My sauerkraut brine evaporated and I had to figure out how to fix it without ruining the whole batch

So I started a big crock of sauerkraut about three weeks ago, using my usual 5 pounds of cabbage. I was sure I had enough brine to cover it all, but I guess my kitchen is drier than I thought. Checked on it last night and the top layer was totally exposed and starting to look a little weird. I panicked, thinking the whole thing was a loss. I spent like two hours last night and this morning reading old forum posts and trying to figure out if I could just add more salt water or if I had to toss it. Finally decided to make a fresh 2% brine, carefully skim off the top layer that looked off, and pour the new brine over the rest. It was such a simple fix but the stress made it feel way bigger. Has anyone else had their brine just disappear like that? What's the best way to stop it from happening again?

2 comments

2 Comments

finleyfox9d ago

Lol the great brine evaporation mystery, classic fermenter panic. My last batch did the same thing and I was convinced I'd created a new kind of mold. A small glass weight on top of the cabbage keeps it all pushed down under the liquid, works way better than hoping for the best.

parker_patel849d ago

Yeah, I just use a clean zip-top bag filled with extra brine as a weight.