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Sauerkraut salt in grams per kg, not cups
Sauerkraut salt in grams per kg of cabbage, not cups: the metric ratio Canadian fermenters can scale, plus how to test doneness and fix a batch.
What to take away
- Salt for sauerkraut is weighed against the cabbage20 to 30 grams per kilogram, or 2 to 3 percent by weight.
- 22.5 grams per kilogram, or 2.25 percent, is the common working figure.
- The ratio scales by weight, so a 1.5 kg jar and a 10 kg crock follow the same rule.
- Cups fail here because fine sea salt and coarse kosher salt weigh different amounts at the same volume.
- Taste, texture and pH decide when the batch is done, not the calendar.
The ratio in grams per kilogram
| Cabbage weight | At 2 percent | At 2.25 percent | At 2.5 percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 kg | 20 g | 22.5 g | 25 g |
| 2 kg | 40 g | 45 g | 50 g |
| 5 kg | 100 g | 113 g | 125 g |
| 10 kg | 200 g | 225 g | 250 g |
Typical salt concentrations for sauerkraut sit between 2 and 3 percent of the cabbage weight. Under 2 percent, the brine is a weaker barrier against mould and the shreds soften sooner. Over 3 percent, the bacteria slow down and the kraut tastes sharp rather than sour.
Salt in grams per kilogram
2 percent
- 1 kg cabbage
- 20 g
- 2 kg cabbage
- 40 g
- 5 kg cabbage
- 100 g
- 10 kg cabbage
- 200 g
2.25 percent
- 1 kg cabbage
- 22.5 g
- 2 kg cabbage
- 45 g
- 5 kg cabbage
- 113 g
- 10 kg cabbage
- 225 g
2.5 percent
- 1 kg cabbage
- 25 g
- 2 kg cabbage
- 50 g
- 5 kg cabbage
- 125 g
- 10 kg cabbage
- 250 g
Before the cabbage goes in
- A digital scale that reads to 1 gram and holds at least 5 kg
- Shredded cabbage, weighed after shredding rather than before
- Non-iodized salt, fine or coarse, weighed on the scale
- A jar or crock with 2 to 3 cm of headspace above the packed cabbage
- A weight that holds the cabbage under the brine
Do not skip the scale. A tablespoon of fine sea salt weighs about 18 g, while the same spoon of coarse kosher salt can land near 10 g.
Before the cabbage goes in
- Digital scale, 1 g, holds 5 kg
- Shredded cabbage, weighed after shredding
- Non-iodized salt, weighed not spooned
- Jar or crock with 2 to 3 cm headspace
- Weight to hold cabbage under brine
That gap is most of the distance between a 2 percent batch and a 3 percent one. Salt is the variable most batches get wrong, and what goes wrong and why traces symptoms that follow a drifting ratio.
The sequence
- Weigh the shredded cabbage and write the figure down in grams.
- Multiply that weight by 0.0225 to get the salt in grams, then weigh the salt.
- Toss the salt through the cabbage and massage for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Stop when the shreds look glossy and liquid pools in the bowl.
- Pack the cabbage into the jar in handfuls, pressing each layer down to push out air.
- Hold the cabbage 2 cm under the brine with a weight, then fit a loose lid.
- Leave it at 18 to 22 C, out of direct light, for 10 days to 4 weeks.
Day three usually looks flat and smells of raw cabbage. Reading a home fermentation by its bubbles and smell shows what the quiet days and the sour days should look like.
Where judgement replaces the recipe
Older cabbage holds less water, so the same salt can leave the shreds dry after a day. Press harder, wait 24 hours, and if the brine still sits below the cabbage, add a 2 percent brine: 20 g of salt per litre of water.
When the brine sits low
Brine still below the cabbage after 24 hours?
add 2 percent brine: 20 g salt per litre
press harder and wait another day
Temperature changes the clock, not the ratio. A cellar at 15 C gives a slow, mild kraut. A kitchen at 24 C can finish the batch in under a week and soften it, so check daily when the room is warm.
How to tell it is right
Bite a strand. It should taste sour all the way through, with a little salt behind it, and squeak faintly against your teeth. Raw cabbage burn means it needs more time.
If you keep pH strips, aim for 3.3 to 3.8. Below 4.6 is the usual line for a safe room-temperature ferment.
Done is not a date on the lid. Done is a strand that tastes sour, still crunches, and comes from brine that has stayed cloudy but never furry.
Sourness, salt and crunch are three dials you can move one at a time. Comparing small batch fermentation across two jars at different salt levels teaches more in three weeks than any chart.
Fixing it when it is not
A white film across the brine is kahm yeast, a surface film on fermented vegetables. Skim it off with a clean spoon, top the brine back to 2 cm over the cabbage, and keep the weight in place.
Soft kraut cannot be firmed up again. Move the jar somewhere cooler, eat it soon, and cook with it rather than serving it raw. Too much salt shows as a batch that barely bubbles after a week, and fresh cabbage plus brine will dilute it.
Storing small batch ferments once the jar is open protects the texture you spent three weeks building.
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