Is the 2% salt rule really the gold standard? Hit 3.5% by accident and my kraut came out way better

I've been following the standard 2% salt by weight for my sauerkraut batches for like two years. Last month I messed up my math on a 5 pound cabbage batch and ended up at 3.5% salt. The fermentation was slower but the crunch and tang were way more pronounced. Anyone else experiment with going above the usual numbers and get different results?

3 comments

3 Comments

kevin_williams4d agoMost Upvoted

Honestly same thing happened to me last fall. Accidentally overshot to 3% on a red cabbage batch and it came out way firmer and with a cleaner tang. Been doing 2.5-3% ever since for most ferments now.

sandragrant4d ago

3% killed the lactobacillus activity in my last batch.

the_sage4d ago

Hated losing a batch to salt levels. It's a damn frustrating feeling when you think you nailed it and then it just sits there doing nothing. I've been there with a batch of dilly beans last summer that never got sour. Over 3% seems to be the sweet spot for keeping things crunchy without nuking the bacteria though, at least from my experience. Maybe try bumping it down to 2.75% next time and see if it still works for you. A lot of the old school recipes call for like 5% and I honestly think that's just overkill for most ferments.