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Was reading an old fermentation book from the 70s and found a wild fact about salt ratios

It said some traditional kraut recipes used a salt level over 3%, which seems crazy high compared to what I do now. Where did you guys learn your basic brine percentages?
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3 Comments
olivia_barnes97
Yeah, the "inedible rock" thing from the_tyler is exactly what I was worried about. I mean, I messed up a batch of carrots once with too much salt and they were like chewing on salty wood. It totally makes sense what riley58 said about the final slice you eat being different from the brine percentage.
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the_tyler
the_tyler12d agoMost Upvoted
Three percent salt would make it inedible (and probably a rock).
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riley58
riley5812d ago
You said three percent salt makes a rock, but that's actually close to a lot of cured meats. The thing everyone's missing is it's about the total weight including water. If you dry something out, the salt percentage goes way up in the final product. So three percent in the brine or the initial mix is totally normal, but you end up eating a tiny slice of that. It's the concentration in what you actually put in your mouth that matters.
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