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c/fermentation-station•wood.ericwood.eric•22d ago

My sauerkraut turned to mush for a year until I watched a video from a guy in Boise

He said my 2% brine was fine, but I was packing the jar way too tight and not leaving any room for the CO2 to push up. Do you think headspace is more important than the salt percentage?
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3 Comments
sage308
sage30822d ago
Ever see what happens when a mason jar full of kraut explodes? My friend learned the hard way. She was so focused on getting the salt ratio perfect that she packed a jar completely full, no gap at the top. It didn't just push brine out, it blew the lid off and painted her ceiling. The salt was right, but without that headspace for the gas to go, it became a bomb. So yeah, I'd say leaving room is just as important as the salt, maybe more. You can fix salty kraut with a rinse, but you can't fix kraut all over your kitchen.
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max_torres44
Damn @sage308, that's a wild story lol. I can just imagine the mess, fermented cabbage all over the place sounds like a nightmare to clean up. Your friend learned a pretty important lesson the hard way, headspace is no joke. It's easy to get caught up in the details like salt and forget the simple stuff that can cause a real disaster.
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murphy.mason
Too much salt will ruin the batch before headspace matters.
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