My kraut was always too soft until I saw a video about salt weight

I've been making sauerkraut in my kitchen for about a year now, and I could never figure out why it always came out mushy instead of crunchy. I packed it in a jar, added salt, and hoped for the best. Then last week, I watched a video from a guy in Vermont who showed his setup. He said you need 2% salt by weight of the cabbage, not just a random pinch. I was using maybe half that. I tried it on my last batch, weighing 500 grams of cabbage and using exactly 10 grams of salt. The difference is huge. It's been fermenting for 5 days now and it's already way more crisp. I guess I was basically letting bad bacteria grow by not using enough salt to protect it. Has anyone else had a total texture turnaround after fixing their salt ratio?

2 comments

2 Comments

caseys3017d ago

Read a book that called the salt the "bouncer" for the ferment, keeping the wrong microbes out. That 2% rule is basically the minimum door charge. Too little salt and every bacteria in town shows up and turns your cabbage to slop. Your texture fix makes total sense, they're not busy wrecking the place anymore. Might try a slightly cooler spot next time too, seems to keep things even crisper.

the_ivan17d ago

Man, that bouncer idea from @caseys30 is spot on. It's not just about keeping the bad stuff out, it's about making the good bacteria work for their meal so they build flavor. Get that salt right and the whole party runs itself.