Pretty sure I've been salting my kraut wrong for 2 years

I always followed the rule of 2% salt by weight of cabbage. My kraut came out okay but never great and I'd get soft batches sometimes. Then I went to a workshop in Raleigh last month and the guy said for cabbage over 5 pounds you should actually go down to 1.8% because the natural water content changes. He even showed us a batch he salvaged by adding a little brine on day 3. I tried it on my last 8 pound batch and it's way crunchier after 3 weeks. Anybody else ever adjust their salt percentage depending on the cabbage size?

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eva_thompson105mo ago

Yeah I saw a fermentation blog talk about this exact thing. They said bigger cabbages have more water so the salt needs to be dialed back a bit to keep the brine from getting too salty and pulling out too much moisture too fast. I always just stuck with 2% for everything but my last 10 pound batch got a little mushy too. Might try 1.8% next time and see if it helps with the crunch.

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luna_clark385mo ago

Sorry but from my experience the bigger cabbages actually need a touch more salt to keep them crisp, not less.

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