Fermented foods

saor

saor

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With the warm weather starting up again it's a perfect time to get some fermentation going.
Anyone else got anything bubbling away?

Started these last week:
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Sauerkraut || Kimchi || Beet Kvass

Sauerkraut is about a Tbsp salt per cabbage head. Massaged into shredded cabbage until wilted and there's liquid in the bowl. Packed tightly into jar and covered with water and large cabbage leaves to keep it down & the air away from the cabbage.

Kimchi - soaked various vegetables overnight in brine (1 Tbsp salt per cup of water), added spices and packed tightly into jars.
Beet Kvass - about a Tbsp salt per 2 beets. Chopped into cubes with some orange slices (squeezed out the juice and added the rinds).

Have started using airlocks to keep the oxygen out and let the CO2 escape. Quite cool watching the pressure build (you can see it on the beet kvass pic how the chamber on the left is now full of water as the pressure builds up and slowly releases.). With the airlocks the jars can remain sealed so I'm hoping to let the beet ferment for about 4 weeks before refrigerating. The kimchi has had a week and I'm too impatient to wait any longer. The sauerkraut I'll leave for about a month...unless I accidentally eat it before then.

As soon as there's chilies on the tree it's fermented hot sauce time.

(I'm not bothered about authenticity or whether I've made 'proper kimchi' etc.)
 
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Nice. I have done the Kimchi and sauerkraut too.
Where did you het the airlocks? Did you put them in the lids yourself?
I'd also like to get one of those proper fermenting jars with the lid in a water moat.
 
T-Man said:
Where did you het the airlocks? Did you put them in the lids yourself?
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Bought the airlock from http://beerguevara.com/. There's a few other online beer stores that sell them though (I see you're in jbh): https://www.google.co.za/#q=airlock&tbs=ctr:countryZA&cr=countryZA
The rubber grommet bought from beerlab: http://www.beerlab.co.za/products/grommet. Builders Warehouse also sells them.
Article_GrommetSelection.jpg
My grommet measured about 13mm (Dimension E).
Drilled a 13mm hole in the lid & pressed them in.

I'd also like to get one of those proper fermenting jars with the lid in a water moat.
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Be sure to post pics if you do.
How long were you fermenting your kraut for?
 
I'm currently fermenting beer, kombucha and mead. Does that count?
 
First batch of beet kvass in the fridge.
Slightly salty, sweet and fizzy. Quite a nice drink after a run.

f1.jpg

Next batch going into the cupboard - this time beet, pineapple & lemonbalm.

f2.jpg
 
More beet kvass...

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Also some radish and another one with leeks, onion and cauliflower. My brine solution is about 500ml water & 1 Tbsp salt, nothing else. Piece of red cabbage to keep submerged.

20161112-P1020520.jpg
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Swak pics with labels in the way, anyway...

Left is salsa (tomato, onion & chillies)
Right is snap-peas in a spicy brine.

Just playing around, been meaning to get back into fermenting. Will give these a week and see how it goes. Both covered at the top with onion slices to keep things submerged.


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Think it's too hot in Durban for me to ferment food
 
mmmig said:
Think it's too hot in Durban for me to ferment food
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Have that problem at the moment with kefir. It's not happy in the fridge and separates into curds and whey within hours of being removed. Experimenting with fewer grains and more milk.
 
maumau said:
I imported some pickle pipes through Scotty last year but haven't used them yet. It worked out quite expensive but what the hell, they arent available here.
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The airlocks pictured in the first post are available locally and much cheaper if you need more. Just requires punching a hole in your lid to fit the grommet.
 
saor said:
The airlocks pictured in the first post are available locally and much cheaper if you need more. Just requires punching a hole in your lid to fit the grommet.
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Would have liked to do that but didn't know where to find grommets, didn't know what size to buy, haven't got a drill.....etc.

Now you've posted the details I can make some lids. Thank you :)
 
maumau said:
Would have liked to do that but didn't know where to find grommets, didn't know what size to buy, haven't got a drill.....etc.

Now you've posted the details I can make some lids. Thank you :)
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What else do you have fermenting / have done in the past?
 
I've used that crock very successfully several times for sauerkraut, sometimes with caraway, sometimes with a bit of grated carrot and once with garlic but that was a bit potent :)

Kimchi was a mission because I followed a recipe and even bought a bag of some special Korean spice from the Chinese supermarket in Rivonia. Also bought daikon radish and chinese cabbage from them. My goodness that kimchi was revolting :sick: I believe I threw it away.

Before I bought the crock I used a jar with airlock like you described. I made it in a clear jar wrapped with tin foil to keep the light out. It was from lady in pretoria but after a few times the lid rusted and that was when I was stuck for buying grommets etc.

Have you hear anything about fermenting in the dark?

Kefir just goes on and on, if you'd call that a ferment.

Oh, and for a while I baked sourdough bread. Initially I struggled with the started and eventually a myBB member gave me some. After a while I managed to get a starter going but to be honest I actually prefer artisan bread where the dough is mixed and left in the fridge overnight.

Scored an Emily Henry on sale but there are various ways of baking with steam and a HUGE problem is electricity cost.

images.jpeg
 
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edit: I dunno wtf happened to the formatting there...

maumau said:
I've used that crock very successfully several times for sauerkraut, sometimes with caraway, sometimes with a bit of grated carrot and once with garlic but that was a bit potent :)
Nice.
Kraut is amazing.

Kimchi was a mission because I followed a recipe and even bought a bag of some special Korean spice from the Chinese supermarket in Rivonia. Also bought daikon radish and chinese cabbage from them. My goodness that kimchi was revolting :sick: I believe I threw it away.
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My dad makes it but not really korean style. Just brine and finely chopped vegetables - fermented for a few weeks. Like mixed veg saurkraut. It's really good.


Have you hear anything about fermenting in the dark?
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Anecdotes, though I've never looked into it much. Most things I make go into a cupboard where it's dark, though the things I've started today are just in a corner of the room.
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Formatting was probably me editing my post :)

Will try the cupboard trick next time. Sure yours will be fine on the counter.
 
T-Man said:
I managed to find one at the Hospice Wits shop in Blackheath/Windsor. Looks home made but works 100%. Cost me something like R50.
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Jeez, you're lucky. Probably is a lixiware and they go for about R600, unless it was an import maybe.
 
maumau said:
Have that problem at the moment with kefir. It's not happy in the fridge and separates into curds and whey within hours of being removed. Experimenting with fewer grains and more milk.
Click to expand...

My kefir is doing fine in the Durban heat - just eat some of your grains!
 
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