Ask two fermenters what "2% salt" means and you can start a war. 2% of the water's weight? Of the vegetables'? Of the whole jar's contents? All three are real methods; all three give different jars.
| Base | "2%" on 500 g water + 900 g cabbage | The method it belongs to |
|---|---|---|
| % of the water | 10 g salt in the brine | Brined pickles — the standard jar math |
| % of the vegetable | 18 g salt massaged in | Dry-salt kraut (often written "2% of the cabbage") |
| % of the total | 28 g total, split across both | Whole-jar method used by some recipe books |
Any time a percentage appears — salt, alum, honey, dye — name the base in the same breath. "8% alum of fiber weight" is a real instruction; "8% alum" is a rumor. The Cultured Bench app repeats the base next to every number it prints, in every calculator, on every label. It's the whole design thesis, and now it's the site's too.