That does sound like a fair amount of of new brine for just 8 pints. I would guess that you drained off all the old brine first and then packed the jars loosely? Maybe a bit too loosely? Note the instructions read: fill jars rather firmly with kraut and juices, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.

Either way it is safe as the cabbage is already fermented and you are basically just processing to create the vacuum.

I don't know how much you began with weight wise so can't tell how many pints you should end up with but had it been packed into say 6 pints you'd need much less new brine.

Dave

Thanks Dave! As long as its not a safety issue, that was my main concern. I didn't drain it. I fermented in a gallon glass pickle jar, and it remained under the brine while fermenting. After I dumped it into a big pot, it just didn't have much juice. I didn't firmly pack the jars though.

As a side note. I had a second gallon jar fermenting also. Prepared the same day as this batch, under the same conditions. I canned the first batch on Monday and let the second jar go til today. When I dumped the kraut into a pot today, it had a horrible rotten smell - I threw it out. I wonder why this batch went bad? Could the two extra days make a difference (the temp has been 70 or below)?

Thanks for your help.
~ Tracy