What to sub for whey in NT recipes?

[bstandlee]

I'm fairly new to NT but I've been lurking quite a while! I have been making lots of recipes from the NT book the past few weeks but am stuck because DS reacted to the whey I used for soaking. I drained organic yogurt and used the whey but he still reacted. Some of the recipes offer substitutes for whey (such as lemon juice or ACV) but some don't...mainly the fruit chutneys and many of the preserved veggie recipes (such as pickled beets).

What can I use that's completely dairy free to ferment my fruits and veggies? I've thought of buying some non-dairy yogurt starter and making coconut milk yogurt and draining that for whey...would that work?

Also, I found a gluten-free sourdough starter recipe on the Weston Price website but it too recommends dairy-based "boosters". Any suggestions?

[BedHead]

Sandor Katz's 'Wild Fermentation' has tons of recipes that use salt and no whey. Maybe you could find what you want in there?

[CookiePie]

Originally Posted by BedHead

Sandor Katz's 'Wild Fermentation' has tons of recipes that use salt and no whey. Maybe you could find what you want in there?

I was going to recommend the same book!

[tanyalynn]

I always make veggie ferments without dairy, they turn out fine, and I don't think the extra salt is required either. Katz's book is GREAT for giving a feel for how the fermentation process works, the so-specific directions in NT aren't so important for the most part.

For soaking grains and legumes, I've started to do it like this...

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.co...rown-rice.html

It's dairy-free and it speeds up the breakdown of phytic acid--they measured it for rice, I'm hoping/assuming it would be the same for other grains and legumes.

I don't know of a way to do a fruit ferment.

[PreggieUBA2C]

I have never used whey for veggie or fruit ferments. The thing I have noticed is that the quality of the food determines in very large part the quality of the fermented result. I have used non-organic broccoli and non-organic green beans once respectively, because I couldn't find any organic and was desperate for something green. Neither turned out edible. OTOH, I have never had a spoiled organic veggies ferment.

I noticed a trend in the grocery stores of stocking veggies that seem to have been power-washed. They have no film on them, no visible lacto-baccili, and they don't do anything but spoil in ferments when they've been treated that way, even if they are organic, ime.

The only fruit ferments that I have endeavoured are orange marmalade and fermented apricots. I just set them in water and make sure they are in a relatively warm spot so that they can ferment quickly, reducing the likelihood of spoilage. I added a wee bit of honey to the orange rinds and kept a close eye on it so it wouldn't become alcoholic. The apricots were dehydrated and obviously very well-kept since they had no blemishes or bruises when they'd reconstituted. The fizzy brine was also absolutely delightful to drink!

I use salt in my veggie ferments because I like it, but they ferment just fine without it as well, in the right conditions.

[bstandlee]

Originally Posted by BedHead

Sandor Katz's 'Wild Fermentation' has tons of recipes that use salt and no whey. Maybe you could find what you want in there?

Originally Posted by CookiePie

I was going to recommend the same book!

I will definitely check this book out! It sounds like it will be really helpful.

TanyaLopez and PreggieUBA2C it's wonderful to hear of your experiments with leaving out the whey and/or salt. I am a little to new to this to feel comfortable experimenting yet!! So it helps to hear from someone who's done it successfully. Very interesting about the organic vs non-organic produce.

I never thought about the good bacteria being removed during washing and hindering fermentation. Are you not supposed to wash the fruits and veggies before you use them to ferment?

The more I learn the more there is to know! I love it

[PreggieUBA2C]

I do wash my veggies, but I don't scrub them- just rinse gently. In the grocery stores, a lot of veggies are completely shiny and not with wax, but just super washed so that the natural 'hairs' and lacto-baccili are completely gone. I've been seeing fuzz-free peaches in the summer too. I don't know if that's due to genetic modification or super washing, though, and of course for me, I don't want either. The colour is then super bright, which is why I think they do it. Who wants a white film on broccoli when you could have it bright green and shiny??!!

My friends at the farm we live on don't wash their produce unless it has a lot of dirt on it, like tubers sometimes do. They even boil their beets in the skin (and peel and rinse off debris when they're cool enough), but they boil them in the dirt too (just whatever is stuck, not handfuls of dirt or anything). They both grew up on farms and have always done it this way. Ftr, I ate some of those dirt-boiled beets, and they were bar none, the best beets I've ever had!

The soil here is alive and has no synthetics whatsoever in it except for what migrates north in the water table, of course. I am very much looking forward to spring and summer!