How much salt for a 2% brine?
The answer first: 20 g per kilogram of water. Any percent, one line of math, no guessing.
The answer first: 20 g per kilogram of water. Any percent, one line of math, no guessing.
2% brine: 20 g salt per 1,000 g water
The 2% rule holds lacto-ferments together — salt, submersion and time, and in a brine, the salt names the water:
Two percent of 1,000 g is 20 g. Any batch, any jar: 500 g of water at 2% takes 10 g; three 500 g jars take 30 g across the batch.
Three jars, 500 g of water each: 1,500 g of water × 2% = 30 g of salt, the same 10 g measured into each jar so the scale only needs to be right once. The brine scaler runs this jar-by-jar, and the vegetable fermenting guide carries what the 2% actually does: the salt holds the texture and the bad microbes back while the lacto work happens.
Every salt percent needs a base, so say which one every time. In a brine poured over vegetables, the percent names the water: 2% is 20 g per 1,000 g of water, and 5% and up is where a recipe calls for a stronger brine. In dry-salted kraut there is no water to weigh, so the percent names the sliced vegetables: 2% of 800 g of cabbage is 16 g. UVM Extension's range for kraut is 1.5–2.5% of the cabbage's weight, and the app flags anything outside it (see the sauerkraut guide). In an equilibrium brine, the percent names the vegetables and water together. Mixing up the base is the classic mistake.