Vegetable · root

Ginger Root

Aromatic rhizome used as component (<5% of ferment weight) rather than primary. Can also be standalone for ginger-bug (starter culture for sodas — natural yeast + Lactobacillus from the skin).

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.

25g salt

4.39 tsp 1.46 tbsp 0.88 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	25 g	8.8	2.93
Morton kosher	25 g	5.21	1.74
Fine sea salt	25 g	4.39	1.46
Pickling / canning	25 g	4.55	1.52

Default salt: 2.50 %
Salt range: 2.00% – 3.50%
Time @ 68 °F: 7.0 days
Target pH: 3.80
Water content: ~81%
Preferred styles: lacto hot sauce component, ginger bug, kimchi component

Technique

For ginger-bug: grated ginger + sugar + water 1:1:10, loose lid, feed 1 tbsp each ginger + sugar daily for 5-7 days until foamy and smells bread-like. Use as soda starter (~1/4 cup per quart of sweetened tea/juice). For kimchi/hot sauce component: grate, add at 2-5% of primary vegetable weight.

Source: Sandor Katz — Wild Fermentation (ginger bug).