Guide · Sauerkraut
How much salt for sauerkraut
Use 2% of the cabbage's weight in salt: 20 g of salt for every kilogram of shredded cabbage. Anywhere from 1.5% to 2.5% works. Weigh the cabbage after you have cored and shredded it, not before.
Salt for sauerkraut, by weight
| Shredded cabbage | Salt at 2% | Range (1.5–2.5%) |
|---|---|---|
| 500 g | 10 g | 7.5–12.5 g |
| 1 kg | 20 g | 15–25 g |
| 2 kg | 40 g | 30–50 g |
| 3 kg | 60 g | 45–75 g |
Weigh the salt rather than measuring it by the spoon. Fine and coarse salt differ a lot by volume, and a spoonful of the wrong one can be half again too much or too little. Use plain salt without iodine or anti-caking agents.
Why 2%
Salt holds back the microbes you don't want long enough for the lactic-acid bacteria already on the cabbage to take over and sour it. Much below 1.5% and soft, off-tasting ferments get a chance. Much above 2.5% and the ferment slows to a crawl and tastes salty. 2% is the long-standing middle that Sandor Katz and most fermenting guides start from.
How to make it
- Core and shred the cabbage, then weigh it.
- Weigh 2% of that in salt, sprinkle it over and massage with your hands for 5 to 10 minutes, until the cabbage is limp and sitting in its own juice. Sauerkraut needs no water: the salt pulls the brine out of the cabbage.
- Pack it tightly into a clean jar, pressing down until the juice rises above the cabbage. Leave 2 to 3 cm of space at the top.
- Keep everything under the brine with a weight: a small glass weight, a folded cabbage leaf, or a brine-filled bag.
- Leave it at 15 to 22 °C for 2 to 4 weeks. Taste it from the end of the first week, and move it to the fridge once you like it. The cold nearly stops it.
Classic additions
For a German-style kraut, add 1 tablespoon of caraway seed and 1 teaspoon of juniper berries per kilogram of cabbage when you massage in the salt.
When something looks off
A thin, flat white film on top is almost always harmless kahm yeast; fuzzy or coloured spots are mould, and the jar goes in the bin. The kahm or mould guide walks through telling them apart.
Any vegetable, any jar size
Krunch works out the salt, vinegar and herbs for 20 vegetables, scaled to the jar in your hand, and reminds you on the day it's ready. Coming soon for iPhone. See how it works.
More guides
For long-term, shelf-stable canning, follow a lab-tested recipe for your altitude and equipment. These guides are for fridge pickles and fermenting in a jar.