Ferment too salty

Why the salt cannot simply be lowered

In a vegetable ferment, salt is not seasoning. It draws water out of the vegetable to form the brine, it excludes the organisms that would otherwise rot the food, and it selects for the salt-tolerant lactic acid bacteria that do the fermenting.

Diluting a working ferment with fresh water lowers the salt below the level the recipe was designed around, and that changes which organisms can grow. It is not a safe way to correct the taste.

How much salt a given ferment needs is a safety number rather than a matter of preference, and it depends on what is being fermented and at what temperature. FoodHQ publishes none of them — follow a recipe from the Food Standards Agency or a body with the same standing.

What to do with it

All of these treat the ferment as a seasoning rather than a side dish, which is largely what a salty ferment is.

• Rinse the portion you are eating, not the jar. A quick rinse under cold water takes the edge off without touching what is preserving the rest.
• Use less of it. A tablespoon through a bowl of rice or a salad rather than a forkful on the side.
• Cook it into something unsalted. Sauerkraut cooked with pork, potatoes or beans distributes the salt across the whole dish.
• Chop it fine and use it as a condiment — through a slaw, a sandwich, a fritter batter or a grain bowl.
• Do not salt anything it goes into. Taste the dish before seasoning it at all.
• Use the brine deliberately. Salty ferment brine is excellent in a dressing, a marinade or a bloody mary.
• Balance it with fat and acid. Soured cream, yoghurt or a good oil all soften the perception of salt.

Is it actually too salty, or is something else wrong?

Salty but pleasantly sour

Working correctly. Use it as a seasoning.

Salty and not sour at all

Fermentation may have stalled — too cold, or too much salt for the bacteria. Move it somewhere warmer and give it longer.

Salty and slimy

A different finding. Discard it.

Salty and mouldy

Fuzzy coloured growth means discarding the batch.

Salt crystals on the surface

Normal in a very salty ferment as liquid evaporates. Not a fault.

Any doubt

Follow Food Standards Agency guidance rather than a recipe or a website.

Getting the balance right next time

1. Weigh the vegetables and the salt, both. This is the single biggest difference between a recipe that works and one that does not, because a cabbage can vary in weight by half.
2. Take the proportion from a food safety authority rather than from memory or from a blog.
3. Use the same salt each time. Different salts have very different densities by volume, which is why weighing matters.
4. For a brine ferment, make the brine by weight of water rather than by eye.
5. Taste from about a week and refrigerate when the sourness is where you want it — a longer ferment tastes less salty because the acidity balances it.
6. Keep a note of what worked. Fermenting is a repeatable process and the notes are worth more than any recipe.

Common questions