So, you’ve started your lacto-fermentation journey, perhaps making some naturally fermented pickles or sauerkraut. You’ve mastered the basics, but have some questions about how to make your ferments really successful. Look no further! Here are a few time-tested tips and tricks for successful fermentation that result in amazingly tasty ferments. Our top three tips for successful fermentation: 1) Don’t be afraid to add more brine to sauerkrauts Most sauerkraut recipes will tell you to add salt, pound the cabbage, and let the cabbage’s natural juice form a brine. It’s critical in all vegetable ferments that the ferment be always submerged beneath this brine to prevent molds from forming … [Read more...]
Homemade Hot Sauce Recipe
Imagine combining the spicy zing of your favorite Tobasco sauce with the complex flavors and live-culture, probiotic goodness of a lactic acid ferment, and you get this amazing homemade hot sauce - one that we make at the end of summer and enjoy all winter long. How to Make Homemade Hot Sauce First, we start with ripe, fresh chiles. These are Long Thin Cayenne Peppers mixed with a few yellow hot peppers, but you could also use green chiles like seranos or jalapenos for a green hot sauce. Cut off the stems and chop into a couple of pieces, and loosely pack into a mason jar. Mix a 5% brine (3 TBSP salt per quart water) in another container. Pour this over the chiles and … [Read more...]
Strawberry-Chia Water Kefir
When the summer heat and humidity hit, I have strong cravings for cold sweet beverages - the kinds of drinks I rarely purchase - like coconut water, ridiculous froo-froo coffee drinks with lots of w hipped cream, and recently, overpriced chia seed kombucha beverages. Last week, our friend and neighbor Mike acquired some water kefir grains, and shared some with me. I've been wanting to start making water kefir for a while, especially after reading my friend Lisa's post about how easy it is to make. We began brewing some at once, and were amazed at how refreshing and delicious water kefir is. With a hint of tart, a bit of sweet, and a little fizz, it's the perfect … [Read more...]
Lacto Fermented Sauerkraut, Three Ways
When I came home from the Farmer's Market with four heads of Napa Cabbage, I knew there was some sauerkraut making in my future. If you've read my blog for a while, you probably know that my husband and I are big fans of lacto fermentation, and that I have a bit of a knack for pickle making. I also really enjoy ferments in the mid-winter months, and sauerkraut is one of them. Thing is, that sometimes plain old 'kraut can be a bit, well, plain. Sometimes you just want something a bit more zippy. A few years ago, Brian took the pile of green tomatoes that we harvested before the first frost, added the ingredients of salsa, and a little cabbage, and made … [Read more...]
Naturally Fermented Sauerkraut and Pickles
We have been inspired for years by "fermentation revivalist" Sandor Ellix Katz, the author of Wild Fermentation, The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved, and most recently, The Art of Fermentation. Way back in 2000, my husband came across a small fermentation zine written by Sandor. That zine launched Brian into full-scale fermentation mode for a number of years. I can't even count the number of strange fermented foods that resided in my fridge and on my table for a time. While we have not continued to ferment with such wild abandon, there are a number of fermented foods that continue to play a regular part in our lives: sourdough bread, homemade wine, goat cheeses, salami, sauerkraut, and … [Read more...]
