Always thought salt ratios didn't matter much for sauerkraut until I tried 2% vs 3% side by side

The 2% batch got moldy after 10 days but the 3% one was perfectly crisp and tangy. Has anyone else found that extra half ounce of salt makes or breaks a ferment?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_robin9d ago

You said the extra salt makes or breaks a ferment, and that's spot on. A buddy of mine tried making hot sauce and skimped on the salt because he was worried about his blood pressure. Mold showed up on day 5 and he had to toss the whole jar. He learned the hard way that the salt is what keeps the bad stuff away.

jennybailey9d ago

But hold on though, I've been making kraut for years using a pretty loose 1.5% salt ratio and never had mold issues. Temperature and cleanliness matter way more than that tiny bit of salt. If your 2% batch got moldy, my guess is the jars or utensils weren't properly sanitized, or you kept it somewhere too warm. I've even forgotten to weigh salt and just eyeballed it, ended up with perfect kraut that stayed crunchy for months. Are you packing it down tight enough to keep it submerged?

the_hayden9d ago

Yeah I actually read this thing from a fermentation science blog that said salt below 2% basically lets lactic acid bacteria compete with other stuff too much, the low salt gives bad bugs a better chance to get a foothold before the good bacteria take over. @jennybailey you're probably right about cleanliness being key, but the temp thing is huge too, I had a batch go bad at 1.8% salt because my kitchen was like 78 degrees for a week, that extra warmth can mess with the balance even if everything else is spot on. Also I've found that packing it down isn't enough unless you're using a weight that really presses the brine up over the cabbage, a loose fit lets air get in even if it looks submerged.