Lacto-fermentation Under Control: Lessons Learned

A few posts ago, I shared my troubles with learning how to do lacto-fermentation safely. I did some more research and reading others' experiences online, and concluded a couple things: 

1. Don't use a starter culture. Apparently, this disturbs the fermentation process of the naturally present lactobacilli, which we want to favor in our pickled veggies.
2. An air-tight, or nearly air-tight environment (with accommodation for gas release) is not just nice, but necessary, for safe fermentation.

With these lessons in my pocket (and with the help of Nourishing Treasures' research here), I purchased a bunch of Bormioli Rocco Fido canning jars from Sur la Table, and some of the large glass lacto-fermentation weights from Cultures for Health. For starters, I got two jars each of the 0.5L, 0.75L, 1L, and 2L jars, and one each of the 3L and 5L jars. However, I've found that I have a greater need for the large jars than the small ones, so I recently ordered a second jar of the 3L and 5L size. Shipping was free, so total cost of the jars was about $80 (for 12 jars!), which is a huge discount compared to investing in the Pickl-It variety. The glass weights from Cultures for Health are not that great... They are too small, so that many are needed for the larger jars. Also, they are not heavy enough unless you use a lot of them. However, it is nice to have a few around for the smaller ferments. For the larger things, or when I run out of weights, I just use a half-pint Ball canning jar to keep the veggies under the brine instead. This actually seems to work better than the weights...

So, I have been pickling like crazy since I got my new system in place, and with great results! Below are a few of my recent successes:

Golden Beet Kvass

Getting Started, Day 1

Finished Product, Day 32

I used a helpful recipe from Pickle Me Too! to guide me in making my first batch of beet kvass. I used golden beets and ginger in a brine of about 1T. salt per quart. It cultured for 3 weeks in the dark. Then I bottled it. One bottle I left plain, and to the other I added the juice and zest of one lemon, and let it culture for a few more days before drinking. It turned out... Ok, but not great. I'm not experienced with kvass, so maybe I just didn't know what to expect. To me, it still tasted too salty for a beverage - that was the major turn-off really. Otherwise, the flavor was sweet and citrusy. I think a little mint might be nice in the second ferment... Hmm, maybe next time. I drank it, but I just wasn't crazy about it. Also, I know some people eat the beets from their kvass, but I found most of mine pretty spent and kinda gross tasting. I ate a few of the more crispy ones, but I had to throw the rest away.

Lacto-fermented Salsa

Salsa

This turned out great! My husband especially loved it, slathering it on his scrambled eggs every morning. Because of the high sugar content of the tomatoes, salsa can only be cultured for 5-7 days before beginning to turn alcoholic. I did this one for 5 days. This one was made with grape tomatoes, onion, serrano pepper, basil, lemon juice and zest. I made a second sals this past week made with roma tomatoes, garlic, cilantro, and whole dried red peppers. Both turned out really good, and passed the husband test!

Shredded Ginger-Lemon
Carrots w/ Daikon

Shredded Ginger-Lemon Carrots with Daikon

Yum! Another winner. My husband loved this. It had a really crisp, refreshing flavor. It was gone in just a couple days. Shredded carrots, daikon radish, ginger, lemon juice, and lemon zest with just a little 3T. per quart salt brine.

Kimchi

Kimchi

This was one of my favorite ferments so far. I used a recipe from Nourished Kitchen to guide me, but as usual, I didn't follow it exactly. I used one head napa cabbage, one bunch green onions, one very large daikon radish, about a pound of carrots, about four serrano peppers, ginger, garlic, and a little sugar. I didn't make it very spicy for my first try, since we have not been eating spicy foods for a long time, and have just started adding a little bit of pepper here and there. This was in a 5L jar, about 2/3 full, and it was gone in just a week or so.


There were a few other ferments that I did as well - green beans, cucumber pickles, and beet green kimchi. The beet greens did not turn out very good, and were my least favorite. But I'm sure they were good for us, and I didn't want to throw them away! 

My Ferments Shelf - Getting Full!

My conclusion: The Fido jars have performed dependably so far, with much fewer problems. They are definitely worth it, an inexpensive and reliable way to go! The only problems I've had was 1) with a jar of been green kimchi, which got contaminated due to the fact that I filled the jar too full, and it overflowed and had to be opened and cleaned, thus exposing it to air and other contaminants... and 2) with a small amount of kahm or mold (couldn't quite tell which) that grew on top of my most recent salsa. I was able to scrape this off without a problem and save the ferment. I think this developed only because I opened this jar during fermentation to stir it, since the tomatoes do float to the top, and there is no really good way to weight them down. However, if the jars are left closed, they should be airtight, and should not have as much necessity for weighting. I've found this to be true for other "floaters" I've done so far.