The day I figured out my salt ratio was backwards after 5 years

So I've been doing ferments for about 5 years now, mostly hot sauce and pickles. I always used a 5% salt to water ratio for brine, which seemed fine. Then last month I was at a friend's place in Austin and she just weighed her veggies and added 2% salt directly, no water at all. I asked about it and she looked at me funny. Turns out the 5% was for the water only, but since the veggies displace water, my final salt was way off. My sauces have been coming out inconsistent and I just thought it was the peppers or whatever. Now I weigh everything and use a 2.5% total weight. Has anyone else made this mistake or am I the only one who read the recipe wrong for half a decade?

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finleym3711d ago

Austin huh, I lived there for a bit and everyone swears by their own method. But I gotta say, 5% brine for water only is pretty standard and it works fine for me, Ive done 50+ batches of pickles that way and they come out consistent every time. The veggies dont really soak up that much salt, its mostly surface contact. Maybe your hot sauce peppers are the issue, some varieties just throw off different flavors year to year, not the salt. I mean if it works for your friend cool, but I wouldnt call 5% water brine backwards, its just a different way to get to a similar place.