I finally stopped weighing my cabbage for sauerkraut

For years, I followed the 2% salt by weight rule like a law. Last month, I ran out of cabbage mid-batch and just eyeballed the salt on the rest. The ferment turned out perfect, maybe even better. I think we get too hung up on the numbers and forget this is an old, forgiving process. My grandma never owned a kitchen scale. Has anyone else had good results just going by feel and taste?

2 comments

2 Comments

butler.claire1mo ago

Wondering if the taste test method works for all veg or just cabbage. Like, @aaron_gonzalez said his buddy tastes the brine, but what about something like carrots or peppers that don't make their own brine as easy? Do you just make a salt water mix and taste that until it feels right? I might try that next time because washing my scale after every ferment is a pain.

aaron_gonzalez1mo ago

That line about your grandma never owning a scale reminds me of my buddy. He got so stressed about the exact salt percentage that he almost quit. Then he just started tasting the brine until it reminded him of a good pickle, and his ferments got way more consistent. Sometimes the feel for it is more reliable than the math.