SA had my sauerkraut bubbling like crazy in 3 days flat

I've been trying to get a batch of sauerkraut going for weeks with just salt and cabbage, but it was dead quiet. Finally added a tablespoon of brine from a friend's active jar in Portland and within 72 hours my airlock was popping every 10 seconds. Anyone else see that big a change from just a starter?

4 comments

4 Comments

knight.dylan1mo ago

Portland's a great food city but I've gotta respectfully disagree with using starter brine like that. With sauerkraut you're basically gambling on what's in that starter liquid, which could throw off your whole batch's flavor profile. I've had ferments go sideways because someone else's brine brought in weird yeast or a sourness I didn't want. Just salt and cabbage works fine if you pack it tight enough and keep it submerged... it can take a week or two to really get going, especially in cooler weather. Patience is the real trick here, not adding a booster. If your airlock was quiet for weeks, I'd check your salt ratio or if the cabbage was releasing enough liquid first.

the_taylor1mo ago

Heard this thing on a fermentation podcast once where they talked about how using starter brine can actually mess with your salt concentration if you're not careful about calculating it. It's why I just stick with the basics now.

piper7791mo ago

Yeah exactly, that's why I just do straight salt and cabbage now too.

wesley_jones1mo ago

Oh man, I gotta say I think the Portland brine thing gets a worse rap than it deserves. A tablespoon of brine from a healthy ferment is basically just introducing the right bacteria to get things moving, it's not gonna mess with your salt ratio unless you're adding a ton of it. Idk, I've done it a few times when my batches were being stubborn and it kicked them off way faster without any weird flavors.