With the general consensus on gut health I'm surprised this thread doesn't already exist.
I've recently gotten into it. I've made sauerkraut plenty of times but upon discovering a U-pick farm here in Vegas, I've decided to start expanding my fermentation repertoire. I just finished a batch of cucumber pickles and I've got a tub of peach vinegar in the works.
My inspiration for this thread isn't so much the health benefits or culinary applications. There is a treasure trove of literature out there.
What I want to share, is how insanely cheap and easy it is to ferment at home. I highly recommend every guy start a batch of his own sauerkraut or pickled vegetables. This stuff is medicine guys, and something that you can make yourself for pennies.
First step, find a source of high quality, cheap produce. Start here:
http://www.pickyourown.org/
I've been picking most of my produce for about $1 per pound. The farm I go to in Vegas has vegetables rotting in the fields, there's so much of it. Because they're not a boutique farm that regularly prunes their fruit, a lot of it isn't the best quality for eating on the spot. Meaning that what you find in the fields is often under or overripe. Well guess what that's absolutely perfect for? Fermentation.
Once you have your produce, then go here:
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Fermentation-...rmentation
This is not a book of recipes. There are many recipe books out there. This is a fantastic book, considered by many to be the bible on fermentation. The few recipes that are in this book are more about methods, ratios, and techniques, than specific recipes.
To give you an idea of how easy this is: I heat some filtered water with salt to taste. Basically however salty my brine is, that's how salty my finished product will be. I go pretty light. I add some aromatics like smashed garlic cloves, whole black peppercorns, chile flake, and dry bay leave. I let this mixture come back to room temperature. Meanwhile I soak some pickling cucumbers in filtered water to remove dirt and sediment. I pack the cucumbers into jars. I pour the cooled brine over the cucumbers, making sure none of them float above the surface. I let them sit out at room temperature for 3-5 days covered with a layer of cheesecloth, every other day I skim the layer of yeast scum that builds on the surface. After 5 days it's ready, and I've got these probiotic bombs that I eat twice a day. They are potent, and very different than the Vlasic dill pickles you might be used to.
Some key beginning points: you need to use filtered, dechlorinated water, which will kill the bacteria in the skins of your produce. I have an RO filter which removes the majority of chlorine. You can let it sit out at room temperature or boil it to remove the rest.
You need to let air escape, especially during the first few days. Sealing the lid could cause an explosion from CO2 buildup.
For cucumbers in particular, it's better to use a mineral-y salt like sea salt, which will keep them more crisp than kosher salt. I never use iodized salt.
My cost? About $2 in cucumbers, a couple used jars I have, some water, salt, and spices.
The peach vinegar takes more time, I basically make peach wine first by letting crushed peaches sit in water with sugar, and stir several times a day for the first few days. You want to stir often to prevent surface mold from forming. Once the yeast concentration is sufficient it will protect your ferment from nasty mold. White mold is fine. Multicolor mold is not. After a week of maceration and fermentation, I strain it and continue to let the alcohol convert to acetic acid (vinegar). Once it reaches an appealing acidity, it's ready to use just like apple cider vinegar. I keep a portion of this live vinegar for a health tonic. The rest of it I heat to 140F to pasteurize, and bottle and age it for culinary applications.
There is something highly satisfying about creating these products at home practically for free. Over the last century our food has become less and less "live" and our health suffers because of it. Eating fermented foods daily puts me in a good mood; I remember being a kid and craving pickles and peperoncinis and stuff like that. I'd crush a whole jar to myself and get sick afterwards from ingesting so much commercial white vinegar. Clearly I was craving something. I think humans naturally crave fermented foods because our gut is driving us to replenish and invigorate our biome, the collection of billions of bacteria responsible for all of our functions.
Next projects are making homemade miso paste, kombucha, and sourdough. I'll keep this thread regularly updated with projects, successes, and failures. Feel free to do the same.
I've recently gotten into it. I've made sauerkraut plenty of times but upon discovering a U-pick farm here in Vegas, I've decided to start expanding my fermentation repertoire. I just finished a batch of cucumber pickles and I've got a tub of peach vinegar in the works.
My inspiration for this thread isn't so much the health benefits or culinary applications. There is a treasure trove of literature out there.
What I want to share, is how insanely cheap and easy it is to ferment at home. I highly recommend every guy start a batch of his own sauerkraut or pickled vegetables. This stuff is medicine guys, and something that you can make yourself for pennies.
First step, find a source of high quality, cheap produce. Start here:
http://www.pickyourown.org/
I've been picking most of my produce for about $1 per pound. The farm I go to in Vegas has vegetables rotting in the fields, there's so much of it. Because they're not a boutique farm that regularly prunes their fruit, a lot of it isn't the best quality for eating on the spot. Meaning that what you find in the fields is often under or overripe. Well guess what that's absolutely perfect for? Fermentation.
Once you have your produce, then go here:
https://www.amazon.com/Art-Fermentation-...rmentation
This is not a book of recipes. There are many recipe books out there. This is a fantastic book, considered by many to be the bible on fermentation. The few recipes that are in this book are more about methods, ratios, and techniques, than specific recipes.
To give you an idea of how easy this is: I heat some filtered water with salt to taste. Basically however salty my brine is, that's how salty my finished product will be. I go pretty light. I add some aromatics like smashed garlic cloves, whole black peppercorns, chile flake, and dry bay leave. I let this mixture come back to room temperature. Meanwhile I soak some pickling cucumbers in filtered water to remove dirt and sediment. I pack the cucumbers into jars. I pour the cooled brine over the cucumbers, making sure none of them float above the surface. I let them sit out at room temperature for 3-5 days covered with a layer of cheesecloth, every other day I skim the layer of yeast scum that builds on the surface. After 5 days it's ready, and I've got these probiotic bombs that I eat twice a day. They are potent, and very different than the Vlasic dill pickles you might be used to.
Some key beginning points: you need to use filtered, dechlorinated water, which will kill the bacteria in the skins of your produce. I have an RO filter which removes the majority of chlorine. You can let it sit out at room temperature or boil it to remove the rest.
You need to let air escape, especially during the first few days. Sealing the lid could cause an explosion from CO2 buildup.
For cucumbers in particular, it's better to use a mineral-y salt like sea salt, which will keep them more crisp than kosher salt. I never use iodized salt.
My cost? About $2 in cucumbers, a couple used jars I have, some water, salt, and spices.
The peach vinegar takes more time, I basically make peach wine first by letting crushed peaches sit in water with sugar, and stir several times a day for the first few days. You want to stir often to prevent surface mold from forming. Once the yeast concentration is sufficient it will protect your ferment from nasty mold. White mold is fine. Multicolor mold is not. After a week of maceration and fermentation, I strain it and continue to let the alcohol convert to acetic acid (vinegar). Once it reaches an appealing acidity, it's ready to use just like apple cider vinegar. I keep a portion of this live vinegar for a health tonic. The rest of it I heat to 140F to pasteurize, and bottle and age it for culinary applications.
There is something highly satisfying about creating these products at home practically for free. Over the last century our food has become less and less "live" and our health suffers because of it. Eating fermented foods daily puts me in a good mood; I remember being a kid and craving pickles and peperoncinis and stuff like that. I'd crush a whole jar to myself and get sick afterwards from ingesting so much commercial white vinegar. Clearly I was craving something. I think humans naturally crave fermented foods because our gut is driving us to replenish and invigorate our biome, the collection of billions of bacteria responsible for all of our functions.
Next projects are making homemade miso paste, kombucha, and sourdough. I'll keep this thread regularly updated with projects, successes, and failures. Feel free to do the same.