I finally got my sauerkraut to stay crisp after a year of mushy batches

For the past year, every jar of sauerkraut I made came out soft and limp, no matter what I tried. I followed all the basic rules, but the texture was always off. The big change came about three weeks ago when I started using a specific weight, a glass pickle pebble, instead of the old plastic bag filled with water I was using before. I also made sure the room temp in my kitchen stayed below 70 degrees, which meant moving the jar to a cooler spot near the basement door. After letting it ferment for exactly 14 days, the kraut was still crunchy and had a much better sour taste. I think the steady, cooler temperature and a better seal from the weight made all the difference. What's the one thing you changed that fixed a texture problem in your ferments?

3 comments

3 Comments

flores.mark2d ago

What if the soft texture was actually better though?

shane_carter2d ago

Doubt it's a life or death choice for a pillow.

-1

shane_carter2d ago

My last batch of pickles were total mush for months. The fix was way less salt than the recipe said, just a half tablespoon less per quart. I read somewhere that too much salt can break down the pectin too fast. Let it go for three weeks in a cool closet instead of two on the counter. The crunch was finally there, like a proper deli pickle.