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The BrineLedger
Wide grey stoneware crock on a scrubbed pine table in a cool cellar, filled with sliced cabbage under a clear brine and held down by a plain glass plate, with a folded cloth beside it
A crock, a weight and a plate: the whole apparatus of a lactic fermentation, unchanged since the documents on this site were first written.

A public manual

Salt, acid, temperature, time: brining vegetables from the published record

Fifteen vegetables, each with the recipe a named document actually publishes, and nine pages on the method behind them. No figure on this site was invented, rounded or remembered.

Revised September 6, 2026 · 28 pages · 39 sources

ChartEvery salt strength these documents publish

A brine is not a matter of taste. Salt at the published strength is what keeps the wrong organisms from growing while the lactic bacteria work, which is why every source on this site forbids reducing it.

Published salt strengths for brined and fermented vegetables, as printed by each source. Read across a row; never mix two rows.
PreparationSaltPerVinegar at 5 percentTemperatureTimeSource
Fermented dill pickles1/2 cup8 cups water and 4 lb cucumbers, per gallon of container1/4 cup70 to 75 F3 to 4 weeksNCHFP
Fermented dill pickles, cool room1/2 cupsame1/4 cup55 to 65 F5 to 6 weeksNCHFP
Sauerkraut, by volume3 tbsp5 lb shredded cabbagenone70 to 75 F3 to 4 weeksNCHFP, PNW 355
Sauerkraut, cool room3 tbsp5 lb shredded cabbagenone60 to 65 F5 to 6 weeksNCHFP
Sauerkraut, stated as a percentage2 to 2.5 percent by weightshredded cabbagenone68 to 72 F7 to 14 daysColorado State
Sauerkraut fermented in a jar3 1/2 tbsp5 lb cabbagenonenot statednot statedPenn State
Brine to top up a crock1 1/2 tbsp1 quart waternonenot applicablenot applicablePNW 355, NCHFP
Brine inside a bag used as a weight4 1/2 tbsp3 quarts waternonenot applicablenot applicableNCHFP
Quick fresh pack dills, the pickling liquid1/2 cup2 quarts water1 1/2 quartsbrought to a boil10 to 20 min in the cannerNCHFP

The two sauerkraut temperatures do not agree, and neither does the holding time: the national guide prints 70 to 75 F for 3 to 4 weeks, Colorado State prints 68 to 72 F for 7 to 14 days. Both are reproduced above because both are published. The page on temperature and time says what follows from the difference.

BenchFifteen vegetables, one page each

Each page carries the published recipe for that vegetable: the salt, the acid, the temperature, the holding time, the headspace and the processing schedule, with the document that publishes them. Where nothing is published, the page says so instead of filling the gap.

  1. Small ridged pickling cucumbers packed upright in a stoneware crock under a cloudy brine with fresh dill heads floating on the surface and a plate pressing them down

    01

    Fermented dill pickles, cucumber by the gallon of crock

    The oldest and the most documented of these recipes, printed the same way by four separate publications, all of them adapted from one national guide.

  2. Glass pint jars on a kitchen counter filled with whole small cucumbers and yellow mustard seed in a clear pale liquid, a canner pot steaming behind them

    02

    Quick fresh pack dills, the cucumber that never ferments

    No lactic bacteria, no crock and no three weeks: acidity arrives ready made in the jar, which changes what the recipe is allowed to do.

  3. Finely shredded white cabbage pressed down in a wide stoneware crock with its own juice risen above the surface and a glass plate holding it under

    03

    Sauerkraut, and the one recipe published as a percentage

    The only vegetable on this site for which a source states the salt as a percentage of the weight, and the only one where two documents print different temperatures.

  4. Slender green beans trimmed to equal length and stood upright packed tightly inside clear glass pint jars with a dill head and a garlic clove visible at the side

    04

    Dilled beans, upright in the jar and never fermented

    A fresh pack recipe with one of the shortest processing times published, and no fermented version anywhere in these sources.

  5. Deep red beets sliced into even rounds on a white enamel tray beside a pan of dark liquid, whole cloves and a cinnamon stick resting on the tray edge

    05

    Pickled beets, cooked before they are ever pickled

    The only recipe here that cooks the vegetable through first, and the only one whose preparation step exists to keep the colour in the beet.

  6. Long red and yellow chilli peppers and thick sweet red peppers spread on a baking tray with their skins blistered and darkened, a damp cloth folded beside them

    06

    Pickled hot peppers, blistered before they are packed

    The one recipe on this site that carries a safety instruction about the cook rather than the food, and the only one with a skin removal step.

  7. Coarsely grated yellow summer squash and green courgette piled in a wide stainless bowl with diced sweet onion and yellow mustard seed scattered over the top

    07

    Summer squash relish, the one recipe that is not a pickle

    A relish rather than a pickle: the vegetable is grated, the liquid is thick with sugar, and the class it belongs to changes what the schedule is for.

  8. Green asparagus spears trimmed to the same length standing upright and tightly packed in tall clear glass jars on a slate worktop with a garlic clove at the base of each

    08

    Pickled asparagus, equal parts water and vinegar

    One of the seventeen tested recipes in a single extension publication, and one of the few that names a twelve ounce jar in its schedule.

  9. Peeled orange carrots sliced into even half inch rounds heaped on a wooden board beside a small dish of yellow mustard seed and pale celery seed

    09

    Pickled carrots, and a brine where the salt is not the preservative

    The clearest published example of a recipe whose salt is there for taste and whose safety rests entirely on the vinegar.

  10. White cauliflower broken into even florets and small trimmed Brussels sprouts draining together in a metal colander over a steaming pan on a stove

    10

    Cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, and a salt that is thrown away

    One of the two recipes here with a salted blanching water, a quantity that never reaches the jar and must not be confused with a brine.

  11. Firm unripe green tomatoes cut into thick wedges on a white enamel tray beside a bowl of coarse salt and a scattering of whole spices

    11

    Green tomatoes, three published recipes and one trap

    The vegetable with the most published variants here, and the one where the strongest brine of all belongs to a recipe that is not a fermentation.

  12. Small white pearl onions peeled and glistening piled in a shallow white bowl on a scrubbed wooden table with a paring knife and loose papery skins beside it

    12

    Pearl onions, the smallest vegetable in the whole set

    A short recipe, and a useful one to read against the others, because almost every step in it exists to handle the size of the vegetable.

  13. Cut carrots, cauliflower florets, celery, sweet pepper strips and small onions mixed together in a large glass bowl packed with crushed ice on a steel worktop

    13

    Mixed vegetables, the only recipe here with no added water

    The recipe that shows most plainly what the vinegar is doing, because there is nothing in the jar to dilute it.

  14. Coarsely cut napa cabbage leaves mixed with red chilli powder, sliced spring onion and shredded radish packed into a clear glass jar standing on a fridge shelf

    14

    Kimchi, the one ferment here that is never made shelf stable

    One source in this whole set publishes a kimchi procedure, and it differs from every other page here in the way that matters most: the jar never becomes shelf stable.

  15. Bunches of red radishes, a purple topped turnip, a knob of fresh ginger and a head of garlic laid out on a plain grey worktop with no jars and no equipment nearby

    15

    Four vegetables this manual gives no recipe for, and why

    The page that exists because the honest answer to a question is sometimes that nobody tested it, and a manual on this subject may not guess.

BoardFour objects, and the rule each one exists for

The published instructions turn on four pieces of equipment. Each one has a rule attached to it, and each rule comes from the same documents as the recipes.

  1. Empty tall grey stoneware fermentation crock photographed from slightly above on a plain wooden bench, its glazed rim catching a low side light

    The crock. One gallon of capacity for every five pounds of fresh vegetable.

  2. Two glass quart jars filled with water standing on a plain white dinner plate that presses down inside the mouth of a stoneware crock

    The weight. The vegetables stay one to two inches under the brine, never above it.

  3. Thick folded white cotton towel draped loosely over the open mouth of a stoneware crock standing in the corner of a cool tiled pantry

    The cover. A clean heavy bath towel over the crock, not a sealed lid.

  4. Row of clear glass pint canning jars with two piece metal lids standing on a wire canner rack, empty and dry, in flat daylight from a window

    The jar. Half an inch of headspace, and a processing time that changes with altitude.

RegisterEverything on this site, by date of revision

Every page here was written and revised on the same day, and every page carries that date. Nothing on this site is backdated to look older than it is.

  1. Vegetable by vegetable

    Fermented dill pickles, cucumber by the gallon of crock

    The oldest and the most documented of these recipes, printed the same way by four separate publications, all of them adapted from one national guide.

  2. Vegetable by vegetable

    Quick fresh pack dills, the cucumber that never ferments

    No lactic bacteria, no crock and no three weeks: acidity arrives ready made in the jar, which changes what the recipe is allowed to do.

  3. Vegetable by vegetable

    Sauerkraut, and the one recipe published as a percentage

    The only vegetable on this site for which a source states the salt as a percentage of the weight, and the only one where two documents print different temperatures.

  4. Vegetable by vegetable

    Dilled beans, upright in the jar and never fermented

    A fresh pack recipe with one of the shortest processing times published, and no fermented version anywhere in these sources.

  5. Vegetable by vegetable

    Pickled beets, cooked before they are ever pickled

    The only recipe here that cooks the vegetable through first, and the only one whose preparation step exists to keep the colour in the beet.

  6. Vegetable by vegetable

    Pickled hot peppers, blistered before they are packed

    The one recipe on this site that carries a safety instruction about the cook rather than the food, and the only one with a skin removal step.

  7. Vegetable by vegetable

    Summer squash relish, the one recipe that is not a pickle

    A relish rather than a pickle: the vegetable is grated, the liquid is thick with sugar, and the class it belongs to changes what the schedule is for.

  8. Vegetable by vegetable

    Pickled asparagus, equal parts water and vinegar

    One of the seventeen tested recipes in a single extension publication, and one of the few that names a twelve ounce jar in its schedule.

  9. Vegetable by vegetable

    Pickled carrots, and a brine where the salt is not the preservative

    The clearest published example of a recipe whose salt is there for taste and whose safety rests entirely on the vinegar.

  10. Vegetable by vegetable

    Cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, and a salt that is thrown away

    One of the two recipes here with a salted blanching water, a quantity that never reaches the jar and must not be confused with a brine.

  11. Vegetable by vegetable

    Green tomatoes, three published recipes and one trap

    The vegetable with the most published variants here, and the one where the strongest brine of all belongs to a recipe that is not a fermentation.

  12. Vegetable by vegetable

    Pearl onions, the smallest vegetable in the whole set

    A short recipe, and a useful one to read against the others, because almost every step in it exists to handle the size of the vegetable.

  13. Vegetable by vegetable

    Mixed vegetables, the only recipe here with no added water

    The recipe that shows most plainly what the vinegar is doing, because there is nothing in the jar to dilute it.

  14. Vegetable by vegetable

    Kimchi, the one ferment here that is never made shelf stable

    One source in this whole set publishes a kimchi procedure, and it differs from every other page here in the way that matters most: the jar never becomes shelf stable.

  15. Vegetable by vegetable

    Four vegetables this manual gives no recipe for, and why

    The page that exists because the honest answer to a question is sometimes that nobody tested it, and a manual on this subject may not guess.

  16. How the method works

    How to make a pickle, in the order the steps actually happen

    One page that walks the whole procedure once, so that every recipe on this site can be read as a variation on it rather than as a list.

  17. How the method works

    Every salt strength these documents publish, and what each is for

    Nine figures from five publications, kept separate on purpose: a strength written for a crock of cabbage is not a strength for a jar of cucumbers.

  18. How the method works

    Ferment or vinegar, and the four classes the documents define

    The single distinction that governs every other page here: whether the acid is made by the vegetable or poured in from a bottle.

  19. How the method works

    Which salt, which vinegar and which water the recipes assume

    Three ingredients that look interchangeable in a shop and are not, with the published reason for each restriction.

  20. How the method works

    Temperature and time, and the one place the sources disagree

    The two figures a cellar decides for you, and what the documents say happens when the cellar is warmer or colder than they assume.

  21. How the method works

    Acidity, spoilage, and the batches these documents tell you to throw away

    The page that exists because this subject can make people ill: every figure here is a regulatory or federal figure, and every one is attributed.

  22. How the method works

    Crock, weight, cover and jar, and the rule attached to each

    Four objects, and the reason each one is specified rather than suggested: every rule here comes from the same documents as the recipes.

  23. How the method works

    Season, maturity and the delay between the field and the crock

    A recipe assumes a vegetable at a particular stage. This page collects what is actually published about that stage, and says where it is not published.

  24. How the method works

    The words of the trade, defined by the documents that use them

    Every entry here is a definition taken from a named publication, not a definition written for this site.

  25. How the method works

    Sources, method, and what this site does when the documents disagree

    A manual about food safety is only worth what its sources are worth, so this page names all of them and describes how they were read.