I’m wanting to learn how to ferment vegetables. I do like sauerkraut. Is that easy?
I know I can google this but I’m interested in how you do this. I don’t want to poison myself. I’m hoping there is not significant investment required.
How to ferment vegetables?
Mnketo46
(Frank)
#2
Sauerkraut is amazingly easy and cheap. Salt and cabbage. That’s pretty much it. Check out YouTube. Plenty of how to videos.
Rajseth
(Raj Seth)
#3
Easy as easy can be.
toss cut vegetables with salt (I use Kosher salt - but doesn’t matter)
Salt - 2%-4% by weight
put in jar. squishing them down a bit with hands - vegetables will give off water. If water is not over the top of the vegetables, add water as needed to cover them
I use Fido Boromeo jars that allow one way outgassing. thats the glass jar, glass lid, rubber gasket, held close by wire closure. Or use any jar that can prevent air from entering - it needs to be anerobic. Fermentation will produce CO2 that needs to be let out.
leave out at room temperature for upto 4 weeks. taste weekly to decide how tart you want them.
Refrigerate when done.
Caryl
(Caryl)
#4
You should look at Sandor Katz ‘Wild Fermentation’.
This is the best kimchi I have ever had,
http://upperdelaware-wapf.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/kimchi.pdf
daddyoh
(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!)
#5
Thanks all. I’m on the hunt for a fermentation jar today. Local farmers market and then maybe some brewing eqpt stores.
daddyoh
(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!)
#6
4 lbs of Sauerkraut is put up for 2 to 3 weeks now. Found the fermentation jar and airlock at a brewing supply company.
Going to do Kimchi next if this works.
David_Stilley
(Full Metal KETO AF)
#7
My current inventory of sauerkraut and Paò Caí. I use tall thrift store bought pasta storage jars, 2 liter size. I get them for about $3 and I have many. I just learned off the internet and it’s really safe to do. People have been at it for thousands of years. Basic helpful tools besides your vessel are a very large mixing bowl, a mandolin makes things fast and consistent (recommend the Benrinner wide version, I have been using my Benrinner for over 30 years and it’s still razor sharp!). Use pickling or sea salt, make sure there’s no anti caking additives or iodine. I like pickling salt because it dissolves into a brine without heating. I use brine for Chinese Paò Caí which I eat more than Sauerkraut. Also never use straight tap water. Use filtered, distilled or spring water. The chlorine will kill the naturally present cultures on the vegetables which make them ferment. Also you don’t need to sterilize, hot soap and water wash all equipment and work surfaces first (and hands). You’re fermenting not canning! Trust yourself and nature. If something has gone wrong you will know when you open the vessel to sample it. If it’s moldy or smells bad it is bad. I will not risk eating a moldy batch after skimming.
3 weeks minimum gives maximum probiotic development, but flavors continue to develop after that. I ferment my sauerkraut in a water locked polish pickling crock and find 6 weeks optimal. I recommend this crock from Amazon:
About $85 and well worth it, best value.
Check out Sandor Katz’ videos YouTube, “People’s Republic of Fermentation” filmed in China, the birth place of water locked pickling crocks and vegetable fermentation.
Buttonwillow
(Jane Reed)
#8
I, too, have been fermenting cabbage in clamp-top jars for several years. It’s not necessary to sterilize the jars or other equipment. Simply wash everything thououghly in hot, soapy water and air dry.
A 2% brine is good in anaerobic fermentation. This amounts to 16 ounces of cabbage to 14 grams of salt. Add salt to your sliced or chopped cabbage and either massage and squeeze it with your hands or else pound it with a wooden mallet. This softens the cabbage and releases some of the water. (Fresher cabbage will release a lot of water.) Don’t fail to add this step.
I often get a cabbage that’s a little dry and need to add more brine to my jar and a 2% solution is made by adding 19 grams to 32 ounces of water (or 5 grams to 8 ounces). I use this brine to top off the jar but the water level should not rise above the jar’s shoulder, regardless of the size of jar used.
Wipe off the jar rim and seal it, then be prepared to wait up to a month, depending on the temperature of the room where the jar is stored. I make one jar at a time and leave it in my kitchen. Sometimes the fermentation process will force liquid out of the jar and you want to be around to clean it up.
240lbfatloss
(Ken)
#10
Check out auctions and garage sales. I got two full totes of Mason Jars for $5.
Lithuanian half sour pickles, the same as Claussens are easy to make.