers

[reinhard1]

i dont think it would be a problem if you kept it at a lower temp and started out in the morning and let it go for the day. if you had a gas oven i would set it at 250 deg covered just as Lab presented it in the slow cooker. when you come in at noon or so check up on it before going out to hunt again and set the temp accordingly. you could do it in a disposable heavy aluminum pan covered with foil i would think. i would make up a batch of that great recipe and try it out in your oven at home. that would give you a good idea of what temp and lenght of time

i want to thank Lab's one more time. just because i'm a kraut and a kraut lover. this is one of the best recipe's i have seen in my opinion as far as kraut is involved. i looked at this and knew right away that i have to do this. good luck.

[picksbigwagon]

Thanks Reinhard, I knew that this was a must do recipie too, problem is, I am the only Kraut eater in my household. I bet if i made it, I could convert a couple of my kids and my polish brother in law would beat down the door to my house to get some as well

[Dark Cloud]

Picks - I make this from time to time and do it in a dutch oven set at 250, sometime I do it on the stovetop on a med-low setting also. Works great!

I put a sear on the pork steaks/ribs first and also I dont add the kielbasi till the last few hours...

Also, convert some non kraut people my adding a few diced up apples to the mix.

Here is one I did stovetop with a chunk of pork loin. It was great but much better with country ribs or pork steaks...

[thirdeye]

I generally like to try recipes "as is" before changing things up, but I really wanted to try LABS4ME's recipe..... so, this is as close as I could get. The good news is, boy am I glad I did it. The flavor combination is fantastic, especially the kraut.

First thing this morning, I did a second smoke on a store bought smoked pork shank, and at the same time put 1/2 rack of ribs into the smoker, this took about 2-1/2 hours. Assembly in the slow cooker was about the same, pork on bottom, onions & potatoes next, kraut went in, then the shank went on top. (regretfully, no kielbasa). Just used water for liquid. The cook time was spot on, about 6 hours, and my kitchen smelled great all day.

And here it is after about 5 hours...

[reinhard1]

glad it's still cool out some, and here a little cool weather will stay for this recipe. now between Lab's recipe and Dark Clouds and now Third Eye's presentation i am going nuts not having it today. funny how the last pic of Third eye's post the end of that smoked shank looks like a pigs head. further getting me more exited for the whole deal. fortunatly our whole family loves kraut and this wont be a hard sell at all . good luck.

[Dark Cloud]

I have a hard time doing a recipe "as is"...

I do mine almost exactly like Labs, only diff is apples instead of brown sugar...

I would guarantee some bacon would be great in there... and how about a jar of peppercinni in the mix would work also.

[LABS4ME]

Doing on the stove is the way it was always done... I remember the size of the pot my Great Aunt used... Back then it was always fresh hocks and kraut... about 6-8 of them and several pounds of kraut and potatoes.

My mom also made it in a large pot on the stove with country style ribs for the kids and fresh hocks for Dad... she would start it at noon for a 5-6 o'clock meal. Then when I started making it, decided to use the crock pot, did it with the pork only the first few years, then added the kielbasa into the fold and eventually the smoked hock...

You'll have no problems doing it on a stove. The recipe above will feed about 3-4 guys, so make sure you adjust accordingly. Big stock pot works well for bigger groups.

Good Luck!

Ken

[thirdeye]

I'm going to take some of the leftovers (kraut, onions, both meats & cubed potatoes and add them to some chicken stock tonight and make soup to take to work tomorrow.

My onions were the Vidalias and so I left out the brown sugar in your recipe. My ribs were only seasoned with salt and pepper, but I can't get over how flavorful the kraut and broth was. The smokiness of the shank and ribs was a good highlight to all the other flavors. Of course the rib meat and the shank meat was fall-off-the-bone tender, but we couldn't agree on which meat we liked best. Without a lead-in on how tender everything was a picture like this of a plate might looks pretty weird to some folks....

[reinhard1]

look's to me like the meat was hit on first . i got the grandkids this weekend and i have to bring them into my world one step at a time, but it's slowly working. this meal will be first on the agenda at my house next week. my wife and mother-in law is looking forward to it after scanning this thread. Krout rules!!!! good luck.

[harvey lee]

Kraurt looks aweswome. I am a HUGE kraut lover.

I smoked my better half some smoked baby backed ribs for supper tonight. She was delighted. Means I can go fishing next week for 2-3 days now.

I guess I will have to do a nice meal every week.

[LABS4ME]

I love how tender the meat gets... it's almost a little tough to get it out of the pot and on to the plate!

I tell you, the juice put over the potatoes is to die for... I smash 'em... add a ltl tiny bit of butter and ladel some of the juice on them... fantastic!

Glad everyone is liking it... I know it's been a family hit for decades.

Good Luck!

Ken

[Mid-Lake Rock]

Made this over the weekend and loved it. I followed the recipe, except I lightly seared my pork on the grill and gave the shank a light second smoke. I used chicken stock instead of the beer. Looking forward to doing this again with smoked country ribs. Thanks for this one, LABS.

[BLACKJACK]

I'm not a kraut fan but my wife is, will have to try this. I can always pick around the stinky stuff and just eat the potatoes and pork.

[LABS4ME]

Blackjack... get a couple of cans of Frank's Bavarian Kraut. It is sweeter and has caroway in it. rinse it in a collander and make sure you add the butter and brown sugar...

You may be surprised how different it will taste. Like I said... converted many a kraut hater doing this!

Good Luck!

Ken

[reinhard1]

i'm getting ready to put things together for this one. i bought a whole pork butt because they have them on sale at Rainbow for 1.79. so i will bone it out and cut some pork steaks out of it and save the fat and end piece for sausage. i think i'll give the steaks a quick browning before i put them in the crock pot. my wife wants the bacon/kraut instead of just the kraut. we are so used to eating that i guess it goes for everything. i'm putting it together in the layers Lab had in the pics tonight and put it in the fridge overnight. then tommorrow morning turn the crock pot on. cant wait. good luck.

[Dark Cloud]

Rein - I always put a sear on any of the pork that goes in, just seems like the right thing to do...