My uncle's sauerkraut brine ratio advice was way off

He told me to use 1 tablespoon of salt per quart of water for fermenting cabbage. First batch came out so salty it was barely edible after 3 weeks at 68 degrees. Read online later that the standard is 2-3% salt by weight of the cabbage and water combined, not just the water. Anyone else get bad advice from family that ruined a batch?

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julia8434mo ago

My grandma always made pickles using her mother's "handful of salt" method. Never measured anything in her life. I tried to follow her instructions once and ended up with pickle brine that could've preserved a mummy.

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scott.mia4mo ago

This is such a classic example of how we've lost touch with the basics. Everything's become so scientific and precise now, like you need a lab coat to cook dinner. My dad used to add oil to the pan "until it looked right" but my generation needs timers and thermometers for everything. It's like we forgot that cooking used to be all about feel and observation, not exact measurements.

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the_rowan4mo ago

@julia843 wait hold on a hundred and twelve year old salt?

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