A friend told me my kraut was too salty and I'm glad they did

I was giving a jar of my homemade sauerkraut to a friend last month, and she was honest enough to say, 'Claire, this is good, but it's a bit too salty for my taste.' I'd been using the same 2% salt by weight ratio for years, thinking it was the standard. After she said that, I tried a batch at 1.5% on my next cabbage, fermenting it for about three weeks. The flavor is so much more balanced now, and the cabbage itself comes through better. I'm sticking with the lower salt from now on. Has anyone else adjusted their salt ratios after getting feedback, and what was your experience?

3 comments

3 Comments

mark3611mo ago

Yeah, always thought more salt was safer for fermenting. Had a batch turn out way too salty once and it totally changed my mind too.

linda5001mo ago

Oh man, that's so true about salt. It's like this thing we do everywhere, right? We think more of something good must be better. Like using too much detergent so your clothes get stiff, or overwatering a plant because you're trying to help it. You start off trying to be safe and end up ruining the whole thing. It's a hard lesson to learn by doing.

the_margaret26d ago

Exactly what linda500 was saying about overdoing things. Read somewhere that salt actually pulls moisture out of vegetables which slows down the bad bacteria, so too much can backfire and mess with the whole process. @linda500 nailed it with that comparison to overwatering plants, same thinking applied to salt can really throw off a ferment.