Several members "ferment" foods.... I have read threads and posts and watched videos on how easy it was.... so, with the garden in full swing, I ordered air locks etc...
Here is my first ever batch of fermented vegetables..... I notice the air bubbles in the jar..... they have been taken care of.... The lid is from the store and I drilled a hole with a step drill so the air lock would just penetrate about 3/4".... Looking around and checking the web for "food safe plastics" I found that most plastic containers like the one pictured below are "PET" or "PETE".... (they are the same) and would work fine.... So I drilled a hole in it as an example....
The recipe is easy... no boiling.... No pressure cooker.... I like it.... In a week or so I will have some taste test results....
Recipe below for those interested....
"PET" and "PETE" are food safe containers.....
All the reading I did and surfing the web, I decided to buy a book.... Fermenting for Idiots or something like that....
I had to tweak the recipe a bit and I am looking for help, if the salt amount is correct.... the recipe called for 1 Tbs of (fine sea salt) per cup of water.... Since all I had was pickling salt, I measured 1 Tbs and weighed it.... It weighed about 18-19 grams so I rounded the amount for simplicity to 20 grams per cup of distilled water..... Is that OK.??... within guidelines ?? I suppose the taste test will tell the truth.... My concern is there were no guidelines for wt. / wt. ingredients (as if this was not scientific and "close" was OK....)
13 ---- 4"pickles
10 ----- crushed cloves garlic
4 ----- chili japones
1 --- grape leaf........ rinsed if necessary (freshly picked from the garden)(next batch I may use 2-4, depending on the tannin taste and crispness)
The grape leaf is supposed to add tannin to keep the cukes crisp or use black tea or horseradish leaf....
4 cups ---- distilled water
80 grams --- Morton's pickling salt (I may switch to Sea Salt for added minerals)
Dill weed --- All that was left from brides pickling cukes.... not that much as you can see....
Jar and stuff was washed with hot soapy water, rinsed w/hot water, rinsed w/vinegar.....
cukes -- flower ends cut off...... scrubbed...... iced for an hour...
garlic, dill, chili's, grape leaf added to the jar..... salt dissolved in the distilled water..... chilled cukes added to the jar..... brine added to the jar..... lid w/airlock screwed onto the jar..
Now, about grape leaves.... I have some in the dehydrator for fermenting stock this winter.... are dried leaves OK to use ?? Will they lose tannin ???
Thanks for looking and your help.... I need all the help I can get.....
Dave
Here is my first ever batch of fermented vegetables..... I notice the air bubbles in the jar..... they have been taken care of.... The lid is from the store and I drilled a hole with a step drill so the air lock would just penetrate about 3/4".... Looking around and checking the web for "food safe plastics" I found that most plastic containers like the one pictured below are "PET" or "PETE".... (they are the same) and would work fine.... So I drilled a hole in it as an example....
The recipe is easy... no boiling.... No pressure cooker.... I like it.... In a week or so I will have some taste test results....
Recipe below for those interested....
"PET" and "PETE" are food safe containers.....
All the reading I did and surfing the web, I decided to buy a book.... Fermenting for Idiots or something like that....
I had to tweak the recipe a bit and I am looking for help, if the salt amount is correct.... the recipe called for 1 Tbs of (fine sea salt) per cup of water.... Since all I had was pickling salt, I measured 1 Tbs and weighed it.... It weighed about 18-19 grams so I rounded the amount for simplicity to 20 grams per cup of distilled water..... Is that OK.??... within guidelines ?? I suppose the taste test will tell the truth.... My concern is there were no guidelines for wt. / wt. ingredients (as if this was not scientific and "close" was OK....)
13 ---- 4"pickles
10 ----- crushed cloves garlic
4 ----- chili japones
1 --- grape leaf........ rinsed if necessary (freshly picked from the garden)(next batch I may use 2-4, depending on the tannin taste and crispness)
The grape leaf is supposed to add tannin to keep the cukes crisp or use black tea or horseradish leaf....
4 cups ---- distilled water
80 grams --- Morton's pickling salt (I may switch to Sea Salt for added minerals)
Dill weed --- All that was left from brides pickling cukes.... not that much as you can see....
Jar and stuff was washed with hot soapy water, rinsed w/hot water, rinsed w/vinegar.....
cukes -- flower ends cut off...... scrubbed...... iced for an hour...
garlic, dill, chili's, grape leaf added to the jar..... salt dissolved in the distilled water..... chilled cukes added to the jar..... brine added to the jar..... lid w/airlock screwed onto the jar..
Now, about grape leaves.... I have some in the dehydrator for fermenting stock this winter.... are dried leaves OK to use ?? Will they lose tannin ???
Thanks for looking and your help.... I need all the help I can get.....
Dave
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