paulnguyen•16d agoProlific Poster

Had a talk with my grandma that changed how I salt my kraut

She was watching me pack a batch of cabbage last week and asked why I was measuring salt so careful. I said I always do 2% by weight because that's what the internet says. She laughed and told me she's been eyeballing it for 60 years and never had a batch go bad. I tried her way on a small jar, just salted until it tasted right, and it fermented fine. Has anyone else loosened up on the exact ratios and still gotten good results?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_laura16d ago

Eyeballing it until it "tasted right" and it fermenting fine doesn't really prove it's a good method long term. You got lucky once but that's not exactly airtight science.

skyler_johnson3216d ago

There was a study I saw a while back about how the human tongue can detect things like pH levels and bacterial activity way better than we give it credit for. It's not just about tasting sour or sweet, your mouth picks up on subtle changes in texture and acidity that lab equipment would need hours to confirm. That said, I get what you're saying about it being a one off thing. People have been fermenting stuff for thousands of years without pH strips, but they also had generations of trial and error to learn what worked. Relying on taste alone for something like kombucha or pickles can get you sick if you don't know what to look for in the first place. I guess it's like driving without a seatbelt, you might be fine for a while but that one bad batch could ruin your whole week.

cora_west515d ago

I hear you on this. My grandmother taught me to can tomatoes the same way, she would just taste the brine and adjust until it felt right to her. She never measured anything and her shelves were always full of jars that stayed good for years. I think we sometimes forget that people managed these processes just fine before all the fancy equipment came along. There's something to be said for learning the feel of it, the way the salt hits your tongue and you just know it's enough. I'm glad your grandma's method worked out for you on that small jar, it gives a person confidence to trust their own senses a little more.