By Lynnie Stein / November 14, 2018

3 Fermenting Tips

3 simple fermenting tips

  1. KEEP IT FRESH

Ferment BEST quality. If possible grown with love and freshly harvested or purchase organic vegetables. Choose best quality containers.

  1. KEEP IT SALTY

 Salt of the Earth, is a good idea for the safest and yummiest ferment possible. More salt will slow the fermentation process, less will speed it up.

Fruit, salsa, dips, and condiments tend to be more salt-sensitive, use less salt than you normally would for whole vegetable ferments. Vegetables with higher water content will dilute the salt a different amount than those with lower water content.  In other words, even though you can control the salt, you can’t control the amount of liquid in the brine.

We prefer to salt and let vegetables sweat for a few hours or overnight, especially vegetables like pumpkin, eggplant and turnip, bottle and add water of known quality or Bok Choy juice.

Salt lightly, to taste. It is easier to add salt than to take it away, but if you over-salt, you can dilute by adding juice and or more vegetables. We love a long slow ferment. If it still tastes salty – continue to ferment at room temperature.

  • As a general guideline, about three tablespoons of salt per 4.2 kilos of vegetables or approximately 2 -3 tablespoons of fine Himalayan salt per cabbage head, or between 2 teaspoons and 2 tablespoons per liter of liquid (for a brine – when you cannot coax moisture from a vegetable – for example –sliced radish or whole vegetables – (okra, beans and mushrooms).
  1. KEEP IT SUBMERGED

Make sure your “fermentable” are ALWAYS submerged to avoid mold and allow the desirable bacteria (LAB) to thrive in airless conditions.

Keep bottles (covered with dark cotton tea towel) and crocks at room temperature, away from direct sunlight and UV light.

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