3% salt for Brussels Sprouts

10.0 days at 68 °F · pH target 3.50 · within recommended range

Salt calculator

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

Vegetable weight

grams

Salt percentage

Salt grain

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

30g salt

5.27 tsp 1.76 tbsp 1.06 oz

Based on Fine sea salt at 5.69 g/tsp.

Safe range for lacto-fermentation. 2% is the most common default for cabbage, kimchi and pepper mash.

All salt grains

Grain	Grams	Teaspoons	Tablespoons
Diamond Crystal kosher	30 g	10.56	3.52
Morton kosher	30 g	6.25	2.08
Fine sea salt	30 g	5.27	1.76
Pickling / canning	30 g	5.45	1.82

About Brussels Sprouts

Cousin to cabbage, Brussels sprouts ferment into a crunchy, tangy snack with a deep umami finish. Sandor Katz documents them halved or quartered in a brine; the cabbage-family Lactobacillus produces clean acidity. Best when fermented young, when sprouts are firm and still tightly closed. Loose, yellowing sprouts disintegrate during fermentation.

Fermentation data

Default salt: 2.5%(you are viewing 3%)
Salt range: 2–3.5%
Time at 68°F: 10.0 days
pH target: 3.50
Water content: 86%
Preferred styles: brine pickle, lacto ferment

Technique

Trim outer leaves and stem-end. Halve lengthwise (or quarter if large). Pack tightly into a jar with two crushed garlic cloves, a teaspoon of black peppercorns, and one bay leaf per quart. Cover with 2.5% brine (25g salt per liter water). Weight below brine, leave 1 inch headspace. Ferment 7-14 days at 65-72°F. Taste from day 7. Refrigerate when balanced. Soft outer layer is normal; mushy texture throughout indicates over-fermentation.

Salt level notes at 3%

For brine-pickling: calculate 3% of total brine weight, not of vegetable weight. E.g., 1kg water = 30g salt. For dry-salting: less common at this %, but used for onions + harder root vegetables.

Safety: Safe range for lacto-fermentation. 2% is the most common default for cabbage, kimchi and pepper mash.

Explore other salt levels for Brussels Sprouts

1.5% — minimum safe
1.8% — low-salt sauerkraut
2% — standard sauerkraut
2.25% — lightly-salted brine-pickle
2.5% — standard hot sauce
3% — brine-pickle standard (current)
3.5% — kimchi rinse stage
4% — traditional kimchi / kvass

Sources

Katz — Wild Fermentation (2nd ed., p. 90)
NCHFP (UGA) — Fermented and Pickled Products
Sandor Katz, The Art of Fermentation (Chelsea Green, 2012)

For educational use only. Consult your local food safety authority for commercial production.