Fermento
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Salt for sauerkraut is measured against the weight of the cabbage. Weigh the shredded cabbage, multiply by the percentage you want, and weigh out that much salt.
The ratio
Use 2 to 2.5% salt. Fermento's Classic Sauerkraut template uses 25 g of salt for 1 kg of cabbage, which is 2.5%.
| Cabbage | Salt at 2% | Salt at 2.25% | Salt at 2.5% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 g | 10 g | 11.25 g | 12.5 g |
| 1 kg | 20 g | 22.5 g | 25 g |
| 2 kg | 40 g | 45 g | 50 g |
| 5 kg | 100 g | 112.5 g | 125 g |
For any other weight:
Where the number comes from
Salt holds back spoilage organisms while the lactic acid bacteria get going. Too little, and the wrong organisms can win the race.
Two sources sit behind the limits in Fermento's plan for fermented vegetables:
- Snyder and colleagues, writing in Food Protection Trends in 2020 with the USDA's Agricultural Research Service, recommend more than 2% salt, and 2 to 2.5% for consistent results.
- The Food Safety Authority of Ireland's Guidance Note 37 gives 2 to 2.5% for sauerkraut and 2 to 3% for kimchi.
Salt is half of it. The other half is acidity: the same US guidance looks for the pH to fall below 4.6 within a week and keep falling.
Kimchi and brined vegetables
Kimchi is salted first and rinsed. Fermento's kimchi template salts 1 kg of napa cabbage with 50 g of salt for two hours, then rinses it before the paste goes on.
Whole vegetables that sit in water are measured by brine strength, which compares the salt to the water. The brine calculator does both sums.
What to log
- The cabbage weight, the salt weight and the percentage.
- The day you started and the room temperature.
- The brine level each day.
- The pH, if you have a meter.
- How it tastes each day.
Fermento's sauerkraut template runs for 14 days, with a daily reminder to check the brine and taste it.
In Fermento
The salt percentage is saved with the batch, next to its timeline, readings and photos. If you sell what you make, the HACCP plan for kimchi and sauerkraut shows how the same numbers become critical limits.
Updated 11 November 2026.
Questions
How much salt do I need for 1 kg of cabbage?
20 to 25 g, which is 2 to 2.5% of the cabbage weight.
Is 1.5% salt enough for sauerkraut?
The US research cited in Fermento's sauerkraut plan recommends more than 2% salt, and 2 to 2.5% for consistent results.
Should I measure salt by weight or by spoon?
By weight. A spoon of fine salt weighs more than a spoon of flaky salt, so spoon measures give a different percentage each time.