My first sauerkraut batch 3 years ago vs. last month's experiment

Three years ago I was terrified of my first sauerkraut. I used a random mason jar, guessed on salt, and left it on the counter for 2 weeks. Last month I finally tried a crock with an airlock and a 2.5% salt brine. The difference was night and day - the 3 year old batch was mush but last month's had a perfect crunch and tang. Has anyone else noticed how much easier fermentation gets once you dial in your salt ratio?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_viola1mo agoMost Upvoted

Man oh man, the salt ratio really is everything, isn't it? I messed around for a solid year before I landed on that 2% sweet spot. My first few batches were so salty I could barely eat them, and I had one that got this weird slimy coating because I didn't use enough salt. The difference between guessing and actually weighing things out is like night and day. I even started keeping a little notebook with dates and salt percentages because my memory is terrible and I always forget what worked.

felix_black1mo ago

Stumbled onto something nobody talks about which is how your kitchen's natural yeast population changes over time. My first few batches were all over the place because I started fermenting in the dead of winter when my apartment had barely any wild bacteria floating around. Once I started doing ferments regularly, the whole room got populated with the good stuff from previous batches and things got way more consistent. I actually had a batch ferment way too fast two years ago because I left a cabbage core in the compost bin too long and it attracted all these airborne cultures. Worth paying attention to what season you start in if you want repeatable results.

stellanelson1mo ago

And it's funny how that pattern shows up in other stuff too, not just fermenting. I've noticed the same thing with houseplants and even the way my bread starter behaves different in summer versus winter, like everything living in your space adapts to what you're doing in there. It's almost like your kitchen builds up a little ecosystem over time based on whatever you're consistently making.