Fermentation salt and timing
Salt by weight for a ferment three ways — % of the vegetables (dry-salted kraut), % of the brine, or % of everything including the water — with the NCHFP's tested sauerkraut and dill-pickle proportions as percentages, NCHFP fermentation times by temperature with calendar check-ins, and a batch log of pH readings against the 4.6 line.
Added
How to use it
How to use it
Salt — weigh the trimmed vegetables (and the water, for a brine) and choose how the percentage is meant:
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% of vegetables — dry salting: sauerkraut, where the salt draws the brine out of the cabbage.
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% of brine water — salt ÷ (salt + water), the usual meaning of "a 5 % brine".
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% of vegetables + water — of everything in the jar, including the water: where the batch settles once the salt has spread into the vegetables (often called an equilibrium brine).
Whichever you choose, the cards show the same batch the other ways too, and the salt in tablespoons of table, Morton and Diamond Crystal salt (from the brines-and-cures tool). The buttons fill in the NCHFP’s tested proportions, and the table converts them to percentages.
Timeline — sauerkraut or fermented dill pickles, the room temperature and the start date: the
NCHFP’s time range for that temperature, when to start checking, a progress bar, and what to do
while it ferments and afterwards. Add check-ins to calendar downloads an .ics file.
Batches and pH — start a batch (it takes the salt and temperature from the other tabs), add pH readings as it ferments, and see each reading against 4.6. Batches stay in this browser, with JSON export and import.
Food safety
The NCHFP: in sauerkraut and brined pickles salt "favors the growth of desirable bacteria while inhibiting the growth of others" — do not cut it back, and do not use reduced-sodium salt for fermenting. Foods at pH 4.6 or below are acid foods; above it they are low-acid, where Clostridium botulinum can grow (USDA; the same line is used by US FDA rules for acidified foods, 21 CFR 114). Discard a ferment that is soft, slimy or smells bad. For storage on a shelf, can the finished ferment with a tested process (canning tool).
Limits
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The NCHFP proportions are by volume; the percentages use about 18 g per tablespoon of canning salt (the table-salt label figure) and 237 g per cup of water, so they are approximate. Weigh your salt.
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Times are the NCHFP’s for sauerkraut and fermented dill pickles only. Between its temperature bands (65–70 °F) the tool shows the span of both; for other vegetables there are no tested times — judge by taste, texture and pH.
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A pH reading is a check, not a process. Use a calibrated meter (pH 4 and 7 buffers) on a blended sample; strips are too coarse near 4.6.
Sources: National Center for Home Food Preservation (nchfp.uga.edu), from the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning (2015): "Sauerkraut", "Dill Pickles" (fermented), "General Information on Fermenting", "Salts Used in Pickling", "Ensuring Safe Canned Foods"; US FDA 21 CFR Part 114.
Related: home canning times, brines and cures, kitchen conversions.
Linking to an example
Weights in grams, temperature in °F. Add the tab after #: salt, time or log.
| Parameter | Meaning | Example |
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Salt % |
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Grams of vegetables and of water |
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Timeline: |
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One of the presets below |
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example= |
Shows |
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2 kg cabbage dry-salted at 2.25 %: 45 g salt (open) |
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A 5 % brine with 1 kg of vegetables in 1 L of water: 52.6 g salt (open) |
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2 % of everything: 750 g peppers in 500 g water, 25 g salt (open) |
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Sauerkraut at 68 °F: between the NCHFP bands, 3–6 weeks (open) |
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Fermented dills at 72 °F: about 3–4 weeks (open) |
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