Fermenting

I attended my first fermentation intro class. I received taste samples of kraut and kimchi.
I was surprised to learn that the class instructor had not ever heard of switchel, which I’ve been making close to daily in this hot summer. She seems to think it’s a shrub because vinegar is added to it. (I use apple cider vinegar with water and minced ginger, with some stevia. Sorry if this was covered before, it’s late and hot and I’ll probably read through the whole thread while I’ve got my first ferment going.

I kinda want to bring my fermented stuff over the border but wonder if the alcohol content of a kombucha scoby would concern the border officers.

12 Likes

Two ferments just started:

Red cabbage/onion/garlic on the left. Persian cukes/onion/garlic on the right. (Plus spices and brine from a previous kraut batch.)

6 Likes

I think I am gonna make some kraut next week finally. MrsTobinL stumbled on a kimchee class at the local farmers market yesterday. The kraut I tasted was so yummy, I probably would have scarfed the whole jar down if I had the chance at it.

ETA and I totally forgot she posted it above… also should I start using @JemmieDuffs instead of MrsTobinL now?

7 Likes

I has a sad - I neglected to check my pickles over the past couple of days and found some lovely mold colonies floating on top. And the brine was slimy. Damn it! No pickles for me. :sob:

The red cabbage, however, is fine and dandy. Just needs a few more days to mature.

5 Likes

Those airlock lids that Mark(?) mentioned are the wrong size for my jars. Neither screw on but one fits neatly (and reasonably snug without stretching plastic) over the rim of the jar. The other … not so much. I didn’t know I didn’t have wide mouthed jars. :confused:

Fair warning and all that. If you want a real airlock and you have a drill, it’s probably better cheaper to buy the same airlock/bung combo and drill an existing lid. At $28/pair, the advantages were kind of slim anyway. The advantages of the neat plastic lid (and the convenience of getting it all together) are somewhat lost if you’re not already using wide mouthed jars.

1 Like

Started a batch of beets yesterday:

Sliced the beets into thin quarter rounds, threw in 5 garlic cloves and 1T of mustard seeds, poured some brine over it, then covered with a thick beet slice and a pickle pebble.

10 Likes

So what is a good salt/water mix for brine? I used a bit too much for my kraut, but the satly/garlicy flavor was nice for a bit.
I need to start a new non red batch this week.

2 Likes

If I add brine, I use 1T salt to 12-16 oz water. I also add at least 1T of brine from a previous batch, to kick-start the fermentation. I tend not to add any brine when I’m making 'kraut with green cabbage, because I massage the heck out of it to draw out the liquid.

3 Likes

Oh yeah I think I probably used about 2T salt on the last batch… the instructions I found online didn’t really give amounts so I just shook a bunch into the cabbage… still yummy but salty.

2 Likes

I go with about 1T of salt for around 1.5 - 2 lbs of cabbage.

2 Likes

Thanks! I am gonna get a jalapeno for the next bunch. Yummm!

2 Likes

Thinking of having a go at some kraut. Just need a big jar, some cabbage and some salt, is that right?

3 Likes

There’s a cookbook called Nourishing Traditions that covers fermentation adequately for the novice. It’s yellow, large, and thick, edited by Sally Fallon.

6 Likes

Pretty much. Shred the cabbage salt it, massage the hell out of it for 10 minutes or so, add in caraway seeds for proper kraut, or add in garlic, or hot pepper, or whatever you feel like adding in.
Make sure the cabbage stays under the brine or you get growths. I found an easy pebble is saving one of the outer leaves and cutting it to size and using that.

2 Likes

What people use books? Isn’t this the future already? I totes forgot to look there.

3 Likes

On the scale of “happy ending” to “Korean Sports”, how much massage should I be giving this? :confused:

7 Likes

I was getting hand cramps but wow there was a lot of juice… So Korean Sports.

5 Likes

Don’t you two ever talk to each other?

6 Likes

Right. Bring the pain. Got it. That’s good, coz I got a lot of stress that needs working out.

Plastic tub for fermenting OK, doesn’t need to be glass?

2 Likes

Yes yes we do… at the same time we type to each other… :smile_cat:

4 Likes