What are you fermenting today?

[Ldychef2k]

I am not sure that what I am doing is fermenting, but maybe you all can help me.

In June, I tried making so called gourmet jellies: lime and mint, lemon rosemary, and blackberry merlot. They never set, not even close. So, I froze the base.

Read about cordial on another thread so thought I would try it.

Got three wine carafes. Added lots of fresh mint to one, blackberries to another, and lemon zest to the third. Added the appropriate sugary syrup to all three and vodka to the mint and lemon, merlot wine to the berries.

I put them in the fridge, planning to keep them there for several weeks. It has been two days, and I just checked them. The lemon one has a, well, I guess you could call it a cloud, around the zest. I can't figure out what that would be. It stirred away, but it will come back I bet.

My question is: Is this okay? Is something yucky happening in there?

And no laughing at me for being an idiot.

 

[ORChick]

Ldychef2k, this is purely a wild guess on my part, but could that cloud be some of the lemon oil coming out of the zest? It would not mix with the vodka on its own, but would dissipate when you stirred. I tried making lemon extract with lemon zest and vodka once; I don't remember that cloud, but this was quite a few years ago (I wasn't happy with the result, and never tried again - and now I don't have enough lemons to play around with like that ) Please keep us posted on the progress of your experiments .

 

[Ldychef2k]

Thanks ! I bet that is it, especially given the distribution of the cloud.

Thanks !

 

[big brown horse]

More pickles!!! Told ya that I need a 12 step program to beat this pickle addiction! I can't believe how easy it is to make wonderful, fermented pickles! Why don't more folks do it? Why did it ever become a way of the past?

My kombucha tea is ready to "harvest" tomorrow. I better read up on reinbeau's kombucha thread.

The kefir grains are the hardest workers on this ranch, I tell ya!! I can't keep up with them!

 

[Hen_House_Rocks!]

I have three bubbly jars sitting on my counter today. Creme fraiche in one, a white bread starter, and a whole wheat sourdough starter. It's my first time making creme fraiche. I'm a little nervous about eating dairy that has been sitting out on the counter for two days!! Hope I don't die of botulism

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Yogurt, bean paste & bread dough. that I'll get decent results from the bread.

ETA: Hen House Rocks!

 

[Javamama]

I made my whey and jumped in with a quart of salsa. I might have already messed it up though because I opened it the first day to look at it. Didn't read enough to know that's a no-no. I have a head of cabbage to do sauerkraut. But nobody else here will eat that.
I think I could really get into this. I would love to try some of the fruit recipes soon and definitely the bean paste and I'm sure many more. Wish my cucumber plants had made it. Darn!
DH is a little wary of it, but I'm making him read NT so he can understand why I am doing all this crazy food stuff.

Question - Is it OK to make smaller amounts? Like a pint instead of a quart? Or divide a quart into 2 jars, one for me, one to share. I would think it's fine, but ya never know...

 

[Catalina]

Am I supposed to remove the white 'foam' off of the fermenting/brining pickles every day?

What if I forget?!

 

[big brown horse]

Am I supposed to remove the white 'foam' off of the fermenting/brining pickles every day?

What if I forget?!

I don't remove it every day. Actually I remove it right before I move the pickles into the fridge for eating.

 

[freemotion]

Wow, I'm gone for the day and look how busy you all have been!

I have three bubbly jars sitting on my counter today. Creme fraiche in one, a white bread starter, and a whole wheat sourdough starter. It's my first time making creme fraiche. I'm a little nervous about eating dairy that has been sitting out on the counter for two days!! Hope I don't die of botulism

Ha-ha-ha! I just fed three elderly people moldy cheese that has been aging for almost three months! It looked putrid to me, they all LOVED it, and one, a European lady who spent some years in France and still eats imported cheese pretty much daily, said it was PERFECT. I couldn't bring myself to taste it. Next batch!

You will calm down about the room temp thing. The rules are for commercially purchased stuff that is not handled by the people who will be eating it, so they are careless!

As for doing smaller quantities, I do. I just adjust the proportions. It seems to be working just fine. I often transfer stuff into other jars for giving, anyways....no one gets my good canning jars!