Amount of Salt to Use for Fermentation

Reader Contribution by Sandor Katz
Published on September 29, 2016
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I want to start fermenting my harvests. How much salt should I use to make sure my fermented vegetables are safe to eat? And what’s the best container to use for fermentation projects?

Traditionally, vegetables have been fermented with lots of salt. In addition to pulling water from vegetables, salt hardens pectins in vegetables, both rendering them crunchier and discouraging the growth of bacteria other than lactobacilli. By inhibiting competing bacteria, salt enables the vegetables to ferment and keep for longer periods of time. Because preservation has historically been one of the important motivations for fermentation, ferments have tended to be quite salty. But for health-conscious people interested primarily in flavor and nutrition, less salt can be better. Salt lightly, to taste. Adding salt is easier than taking it away, but if you oversalt, you can dilute by adding water or more vegetables. As a starting point, try 3 tablespoons of salt per 5 pounds of vegetables. More salt will slow the fermentation process; less (or none) will speed it up. Ferments with less salt may be more prone to surface molds. You can leave out the salt or use various mineral-rich substitutes, such as celery juice (my favorite salt-free variation) or seaweed. Just be sure the vegetables are submerged in the liquid.

Some people promote the idea that salt-free sauerkrauts contain more beneficial organisms than salted krauts. I don’t believe that. The most specific beneficial bacteria we’re after, lactobacilli, are salt-tolerant and abundantly present even in salty krauts. Arguably, salt-free ferments are more biodiverse, but this diversity often results in mushy textures. Though fermenting vegetables without salt is possible, a little salt results in far superior flavor and texture — and just as much beneficial bacteria.

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