The Dinner Hour

Tuesday October 11 5:00 to 6:00pm:  Traditional Pickle Making with Nancy Turner

Today's Recipe

Rustic Tomato Sauce (recipe not yet available)

Lacto-Fermentation:  What Is It and Why Bother?

Health Benefits of Natural Lacto-Fermentation

Lacto-fermentation bad for MSG-sensitive people?

Acidic Foods Another Way to Control Blood Glucose

Lacto-Fermentation Project

Resources

Wild Fermentation

Joy of Pickling

Real Pickles

Nancy's Tips for Pickling

Salt

Salt used in pickling is different from most table salts. Use only non-iodized salt. Kosher, pickling or sea salt all work.

Brine

For a basic rule of thumb, use this salt-in-water (brine) ratio: 1 1/2 tsp salt to a pint of water OR 1 Tablespoon salt to a Quart of water. Make as much brine as you need to cover your vegetables. Experiment with your salt ratios. Saltier concentrations will ferment more slowly and will result in pickles that are sour.

Temperatures

Ideal temperatures for fermentation are 68-72 degrees F, though fermentation will work at a greater range (62 to 78 degrees F). Veggies ferment faster at higher temperatures and slower at cooler temperatures. Transfer your pickles to a refrigerator when they are done to significantly slow additional fermentation, thus preserving them for months.

Burping and Yeast Build Up

A natural by-product of lacto fermentation is Carbon Dioxide. If you are pickling using a canning jar, the gas will accumulate. Burp the jar every few days to release gas and pressure. A second natural by-product is yeast. If you use a crock, any brine exposed to air will develop a white film and tiny spots of mold. Daily, check the crock and remove the film or mold as best you can. It won’t harm you or the pickles, but you don’t want to leave it there. A spoiled batch will clearly smell bad. Use freezer bags full of water to create a seal on the top of your crock to minimize yeast build up.

Why Grape Leaves?

Some recipes call for grape, oak or cherry leaves. There is a natural agent in these leaves that help to keep your pickles crisp. Wash the leaves prior to using them.

Nancy's Pickling Recipes

Thank you so much to Nancy Turner for providing us with these recipes!

Sauerkraut Based on Recipe from Wild Fermentation 

Ingredients

• Cabbage, red or green

• Pickling salt at a ratio of 3T to 5 pounds of cabbage.

• Caraway seeds

• Plus a ceramic crock or food-grade plastic bucket or canning jars.

Remove the outer leaves, wash the cabbage and chop or grate it into pieces finely or coarsely, with our without the hearts, as you wish. Place the cabbage in a large bowl as you chop it.  

Sprinkle pickling salt on the cabbage. The salt pulls water out of the cabbage and will create a brine (salt water) in which the cabbage can ferment. Add other veggies if you want such as onions, garlic, greens, Brussels sprouts, beets, apples and your spices. In addition to caraway seeds you can try dill seed, celery seed and juniper berries. Experiment!

Let the ingredients sit for about an hour for the salt to draw out water.

Mix the ingredients together and pack into your crock, bucket or canning jars.  The tamping packs the kraut tight into the crock and helps force water out of the cabbage. Weigh down the cabbage in the crock using freezer bags full of water, or a jar of water on a plate, or a washed stone on top of a plate. Put a clean cloth over the crock to keep out dust.  If you are using canning jars, pack as much cabbage into the jar as you can and put a lid on the jar.

Check the crock or jars in 24 hours. If brine has not risen to cover the cabbage, add brine (ratio of 1T per quart of water – stir to dissolve) to submerge the cabbage. Some cabbages have less water than others.

The cabbage will ferment for 1 to 4 weeks, or longer. Check it every day or two. A scum may form around the edges of the brine where air contacts the brine. Remove the scum/mold with a paper towel. This scum will not harm you. Make sure that the cabbage remains submerged in brine; add more if necessary. Taste test the kraut after a few days. The taste will get stronger as time passes. In cooler temperatures, the fermentation is slower than in hotter temperatures.

Once you think the kraut tastes good, put it in canning jars in your fridge or cool root cellar. It will store for months. You can process the kraut, but this kills off the beneficial bacteria that makes fermentation tasty and good for you.

Sour Beets Based on a Recipe from Wild Fermentation

Ingredients:

• Beets – as many as you have, to fill quart or pint jars.

• Pickling Salt for a brine ratio of1T per quart of water

• Caraway Seeds – 1 to 1.5 tsp per quart

Remove the skin from the beets and rinse them. Grate the beets coarsely or finely, or cube them into 1/2” pieces, as you prefer. Add the beets to a clean canning jar. The jar does not have to be sterilized. Sprinkle caraway seeds into the jar; layering them throughout your beets. Prepare your brine using the above ratio and pour the brine over the beets so that they are fully covered. Cap your jar and put it nearby in a place that is not too hot or too cold; ideal temperatures are any where from 60 to 72 degrees.

The beets will start to ferment and will be ready to taste test in a few days. You can let them ferment any where from 1 to 4 weeks. Try them and when they taste good, declare that they are done!  Every couple of days, “burp” the jars by opening them to release any pressure that has accumulated. This off-gassing is a natural reaction of the fermentation process.  Once the beets are ready, move them into your refrigerator or a cool root cellar. The fermentation process slows at lower temps and they’ll last for many months. 

Cucumber Pickles Based on a Recipe from The Joy of Pickling

Note: These pickles are salty, you can reduce the salt ratio if you prefer

Ingredients:

• Cucumbers – about 12 pounds (or as many as you have)

• Pickling Salt for a brine ratio of1 cup and 2T salt per 6 quarts of water

• 3 garlic bulbs, peeled

• 1T Fennell seeds

• 1T pepper corns

• 8 Bay Leaves

• 1 bunch of dill

• 8 chili pods

• 1T coriander seeds

• 20 (2-3 handfuls) of grape leaves or an oak leaves or horseradish leaves

Wash the cukes and remove the blossom from the end of the cucumber.  Place a good handful of your (washed) grape leaves (or other leaves) at the bottom or your ceramic crock or food grade plastic bucket.  Layer the cukes, adding spices as you go and a layer of leaves. End with a layer of leaves. Dissolve the salt in water and add the brine to completely cover the cukes.  

Weigh down the pickles in the crock using freezer bags full of water, or a jar of water on a plate, or a washed stone on top of a plate. Put a clean cloth over the crock to keep out dust. Be sure to cover the submerged cukes with brine. I use three or four freezer bags of water and try to create an air seal so that no air is reaching the brine.

Check the crock every couple of days. The pickles will ferment for 1 to 4 weeks. If air is reaching the brine, a scum will form around the edges of the brine. Remove the scum/mold with a paper towel. This scum will not harm you but you do not want to leave it there. Make sure that the pickles remains submerged in brine; add more if necessary. Taste test the pickles after a week. The taste will get stronger as time passes. In cooler temperatures, the fermentation is slower than in hotter temperatures. You will see a white substance forming in the crock; this is the beneficial bacteria forming and is the stuff that is good for you. A spoiled batch will smell bad and taste worse.

Once you think the pickles tastes good, slice them and put into canning jars with some of the spices. Fill the jars with brine. Keep the jars in your fridge or in a cool root cellar and they will store for months. You can process the pickles, but this kills off the beneficial bacteria that makes fermentation good for you.  

As noted above, these are salty pickles. You can reduce the salt ratio to 1T salt per quart of water. The saltier pickles are more sour.