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fermenting Reducing salt in fermented sauce - how low can i go?

I'm continuing to experiment with fermented sauces.  With the help of this forum I've had some success, in that I've managed to successfully ferment peppers and turn that into passable sauce.  However, I am finding the finished product to be much too salty.  My last batch was made using a 10% brine which I saw suggested elsewhere on here, but to my taste it is far too salty.  I have done some further reading in this forum, and it looks like many people go for a 6% brine, but considering how salty a 10% brine is, I suspect 6% will still be too much for me.  So - can I go lower?
 
From what I read in the 'fermenting peppers 101' thread, it seems that the salt is mostly there to prevent bad stuff growing in the mash before the fermentation can start (is this right?), but that if the fermentation is given a boost with a starter culture, the salt can be drastically reduced.  Well my interest in fermentation has perhaps inevitably also led to homemade sauerkraut, which I am enjoying so much there is probably always likely to be a jar on the go.  So if I wanted to drastically reduce the salt level in my chilli mash, how much sauerkraut juice would I need to add to give an appropriate jump-start?
 
Obviously in the long term experimentation will win the day, but I'm hoping that with the help of everyone here I may be able to cut down on the number 'not quites' before I get to the 'just so' that I am after.  So I will imminently be starting a new ferment - in a larger mason jar (1000ml) - without any guidance on the matter I might try weighing the mash (chillies, onion, garlic, carrot or similar), then adding 1% of that in salt, putting it in the jar, adding a tablespoon of sauerkraut juice, then topping up with water.  Does this seem reasonable?  Too much or too little of anything?  Many thanks in advance for any help.
 
It should drop quite a bit, I'd expect the water to break down some of the salt into sodium and chloride ions...?  I need coffee before I think...I'm using 2% and it seems to be working out...
 
Aaron said:
I'm continuing to experiment with fermented sauces.  With the help of this forum I've had some success, in that I've managed to successfully ferment peppers and turn that into passable sauce.  However, I am finding the finished product to be much too salty.  My last batch was made using a 10% brine which I saw suggested elsewhere on here, but to my taste it is far too salty.  I have done some further reading in this forum, and it looks like many people go for a 6% brine, but considering how salty a 10% brine is, I suspect 6% will still be too much for me.  So - can I go lower?
 
From what I read in the 'fermenting peppers 101' thread, it seems that the salt is mostly there to prevent bad stuff growing in the mash before the fermentation can start (is this right?), but that if the fermentation is given a boost with a starter culture, the salt can be drastically reduced.  Well my interest in fermentation has perhaps inevitably also led to homemade sauerkraut, which I am enjoying so much there is probably always likely to be a jar on the go.  So if I wanted to drastically reduce the salt level in my chilli mash, how much sauerkraut juice would I need to add to give an appropriate jump-start?
 
Obviously in the long term experimentation will win the day, but I'm hoping that with the help of everyone here I may be able to cut down on the number 'not quites' before I get to the 'just so' that I am after.  So I will imminently be starting a new ferment - in a larger mason jar (1000ml) - without any guidance on the matter I might try weighing the mash (chillies, onion, garlic, carrot or similar), then adding 1% of that in salt, putting it in the jar, adding a tablespoon of sauerkraut juice, then topping up with water.  Does this seem reasonable?  Too much or too little of anything?  Many thanks in advance for any help.
 
Hi Aaron,
 
You might want to search out some threads by Rocketman.  He was an early champion of using starters (whey) and little salt for his ferments.  He (along with Chilimonsta and others in this forum) really helped me when I was first getting into fermentation.
 
You're correct that the salt is in the mash to keep the nasties at bay until the natural lacto takes over (and subsequently produces enough acid to kill any nasties) and thus preserve the food.  
 
Personally I shoot for 4% salt by weight of mash and do not find the resultant fermented mash/sauce to be too salty.  The idea of 1% salt, even with the addition of a kraut juice starter makes me a bit uneasy.  That doesn't mean I wouldn't try it though! 
 
All I'd suggest is to start a smaller batch in a smaller jar with your proposed 1%/kraut brine idea and see how that goes.  If you find success/like the finished product then you'll be more confident running a bigger batch at that salinity.
 
Best of luck, and please do post back with updates/photos of how this goes.  :)
 
Thanks for the replys all, very useful, I see some of you have success with as low as 2% so I'm feeling much more confident about a lower amount of salt.  SmokenFire, you managed to point out the obvious thing that was totally eluding me - use a smaller jar - and I'll run with that and start a few off at once, potentially shaving months off my experimentations, haha, thanks!  Based on the replies I may go for a 2% and a 4% and see how they are. 
 
So, any thoughts on how much sauerkraut juice would be needed to fire up a standard sized preserving jar of chilli mash?  I guess the bacteria must be quite prevalent, so maybe just a teaspoon would be enough for a small jar?  Anyone have any thoughts on this?
 
 
I have seen success with as little as 1/3 cup active kraut juice added to the chilli mix. Also, I like to layer cabbage leaves on top of the chilli and veggies. It helps keep things under the brine and helps kickstart fermentation. The cabbage leaves can be discarded or eaten!
 
Edit... That 1/3 cup starter was in about 2 gallons/4 liters chillis and veggies mix.
 
Swamptrout said:
What could you add to a mash which has already finished fermenting to reduce saltiness?
More mash ;)

That's why I swear by the powdered probiotics packets! They allow you to cut the amount of salt down SIGNIFICANTLY! I can't say that enough. Salt is easy to add, but super hard to cover up the taste. I use 3-4g of powdered probiotics and only add salt "to taste." Usually only about a teaspoon per 1/2 gallon
IMG_5942.JPG


You could try the peeled potato trick (let it simmer in a stockpot with the sauce for a bit to try to draw the salt out of it). I've tried before with no success. Hopefully you'll get better results
 
When you make a toamto sauce that is too salty, you add more tomatoes. You can read the internet about adding potatoes and removing but that is on you :lol: Spoiler: they are not salty.
 
I can't comment on hot sauce as I am obviously still learning, but I can say that in general cooking, I've never successfully removed high levels of salinity, and due to long running experiments with corned beef this is something I've tried to do a few times.  I've tried the potato trick and as far as I can see it doesn't work.  Adding more of whatever it is you are working with of course helps to dilute things, but yeah I think there is a point where it basically can't be fixed.  But, if your sauce is stupidly salty, as was the one I made which prompted this thread, don't throw it out!  I kept mine and I'm glad I did, been using it as a cooking additive for things like pasta sauce, instead of adding salt I just put some of the sauce in, and it seasons nicely with added smokey (everything was smoked before fermenting) heat, so in the end it hasn't been such a disaster after all.
 
And, with regards to my attempts to get the sauce right, I've currently got a few new ones going, one mash was made up with 2% salt by weight of the mash, and one with 4%.  They are about 3 weeks in, and both are looking good.  Only problem is I'm getting really impatient and want to try them out!  But I'll give them another few weeks I guess.  Will post updates...
 
 I have done many excellent ferments by adding 4% by weight of salt to product. Basically you cut or grind all of your peppers and other vegetable ingredients up and weigh them in grams. then multiply that weight by .04 which gives you the amount of salt by weight in grams to add. So lets say you have 100 grams of processed peppers and garlic and onion mash. then you multiply that by .04 which gives you 4. so you add 4 grams of salt. 


If you plan on processing a shelf stable product you risk raising the ph too high for safety if you add a lot of un-fermented product (more peppers)  if you do add more ingredients and you plan to can the product then you should test the ph to ensure that it can be safely canned.

 

 
 
MikeUSMC said:
More mash ;)

That's why I swear by the powdered probiotics packets! They allow you to cut the amount of salt down SIGNIFICANTLY! I can't say that enough. Salt is easy to add, but super hard to cover up the taste. I use 3-4g of powdered probiotics and only add salt "to taste." Usually only about a teaspoon per 1/2 gallon
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IMG_5942.JPG

You could try the peeled potato trick (let it simmer in a stockpot with the sauce for a bit to try to draw the salt out of it). I've tried before with no success. Hopefully you'll get better results
Have you tried other Culturelle products? The packets give you 5 bil CFUs each. The capsules below give you 15 bil. 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BKH3L2/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
One box of 30 caps is slightly cheaper than a box of 30 kids packets. So you're getting over 3X bang for the buck.
 
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