Get the salt right
Fermenting is simple, but the salt is the one thing you should not guess - too little and it spoils, too much and it stalls. Weigh your veg and water, pick a strength, and get the salt for it.
Use pure salt with no anti-caking agents or iodine (sea salt, pickling salt or kosher salt) - additives can cloud the brine or inhibit the ferment. Kosher salt is coarse and light, so a spoonful holds less: about 4.8 g per teaspoon for Morton coarse kosher (its label: 1/4 tsp = 1.2 g) and 2.8 g for Diamond Crystal (1/4 tsp = 0.7 g), against 6 g for fine table salt (USDA FoodData Central) - weighing is the safe way. For a submerged-brine ferment, weigh both the vegetables and the water you pour over them. Keep everything under the brine.
This calculator does the arithmetic; it is not a tested recipe. The US National Center for Home Food Preservation's rule for fermenting is to use only recipes with tested proportions of ingredients, and never to cut back on the salt. Its sauerkraut recipe uses 3/4 cup of canning salt to 25 lb of cabbage and ferments at 70-75°F in about 3 to 4 weeks. If a ferment shows signs of spoilage, do not eat it.
For brine by weight
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