My soggy sauerkraut saga and the fix I found

I remember when folks just eyeballed the salt for fermenting, and it usually worked out. My kraut was always too soft, so I started measuring everything. Turns out, using 2% salt by weight of the cabbage gives consistent results. It's simple, but it took me a while to figure out.

5 comments

5 Comments

anthonynelson1mo ago

My buddy had the same soft kraut problem, and moving his crock to the basement totally fixed the crunch.

xenas161mo agoMost Upvoted

Hey, I read that keeping it cool during fermentation helps with crunch too.

the_simon1mo ago

Try keeping it around 65 degrees if you can. That slower ferment really does make a difference for the texture. I left a batch in my cool basement last time and it was way crisper.

rowan_reed681mo ago

Yeah, that basement trick is solid. What xenas16 said about crunch totally clicks now, my last batch turned out way better with a slow, cool ferment.

nathan_palmer1mo ago

Totally, the texture change is wild. My garage stays around 60 and it makes all the difference.