I finally figured out why my sauerkraut kept turning out mushy

Been making sauerkraut for about 2 years now and my first few batches were always soft and gross instead of crunchy. Turns out I was using too much salt, I found this video from a guy in Oregon who tested 8 different salt ratios side by side. He showed that 2% salt by weight gave the best crunch while 3% made everything limp after 3 weeks. I tried the 2% ratio on a batch of red cabbage last month and it came out perfect, still got that snap even after a month in the fridge. Anyone else struggle with getting the right texture in their ferments?

2 comments

2 Comments

stellat8715d agoTop Commenter

Oh yeah, I totally feel you on this. My first batch of sauerkraut was a disaster, it turned into this slimy, mushy mess after like two weeks and I nearly gave up on fermenting entirely. I was following some random blog that said "a lot of salt" and I just guessed, probably dumped in way too much. That 2% ratio you mentioned is a game changer, I actually started weighing everything on a kitchen scale after watching a similar video from a guy in Portland and it made all the difference. Texture is everything with kraut, nothing worse than spending weeks waiting for something that just falls apart in your mouth. I'm glad you found that Oregon guy's video, sometimes those side by side comparisons are the only way to really see what works.

beth_hunt15d ago

Gotta say I was on the other side of this for a long time @stellat87, thought salt ratios were just something fussy people obsessed over. But after ruining like three batches because I was just eyeballing it, that 2% rule finally clicked for me too. The scale really does change everything, now I actually get that crisp bite instead of sad mush.