How about a fermented veggies thread? - Page 13

[Magelet]

Originally Posted by staceychev

Awesome, Tanya! What recipe did you use?

(By the way, have you enlisted help for the pounding? My DH is a sauerkraut making fiend lately, and he loves that part...)

I imagine that sauerkraut help could also be found from small children. Admitedly, it would likely be messy, and a shortlived break, but I can't help but imagine that helping mama in the kitchen by pounding veggies in a big bowl could be anything but delightful for a while for a ~5? year old kid. I know when I was about that age (rough estimate not sure how old), that would have been totally awesome, probably even more than helping mommy make dinner, or helping mommy mop the flours. (I think we were actually some help in that, though I'm sure we missed spots. still, "mop wars" was about the coolest game ever. It resembles bumper cars, but involves mops, and children lol)

sorry for the dp

[Toolip]

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[sunshinestarr]

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[neveryoumindthere]

I read through most of this thread, but can't remember if this was answered. I made 5 jars of pickled beets/turnips 5 days ago and the past 3 or so days the top has a bunch of white soapy bubbles on top. I just skimmed them off with a spoon but what is it? is it because I left the jars without a tight lid? (i just laid the lid on top loosely)

[velcromom]

I saw the answer to that somewhere around here recently - It's barm - just yeast formed during fermentation. I don't think it's because of the lid, I never use lids and I get a little, but only at the surface of the liquid that is exposed to air, around the weight sitting on top of the veggies.

[Teenytoona]

Oh I'm glad you bumped this thread. There's so much goodness here. I'm glad someone said they made the ginger carrots with bigger carrot pieces rather than grated. I'm going to try those this weekend. And I have to make more sauerkraut or my little DD will be a sad girl. I can't put it in front of her fast enough!

[tanyalynn]

Someone had a recommendation to use more ginger than the original recipe if you're doing it with carrot slices or spears, and that's a good idea, ours was very bland when I didn't do that.

[New_Natural_Mom]

subbing..I need a TF mentor

[mraven721]

great thread!

I made kraut a few weeks ago. We let it go 8 days on the counter. I did have to add salt water near the end to keep things covered.

I LOVE it! I munch on it while I'm cooking dinner. And I've been making way too much sausage and potatoes so I can add it raw to my plate. So far, only my daughter and I like it. More for us!

I'd like to try other things...I don't own NT or WF yet though...

[Brisen]

Originally Posted by neveryoumindthere

I read through most of this thread, but can't remember if this was answered. I made 5 jars of pickled beets/turnips 5 days ago and the past 3 or so days the top has a bunch of white soapy bubbles on top. I just skimmed them off with a spoon but what is it? is it because I left the jars without a tight lid? (i just laid the lid on top loosely)

Originally Posted by velcromom

I saw the answer to that somewhere around here recently - It's barm - just yeast formed during fermentation. I don't think it's because of the lid, I never use lids and I get a little, but only at the surface of the liquid that is exposed to air, around the weight sitting on top of the veggies.

I'm just starting to get back into fermenting after about a 3 year break, and this is the exact question I came here to ask. I love this thread!

[Brisen]

Another question: With the sauerkraut I made recently, I put a few garlic cloves in each jar. I didn't realize until I started peeling them that they were starting to sprout, but I put them in (trimmed) anyway. I checked the kraut a couple of days ago, and one clove was all green. Should I be worried?

[tanyalynn]

Some of my garlic turns green and some does not, and I was wondering if it was due to whether it was on the verge of sprouting. We eat the ones that turn green and it's been fine, and as far as I can tell, the flavor of the pickles isn't affected.

[Theoretica]

Green garlic...that's funny because ours turns a really deep cornflower blue...

Wonder why?

[WuWei]

Originally Posted by nicolelynn

Regarding the pickled beets recipe in NT...

Has anyone else had them turn out slighlty thick/slimy/filmy? They taste fine otherwise...but is it a bad thing?

Even the beet kvass has the same thing. Is this just the nature of the beet or should I try making them again?

Words of Caution The level of acidity in a pickled product is as important to its safety as it is to taste and texture.

• Do not alter vinegar, food, or water proportions in a recipe or use a vinegar with unknown acidity.
• There must be a minimum, uniform, level of acid throughout the mixed product to prevent the growth of botulinum bacteria.
• Use only recipes with tested proportions of ingredients. http://www.four-h.purdue.edu/foods/P...s%20frame1.htm

Pickling Safety:
Pickles or sauerkraut is soft or slippery: Unsafe

o A. Brine is too weak (less than 10-12% salt)--allows growth of
organisms which cause texture softening and sliminess.
o B. Vinegar is too weak (less than 5% acetic acid)--allows growth
organisms which cause texture softening and sliminess.
o C. Temperature during brining was too high (over 75 F).
o D. Too little brine--all cucumbers must be immersed.
o E. Salt is unevenly distributed on cabbage.
o F. Air pockets due to improper "packing" of cabbage allow for
growth undesirable microorganisms. [Need to tamp well]
o G. Failure to remove scum daily on surface of brine.
o H. Failure to remove the cucumber blossoms--enzymes from the
blossom will cause softening.
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/foodsc...ubs/497-05.pdf

I like this site for clear cut information: http://www.cookography.com/2008/sour...ented-goodness

The science behind lactic fermentation: http://www.fao.org/docrep/x0560e/x0560e10.htm

Bottom line, salinity and acidity are critical to safety. http://www.mothering.com/discussions...5&postcount=21


Pat

[tanyalynn]

I missed the original beet question, I think. My beet kvass has sometimes turned out sorta thick and slimy, since that was my first time making it, and I have no experience with beets, I thought it was supposed to be that way. I drank it and felt fine. But now I'm going to go read Pat's links too, maybe I just have a gut of steel.

[LPBC]

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[RufusBeans]

I made my first kraut about 3 weeks ago, and we just finished it. I used cabbage and onions. This time DH wants to do it Russian Style with carrots and apples instead of onions (onions were good though!)

[NatrlCatholicMama]

Question about the reply on the slippery beets above: isn't the botulism concern primarily for heat-canning? As I heard Sandor Katz explain once, when you "can" foods, the heat destroys all competing bacteria, but can't destroy the botulism guys, so they get unrestrained opportunity to multiply.

But as he said it, lacto-fermenting is the opposite - ALL the competing guys are given the right conditions to multiply freely, while the botulism conditions (anaerobic, IIRC, what else?) are not there.

So all those warnings for heat canning *may* not apply - still a word of caution is good, and I'd want to look more into it if it were my own slippery beets.

[NatrlCatholicMama]

Now for my own project: I just learned that redbud blossoms are edible, and often pickled. I can pickle them w/ vinegar, sure, but I'd rather lacto-ferment them.

I'm thinking I'll use a recipe from NT, say, just the basic brine from the pickled cucumbers, and modify it with spices that complement the redbuds (gleaned from the vinegar-pickling recipes).

Thoughts? I'm excited to try it, but have never come up with my own l-f recipe before, and so don't exactly know what to do. I want to stay safe, so will use the exact ratios of salt & stuff in other l-f recipes.

[FernG]

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

I never would've guessed the difference could be because of the peppers. Huh. Interesting.

How do you know that you've rinsed off the right amount of the salt? I think this method (adding a set amount of salt, and not rinsing, I mean) appeals because I don't feel like I can mess it up as easily, but it sounds un-authentic and it would be neat to try the other way. Have you been making kimchee for a while now? And the brine--is that salty liquid that came off the cabbage, or a separately-made brine?

I forgot about this thread. I didn't know about the NT recipes and specific measurements until just recently. I learned to make kimchee (cabbage, cucumber, radish, jalapeno) from my Korean friends' family methods. I've been making it for several years. We eat some fermented food with every meal. If you use the salt to wilt cabbage instead of pounding, then you need more salt than is necessary to preserve the cabbage and ferment it. I always eyeball my ferments and keep an eye out for sliminess or off tastes/smells. I now realize that this is less safe than the recipes with specific measurements, but we've never gotten sick.