I had a fermentation party! By far, the coolest one was in Groton, CT, organized by my friend Heather (also the woman who got me hooked on kombucha). I will never forget the delicious piña colada smoothies Amber brought — I need to make that, stat! Basically, a bunch of people brought stuff they had fermented and everybody got to try some. I had so much fun and learned so much that I’ve now hosted two of my own, just to help other people start fermenting too. I think it can be intimidating if you’ve never been around lactofermented foods, but if you can taste the deliciousness and see how easy it is to make yourself, then it’s more doable. I call it a Show-And-Taste Fermentation Party. =)
Anne showing us her cool Harsch Crock
The lid has two little holes that allow the air to escape. With the lid off, you can see the ring that you fill up with water once you are ready to start the fermentation. This allows air to escape (because air is produced as the veg ferments) without allowing air in (which can contaminate the ferment). There are also two stones that go on the top to hold the cabbage or whatever veg down below the surface of the liquid. Anne is also holding the AWESOMELY DELICIOUS batch of sauerkraut that Anne brought for us to taste (and she left some with me – Thanks, Anne!)
Here are a few lids with various air-lock contraptions to be used if you don’t have the awesome, but very expensive fermentation crock. Mine is the one on the far left – a ReCap that fits a standard mason jar fitted with a stopper and airlock from a homebrew store. The other two are Anne’s, but she said the black stoppers are smaller and do occasionally fail. My advice is to start with the ReCap + stopper + airlock setup which costs less than $10. You can read a bit more about the idea (including better pics of each item) here.
There are a few theories about the “best” method of fermentation (i.e. “wild” with no probiotic starter, or the Nourishing Traditions method which uses liquid whey as a starter). Regardless of the method you choose, the bottom line is that we all need more probiotics for healthy digestion and probiotic food is an easy and cost-effective way to do it. And it tastes SOOOOO GOOD!
If you are interested in fermenting, but aren’t sure where to start, check out Body Ecology for free recipes here or here. Also, Nourishing Traditions is considered by many to be the bible of fermentation – I highly recommend it!
What do you like to ferment? Please share in the comments.
September 24, 2012 at 7:16 pm
Thanks, Nicole! I’m excited about the ReCap method and look forward to trying it out.
September 24, 2012 at 8:38 pm
I just made my first batch of sauerkraut using the ReCap tonight, but Handsome Hubby has been informed that the Harsch Crock is on my Christmas list =) Now I am on the hunt for a small ceramic or glass disc to use as a weight in the smallish opening of the Mason jar.
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