What are you fermenting today?

[ORChick]

Hey cheepo! I hope you haven't been frightened off. Fermentation truly is a fascinating subject, and perfect for the SS type as it .... is cheap, uses little if any electricity, and preserves food well beyond it's usual "use by" date. Not to mention that the results taste good, and are very nutritious!
I apologize if I sounded snarky. I agree, certain things should not be left out at room temp. for longer periods - however, I do find 2 hours to be excessively prudent. But then, I keep my room temp at 64* during the winter, and actually grew up in a house where the indoor temp was closer to 58* or so, for most of the year. My mother left a lot of things out, with no one harmed by it. There is actually a mayonnaise recipe out there (Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon) that includes whey in the mix, and calls for leaving the mayo. on the counter for 7 hours to ferment a little, and ripen. I will admit that that one gave me pause ... but I tried it; the mayo. was delicious, in no way *off*, and no one got sick. (I used my own Girls' eggs, plucked from the nest that morning)
A lot of the condiments that we have on our shelves that are made with vinegar commercially (or even at home, if you make your own pickles or mustard) used to be fermented - pickles, mustard, ketchup, relishes. This is possible in small batches, but not so good if you want to make huge quantities with a consistent result. So Del Monte and other companies that make these things use vinegar, for preservation and to get that fermented *tang*.
As I mentioned, the many pages of this thread offer a lot of advice and information on fermentation. Some other sources, if you are interested, are the aforementioned *Nourishing Traditions*, as well as *Wild Fermentation* by Sandor Katz, and *The Joy of Pickling* by Linda Ziedrich. This last is mostly about vinegar pickles (many different ones), but also has good information on fermented pickles and numerous ways to ferment cabbage - Sauerkraut and kim-chi.

 

[cheepo]

hello..thank you so much for your informative replys...I am actually very intregued....
I always was a bit of a rule breaker...
and i am gonna look into those books...and I am bit by bit opening myself to more
healthy traditions and feeling all the more healthy for it...
the kifir is going really well...so now There is whey to try other things...
hqueen13..very interesting about the dairy...I had sort of felt that pasture zaping wasn't all good...
this day class kept calling the past 2 hour point..."the danger zone" but personally have felt that ...
even though things might be left out...so long as the item hasn't soured..once it hits refridgerated temps
what ever bacteria they, say can flourish in outside..warmth will die off in the cold...
and..
I guess maybe in fermenting it is producing its own health vinager...so to speak.
so lucky you explained it very well...I am a ways from feeling adventurous enough to try kombucha
thanks again...very much apreciated...

 

[hqueen13]

Sure thing, Cheepo!
If you are interested more in the milk issue, you might want to visit www.rawmilk.org I wouldn't trade my raw milk for anything now! Pasteurized milk tastes gross to me now!

 

[citylife]

I am lacto-fermenting some carrot sticks right now. I put them in a jar with some kefir whey, a bit of salt, garlic cloves and red pepper flakes. It has been doing its thing for 4 days. Tastes pretty good. Next batch I probably will not use the garlic.

update

I think it is finished. Now I dont know what to do? LOL If it sits in the same liquid it will get stronger and that is not at all what I want.
it is good and garlicy so I think I should drain them and put water over them and refridgerate.
Any feed back is appreciated as I am very new to this fermenting thing.

 

[ORChick]

I just made up a jar of horseradish, following these directions: http://nourishedkitchen.com/homemade-horseradish/ I'll see how it tastes in a few days. I say "I", as I am the only one who eats it . I usually make it with vinegar, but thought I'd give it a try fermented this time.

 

[KnittyGritty]

I have been fermenting foods for awhile (sauerkraut, kimchi, sourdough starter), even fermented lemonade from thehealthyhomeeconomist.com, and have been wanting to try kombucha and/or water kefir. Does anyone know if one of these is more beneficial for your body than the other? I know that kombucha uses a SCOBY and sugared tea, and that water kefir uses grains and sugared water, and that you can flavor both of them after the first ferment, but I was wondering which one is better for you. Anyone have any advice for me?

 

[so lucky]

Since the nutritive value levels haven't been actually measured in either, I believe, probably the biggest factor would be taste preference. If water kefir doesn't taste any better than milk kefir, I would definitely choose the kombucha. But that's just me.

 

[KnittyGritty]

Oh, yeah, I hate the taste of milk kefir; that's why I only use it in smoothies to disguise the taste! I'm looking for something for us to drink that's healthy and to steer my husband away from sodas. He's not crazy about drinking just water all the time like I do. The water kefir seems easier, since you don't have to go to the trouble of making the tea first. Thanks for responding!

 

[so lucky]

I have a new scoby I got on Thursday. Made up a batch that evening. I hope to add some ginger to it before it finishes. I would also like to become comfortable bottling it up, so I can keep the carbonation up. But I hate explosions....

 

[ORChick]

Yesterday I made a batch of fermented mayonnaise a la "Nourishing Traditions". I decided to do it with a wire whisk instead of in the blender, as I usually do, just to see how difficult it really is, and because I have read that the violent action of the blades can make the olive oil bitter. Don't know if that is true or not, but the result yesterday was very nice, and while it obviously took longer to make it really wasn't that hard to do. I used 2 egg yolks (fresh plucked from the nesting box) rather than 1 whole egg and 1 yolk; I gather that when hand whipped you don't want or need the dilution of the egg white. It is very nice; I could (and, maybe, have ... ) eat this with a spoon.

I also started a ginger beer starter. 2 to 3 days to start bubbling? No, I don't think so, not in this warm weather (which finally arrived in the PNW a week or so ago ) It is already bubbling away quite nicely, and I look forward to nice, cool ginger beer in a week or so. I use honey rather than sugar, but otherwise follow the recipe as given here: http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2012/01/making-ginger-beer-from-scratch.html

And, as a follow up to my last post here, back a few on this page, the fermented horseradish that I made last March is doing very nicely. It has retained both flavor and color, and shows no sign of going off at all.