Going to do some kraut and cucumbers when I get home this evening.
Fermentation
- Thread starter DoctorShavegood
- Start date
I ferment/pickle things on a regular basis.
I usually make a 32 oz mason jar at the time.
I alternate between Kimchi and hot sauce.
I try to have a 2% salt ratio for the overall weight with liquid. I only use distilled water to ferment, I get better results as I believe that my tap water has too much chlorine.
I also have pickled red onions on a regular basis. I've seen various recipes over time. Some are 1 part white vinegar with 1 part water. My favorite, extract the juice from 1 orange for the juice of 2 limes until you cover the red onions. Add some salt (I try to keep my 2% ratio). They are best after a day or two but that's not an exact fermentation.
I usually make a 32 oz mason jar at the time.
I alternate between Kimchi and hot sauce.
I try to have a 2% salt ratio for the overall weight with liquid. I only use distilled water to ferment, I get better results as I believe that my tap water has too much chlorine.
I also have pickled red onions on a regular basis. I've seen various recipes over time. Some are 1 part white vinegar with 1 part water. My favorite, extract the juice from 1 orange for the juice of 2 limes until you cover the red onions. Add some salt (I try to keep my 2% ratio). They are best after a day or two but that's not an exact fermentation.
My coworkers tears.
@Dnallehekaj I've added kombu flakes to sauerkraut before, and that did turn out mighty good. I need to do that again.
I worked up some kimchi earlier today.
Two heads of Napa cabbage all chopped up and salted:
All the goodies to mix up (cabbage, grated carrot, green onion, grated fresh ginger). The cabbage sat salted for 90 minutes (tossed a bit every 30 minutes). I already had some of the paste made up from an earlier batch:
All mixed up!
And set aside to ferment for a couple days or so!
I really wish I had brought home a third head of cabbage or a daikon or something else to toss in there. I had plenty of paste to make that work, and all that extra space kinda breaks my heart. Lesson learned!
Two heads of Napa cabbage all chopped up and salted:
All the goodies to mix up (cabbage, grated carrot, green onion, grated fresh ginger). The cabbage sat salted for 90 minutes (tossed a bit every 30 minutes). I already had some of the paste made up from an earlier batch:
All mixed up!
And set aside to ferment for a couple days or so!
I really wish I had brought home a third head of cabbage or a daikon or something else to toss in there. I had plenty of paste to make that work, and all that extra space kinda breaks my heart. Lesson learned!
- Thread starter
- #187
Doak, that looks fabulous. Did you use Korean pepper flakes?
all i saw as "fermentation" on the first page and my head went right to Corn Mash.. I really gotta stop watching moonshiners
Thanks. Yes, I use Korean pepper flakes. Here's what I used (and I really don't know if it's great or not, but it's mighty tasty!)
I don't know why, but that empty space in the fermenting jar is really riding my mind. 
Then, I look outside and see our seemingly immortal lacinato kale plants (seriously, these things are more than two years old and survived last year's super hard freeze). I'm salting a bunch of that and will add it to the jar. I figure that can only be a small mistake.
Then, I look outside and see our seemingly immortal lacinato kale plants (seriously, these things are more than two years old and survived last year's super hard freeze). I'm salting a bunch of that and will add it to the jar. I figure that can only be a small mistake.
I tend to let it go only about a day or two, but I also tend to use paste that's been around for a while, slowly fermenting in the fridge. I enjoy it at different levels of fermentation, so I put the large batch in the fridge after only a day or two, but I'll often pull out smaller portions and let them go for longer.
I must admit that I do tend to enjoy it more and more as I get near the bottom of the jar. However, it's tricky to nail it just like I like it. Things happen so much more quickly than with sauerkraut.
I try to eat home made pickles every day. Mostly, it's sauerkraut to which I add things like fermented cauliflower or fermented white radish. Fermented red cabbage is another favourite or something I call "mixed vegetables": Peppers, root Celery, onion, parsnips and carrots, spiced with mustard seeds and estragon. After four weeks of fermentation, the juice of mixed vegetables is out of this world.
I haven't visited Badger and Blade for years. It's nice to see that others have the same interests.
I haven't visited Badger and Blade for years. It's nice to see that others have the same interests.
Good to see you again.
Now that my taste has returned, it may be time to make another batch of chow chow.
- Thread starter
- #195
Fermented garlic. Sort of a pain in the butt to peel all of it. I think it will be worth it whereas I can take one or two fermented garlic cloves out and put it in eggs or chili or anything really.
There's almost always a sauerkraut of some kind on the go at my place. Straight cabbage, w/carrots, or my favourite for w/carrots and ginger, or kimchi. It tried fermenting garlic once and turned into a waste of garlic.
It's not "fermentation" but it'll save a bunch of garlic for later...
We make Pique every year with whatever hot peppers we grow, pickled in cider vinegar with a bit of salt and sugar, black peppercorns and peeled garlic. I tend to prefer "medium" hot sauce but of course that's yet another example of YMMV.
I use jalapeno peppers for most of the batch, with maybe a couple habaneros tossed in, and if we somehow have other peppers they'll usually go in, too.
It's got to be the easiest hot sauce ever. Put it all in a large jar and put it in the fridge. Taa-Daaah! On to the next task.
I like to chop up a clove of peeled garlic when I'm making chilaquiles.
O.H.
We make Pique every year with whatever hot peppers we grow, pickled in cider vinegar with a bit of salt and sugar, black peppercorns and peeled garlic. I tend to prefer "medium" hot sauce but of course that's yet another example of YMMV.
I use jalapeno peppers for most of the batch, with maybe a couple habaneros tossed in, and if we somehow have other peppers they'll usually go in, too.It's got to be the easiest hot sauce ever. Put it all in a large jar and put it in the fridge. Taa-Daaah! On to the next task.
I like to chop up a clove of peeled garlic when I'm making chilaquiles.
O.H.
Try putting the unpeeled cloves in the glass jar, putting the lid on and shaking it like you were mixing a drink. You will find most of the peels come off.
I worked up a batch of kimchi paste earlier today.
I loosely follow Maagnchi's recipe, so made the rice flour "porridge" and got all the other goodies together.
The toughest part of the whole thing is peeling the garlic, and that's not really a big deal. The food processor makes quick work of the garlic, ginger, and onion (half the onion went in). After that, it's just a matter of mixing it all up and putting it away until I get the cabbage. One place I depart from Maanghi is that I don't add the carrot and scallion until I'm mixing the paste with the cabbage.
A canning funnel is very nice to have for such things. That's enough for at least my next two batches, but I really wish I had picked up enough chili flakes to make even twice as much. It's just too easy. Again, the only real added labor is peeling the garlic. Everything else is essentially the same effort, and the paste is easy to toss into the back of the fridge and forget about it until you want it. It only gets better with age (but I always freshen it up with some newly grated ginger).
There's been some nice looking napa cabbage at recent farmers' markets (but it's getting late for that). If that doesn't play out, then HEB will do the trick. I should be salting cabbage and fermenting kimchi by the end of the week.
I loosely follow Maagnchi's recipe, so made the rice flour "porridge" and got all the other goodies together.
The toughest part of the whole thing is peeling the garlic, and that's not really a big deal. The food processor makes quick work of the garlic, ginger, and onion (half the onion went in). After that, it's just a matter of mixing it all up and putting it away until I get the cabbage. One place I depart from Maanghi is that I don't add the carrot and scallion until I'm mixing the paste with the cabbage.
A canning funnel is very nice to have for such things. That's enough for at least my next two batches, but I really wish I had picked up enough chili flakes to make even twice as much. It's just too easy. Again, the only real added labor is peeling the garlic. Everything else is essentially the same effort, and the paste is easy to toss into the back of the fridge and forget about it until you want it. It only gets better with age (but I always freshen it up with some newly grated ginger).
There's been some nice looking napa cabbage at recent farmers' markets (but it's getting late for that). If that doesn't play out, then HEB will do the trick. I should be salting cabbage and fermenting kimchi by the end of the week.
To all with access to kimchi: You already know it is wonderful most any way, but there's a local restaurant called Chilantro that used to caramelize it on a grill and put it on a bulgogi burger. I put it on a Morningstar Farms Griller with a slab of Hatch chili, melted cheese, thousand island, and a griddled Kaiser roll and slide a fried egg in there. Highly recommended.
