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Just realized I was using way too much salt in my sauerkraut
Used to go by feel and ended up with salty brine every batch, but after reading a post here about weighing it at 2% of cabbage weight, my last batch finally came out perfectly crunchy. What ratio do you guys use for spicy kimchi do you stick to the same 2% or go higher?
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stella_roberts7d ago
Why not just bump it to 3% for safety with kimchi?
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morgan.nancy7d ago
Going to 3% salt in kimchi will make it borderline inedible for most people. The standard 2-2.5% already does the job for fermentation and preservation, and bumping it up just creates a brine so strong it kills the natural lactic acid bacteria you want. I've made batches at 2.5% that sat out for weeks and never got funky, just nicely sour. 3% is what you use for vegetables that are extra watery like cabbage in the dead of winter, not something you'd do as a general rule. And the texture suffers too - kimchi gets mushy faster with too much salt drawing out moisture too aggressively. Better to stick with the traditional ratios and adjust for your specific ingredients rather than blanket bumping up the salt.
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lee.casey7d ago
My last attempt at 3% salt kimchi basically turned into a science experiment where even the flies wouldn't touch it. Had to toss the whole batch and my kitchen smelled like a pickle factory for a week. So yeah, 2.5% is plenty unless you're trying to preserve that kimchi for a zombie apocalypse.
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