Salt percentage

3.5% salt — kimchi rinse stage

For pre-rinse kimchi: not tasted directly — the salt is drawn OUT during the 2-4 hour rest. For full-sour pickle brines: distinctly salty, traditional Eastern European flavor.

Salt calculator

Enter your vegetable weight and a salt percentage. We return the exact salt mass in grams, plus teaspoons for each common grain.

grams
%

Grain matters: one teaspoon of Diamond Crystal weighs half as much as one teaspoon of fine sea salt. Weigh in grams when you can.

35g salt
6.15 tsp 2.05 tbsp 1.23 oz

Based on Fine sea salt at 5.69 g/tsp.

Flavour-forward. Ferment will be slower; brine will taste salty. Good for pickles and hot-sauce mashes that need long shelf life.

All salt grains
GrainGramsTeaspoonsTablespoons
Diamond Crystal kosher35 g12.324.11
Morton kosher35 g7.292.43
Fine sea salt35 g6.152.05
Pickling / canning35 g6.362.12

Safety and use at 3.5%

The pre-ferment salt level for kimchi — napa cabbage is dry-salted at 3.5-4% then RINSED before the paste is applied. After rinse, effective salt in final kimchi is 1.5-2%. Safe because of rinse stage; don't apply 3.5% to a ferment without rinsing.

Technique notes

Kimchi salting is a 2-stage process: 3.5-4% dry salt → 2-4 hour rest (flip halfway) → 3x rinse → paste application. The salt drawn into the water during rest is what rinses away. Final kimchi effective salt is ~2%.

Typical ferments at 3.5%

Vegetables at 3.5%

15 vegetables are commonly fermented at 3.5% salt. Each page gives timing at 68 °F, pH target, and species-specific technique.

Sources

Salt percentage guidance from the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP), FDA fermented vegetable guidelines, and Sandor Katz, The Art of Fermentation (Chelsea Green, 2012). Information is provided for educational purposes. Consult your local food safety authority for commercial production.