Overheard a guy at the brew shop mention salt in his kraut brine

I was at the local homebrew supply last Saturday picking up airlocks, and this older dude was telling the clerk he adds a half teaspoon of kosher salt per pound of cabbage. Said it keeps the ferment from going mushy. I always just winged it with salt, never measured, and my last batch of sauerkraut came out kinda soft and blah. Anyone else measure their salt like that or do you just go by feel?

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linda_murphy4mo ago

Yeah I read somewhere that salt does way more than just flavor, it actually pulls moisture out through osmosis and that's what hardens up the cabbage fibers. Saw a blog by this fermentation guy who tested different salt levels and said anything under 1.5% by weight and you're basically asking for mushy kraut. But I'm with you, I usually just dump salt in and pray, results have been mixed.

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phoenix_adams604mo ago

Huh, that's interesting because I always thought salt was just for taste, but the osmosis thing makes total sense now that you mention it. I've definitely had batches that came out mushy and I bet that's from being too stingy with the salt, so thanks @linda_murphy for explaining it like that. I'm gonna start weighing my cabbage and salt instead of just guessing, because I'd rather have crunchy kraut than another sad jar of mush.

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