Maximum Salt Concentration for Fermentation

[agines19]

Made some kimchi last night and chose not to rinse the cabbage before mixing in the paste which is also salty. I thought it would be fine as I like salty things but how salty can you make it till fermentation stops working properly?

I think I'm around 6-8% with this batch. I saw some places that said up to 16% but they didn't seem confident so thought I would ask here.

https://cooking.stackexchange.com/quest ... fermentati

[agines19]

Kimchee seems to have come out fine as it has bubbled and turned out rather well.

I would like to know max salt content if anyone can confirm the 16% or share how high they have gone without ruining or ruining a ferment.

[Christopher Weeks]

The only 16% that I know about is a practice performed by commercial pickle (pickled cucumber) makers where they store them long-term in 16% saline and then soak them in vats of tap-water before canning for sale.

I don't know the answer to your actual question, but it's hard to imagine a normal fermentation process at 16%.

[agines19]

That is helpful to know. If it bubbles, is that a good indication it's going through the full process?

[Christopher Weeks]

If it bubbles, something is happening. Try it and then taste it at the end. If it's both pleasant and sour enough for preservative effect, you're probably good even if it did go through a different set of microbes.

[agines19]

Many thanks for your inputs. I had not conceived that different salt ranges could cause a diff bacteria to grow but still reach the same end result as they eventually die off and a final bacteria takes over. Thanks for expanding my thinking about the process. Very helpful indeed. It did come out rather well although I think next time I definitely will wash the cabbage at least once .