What to do if sauerkraut is too salty
A pleasant taste and high quality of the dish is guaranteed only by a competently performed fermentation. But it happens that the taste of the prepared product is very far from the desired one. In list most common mistakes for novice cooks - salted.
This article will tell you what to do if sauerkraut is too salty and how to avoid it.
The content of the article
Features of pickling cabbage
Not all varieties of white cabbage are suitable for pickling - they choose mid and late ripening varieties... Such heads of cabbage consist of dense leaves, so the workpiece is crispy and stored longer.
Not only taste depends on the amount of salt, but also the shelf life. With an insufficient amount of salt, the leavening process occurs faster, but the vegetable itself becomes soft and tasteless.
Preparation for fermentation includes selection of vegetables, containers, temperature control and determination of the place where the container with sourdough will be located.
What rules are followed when fermenting:
- when cooking use rock salt coarse grinding - iodized makes the cabbage soft and tasteless;
- before cutting, the cabbage is not washed, only a few top leaves are removed;
- the containers in which the workpiece will be stored are treated with vinegar or alcohol with the addition of vegetable oil;
- chopped vegetables are carefully mixed with salt;
- daily pierce the workpiece a wooden skewer to release accumulated gases;
- remove the foam formed during the sourdough;
- the jar in which the fermentation is being placed is placed on a wide plate so that the brine during the fermentation stage does not pour out onto the table or other surface.
Why does salty happen
Over-salt during fermentation occurs quite often. It depends not only on the hostess, but also on the quality of the vegetable.... Good fermentation requires experience, but no one is immune from mistakes.
Reasons for salting:
- the wrong, unverified fermentation recipe was selected;
- iodized salt was used for salting;
- fermented longerthan necessary;
- from the moment the foam appeared, the first puncture was not made to release gases;
- because of the strong pressing of the ingredients, the salting did not have enough air.
Attention! If you are using sea salt, remember to take half as much.
What to do if cabbage is too salted
Over-salt is a common problem, so there are many ways to fix the situation. We will tell further about what the hostess should do if she salted the cabbage during salting.
If found immediately
Salt is checked for salinity immediately after the mixture gives juice... First, they try the brine, since it contains the bulk of the salt. If oversalt is detected, one of the methods for its elimination is used.
Water addition
If the brine is too salty, a third part is drained from the container and add the same amount of settled cool water.
Important! You can't drain the brine completely, because of this, the cabbage will turn out to be bland and tasteless.
When mixing water and brine, its concentration decreases... To distribute the brine diluted with water, the container is shaken. The method is suitable only if fermented in small containers - it will be difficult to shake the barrel.
Egg method
A raw chicken egg is broken into cheesecloth folded in half. Instead of gauze, a waterproof bag is also used. The package with the contents is placed in a container with cabbage for 10-15 minutes... During this time, the egg will draw out most of the salt. It is important to follow the process, since if the egg flows out, the salting will disappear.
Important! The time the eggs are salted should not be exceeded; it should be strictly 15 minutes. With prolonged interaction, the microflora of the egg has a negative effect on the conditions of fermentation.
Transfer to a bulk container
With strong compaction of vegetables, the air necessary for fermentation ceases to flow to the lower layers... The first thing to do in this situation is to transfer the contents of the jar to a container of larger volume. Add grated carrots and fresh chopped cabbage, mix the ingredients and put them under a press. Fresh vegetables will absorb excess salt and soften the taste.
Soak
Salted vegetable is soaked for 30 minutes... Before serving, they are additionally washed several times and granulated sugar is added, which will soften the salinity of the dish.
If not found immediately
It is useless to rinse the workpiece and add vegetables to it in the event that you noticed salting already in winter when you opened the can. In this case, cabbage is immediately added to main dishes.
How to save salted cabbage
Sauerkraut, salted in which was found late, can only be saved by a properly chosen main course: for example borsch, vinaigrette, cabbage soup or stew. To cook meat with cabbage, many cooks specially salted the meat.
To serve sauerkraut as an independent snack, use a large amount of vegetable oil, add onions.
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How to avoid salting
In order not to oversalt the cabbage, they follow the rules:
- choose a proven recipe and use volumetric dishes;
- prefer cabbage of late varieties;
- choose heads of cabbage from 800 g to 2 kg;
- do not take cabbage with traces of rotting;
- taste the workpiece throughout all stages of salting;
- chopped cabbage is ground until juice is released, before putting it under oppression;
- punctures are made in time to release the gases formed during fermentation.
Tips and tricks for pickling cabbage
The pickling process is carefully controlled... Appliances used: knives, cuttings - must be clean. They begin to ferment cabbage not earlier than the first half of October - at this time it becomes crispy and aromatic.
When cleaning a head of cabbage remove a few large sheets and place them on the bottom of the fermentation pan - this will make more juice.
For making delicious sauerkraut adhere to the main recommendations.
Preparatory stage
Choosing a suitable container – a large saucepan or other glass or enamelled steel dish... Plastic and metal containers are not used, as they can give off their smell and oxidize.
As a press use a three-liter jar of water. Stone or metal cargo is not suitable. Between the load and the leaven, a prepared linen or cotton cloth is laid out.
Iodized and evaporated salt is reserved for other recipes... For pickling cabbage, use stone cabbage - it does not add bitterness.
Choosing and buying vegetables
Salted cabbage should be of late varieties: dense white head of cabbage without cracks, traces of soil contamination, infestation by slugs, caterpillars, signs of decay.
Carrots are juicy, bright orange... For 1 kg of cabbage, take one small carrot.
Shredding
The head of cabbage is cleaned from the upper leaves and cut into two equal parts. Finely chop the cabbage: the strips should be long and thin... Carrots are grated and mixed with cabbage.
Amount of salt and ingredients
Salt is added at the rate 20-25 g per 1 kg of cabbage, but taste preferences can be followed... A strong deviation from the norms will affect the salting or insufficient salting of the workpiece. In case of insufficient salting, the cabbage will rot.
Vegetables are evenly salted and mixed... For a quick start of fermentation, sugar is added at the tip of a knife. Then mix again and knead until juice is released. At the end they taste it, add salt if necessary. If additional vegetables are added to the salting, their volume should not exceed 1/4 of the volume of the cabbage.
Read also:
How to remove bitterness from sauerkraut and why it appears
Loading into a container
The pot or jar is washed and treated with vinegar. Vegetables are placed close to each other in a container, all new layers are pressed.
The cabbage is placed, leaving 10 cm from the top of the container so that the juice does not spill out during fermentation. Put a plate on top and press it tightly with a load (a can of water, a saucepan, etc.).
Fermentation
To speed up the fermentation stage, the container is placed closer to warmth... For systematic ripening, the temperature should reach + 15 ° С. After 2-3 days, the saline will be filled with gas, and foam will form on top. At this stage, the gas must be released. To do this, remove the load and the plate under it, pierce the mass to the very bottom with a wooden stick. The vegetables are tamped and the load is put in place.
When the workpiece is ready, it is laid out in banks and leave in a cool place.
Conclusion
You can fix salted sauerkraut both during the fermentation and after a few days. If salting is detected too late, you will have to choose the right dish and use the workpiece as it is. When preparing pickled vegetables, it is recommended to follow the recommendations for choosing heads of cabbage, containers, observing proportions and controlling fermentation in order to avoid salting.