According to bug checking guides (OU, OK, Star K) remove outer 3 leaves on the head of cabbage and discard. The next 3 layers, check under a light box for a white approx ¼ inch long cabbage worm. If those 3 layers are clean, then you can use them and all the inner leaves. If there’s a worm, check an additional 3 layers, if those are good, you can use those and the inner layers. (Small holes are usually a sign of worm activity. )

After discarding the outer 3 layers and checking the next 3 layers, chop the head of cabbage into pieces, but leave 1 full leaf to be used at the end to seal the cabbage pieces below the waterline.

Place in a 64 oz jar. Fill cabbage until the jar’s neck. Add 1 tablespoon of gray or pink salt, 7 bay leaves, 4-5 cloves of garlic crushed with a hand crusher, ½ cup of brine from a previous batch. Add filtered water (non chlorinated is carcinogenic and will also kill the bacteria needed to ferment the vegetables) until the jar’s neck. Take the full cabbage leaf and use it to keep the cabbage pieces below the water line. Add a bit of water to cover the full cabbage leaf. Place a cover on top. Best to place a big glass cover that will keep bugs out but not the toxic metal cover that comes with the Ball jar since the liquid will bubble and will come in contact with the inside of the cover and draw toxins into the brine. The jar should stay at room temperature (like on the countertop). You can use the original cover once the ferment is over by first spilling out some of the brine so brine won’t come into contact with the cover.

It takes 6-8 days to ferment at room temperature. In warmer weather, fermentation works faster.

You should check every 2 days and then every day as the ferment is almost finished to make sure all vegetables are below the waterline. If vegetables rise above the waterline, mold can grow. And then the batch is not edible. Most of the time, white yeast will grow if vegetables aren’t fully submerged. They are safe to eat but will make the vegetables taste soft by damaging the consistency. You can save your batch if you catch it fast enough by wiping it off with a towel or scooping it out with a spoon and adding a bit of fresh filtered water to make sure the vegetables are still fully submerged.

Once the fermentation is finished (the vegetables taste sour enough for you), place them in the fridge and they will last a few months. If you want to make changes to the saltiness or spices, wait until the brine settles in the fridge for 24h and retaste the vegetables before adding it to the brine.

Benefits of fermented vegetables and why it should be eaten daily. Fermenting pickling spices and jars resources.