small batch vegetable fermentation: tips for success and easy recipes
 

I've been fermenting my own sauerkraut for years - straight up cabbage kraut, as well as cabbage & carrot. I've used half-gallon Fido type bail wire jars exclusively, without airlocks or weights :exclm: .. only once a failed batch that had to be thrown out.

A large 4lb cabbage .. or 3 lb cabbage + 1 lb carrots .. shredded and salted, will fill a half-gallon jar, tightly-packed plus a little extra brine to cover. In cold weather, can take 5 or 6 weeks to become fully fermented and sour enough for my taste. In spring/summer, takes 3 to 4 weeks. Room temperature matters!

As mentioned above, I normally use half-gallon bail wire jars. Lately been interested in making smaller batch fermented recipes .. a single pint or quart (liter). So I bought a MasonTop kit. Fits any size jar with a wide mouth. Love it. Love, love, LOVE it!! However, I think a smaller bail wire jar would work just fine.

The MasonTop website has a lot of great info about fermentation (link) :thup: .. but especially this free download (pdf) booklet ..https://www.masontops.com/pages/fermentation-guide. Lots of tips and advice for success, as well as some simple, small-batch recipes. I'm looking forward to making a small batch each of Curry Kraut and White Kimchi :yum:

Note** .. you don't need to use a MasonTop kit to make these recipes. Please use whatever method you choose. Fermentation is fun, not a "do it this way or die" project. Have fun. I certainly do!!


Please share your SMALL batch ideas. What has worked for you?


Doreen :rose:

I make Sauerkraut maybe a couple of times a year, when I am reminded that I like it :-) (I sometimes forget, as I detested it when I was younger). I do it in quart jars, as DH isn’t too keen. No special lids or anything, though I do use a weight to keep the cabbage below the liquid. I’ve done some other veggie ferments as well, as well as many dairy ferments - yogurt, kefir, buttermilk.
A resource I like is Sandor Katz’s “Wild Fermentation”, not because it says anything particularly new about fermenting, but because it shows that fermentation is a natural occurrence, and nothing to be scared of. That one can encourage the process without having to follow a lot of rules (unlike canning), and be fairly sure of a good result.

Awesome! I got excited about fermenting veggies at home after reading Sally Fallon's book .. Nourishing Traditions .. 2 decades ago. She gave enthusiastic references for Sandor Katz, so he was my next library "go to" :thup:.

After some years, I went through a long period of not fermenting anything at all, except dairy .. yogurt and kefir. Sigh. I miss dairy products :( .. Currently I'm not tolerating dairy products; neither cow nor goat milk, unfortunately. Not even butter or ghee. Sigh :(

Back to small batch veggie ferments .. ;) ... Besides the veggie recipes in the booklet I linked in my post above, I'm also interested in fermenting small batches of low-glycemic fruits, such as plums. Without added sugar, of course ;). Anyone else??


Doreen

Reading.

Learning to ferment veggies is on my to do list. High on my list.

On my to-try list, even though I hate sauerkraut, and I've never tried kimchi. :thup:

I tried to make fermented Louisiana-style hot sauce out of a glut of hot peppers I had a few summers ago, but it didn't work. The recipe called for white wine with no added sulphites, and I scrounged around for the brand with the least, but it was still too much. I ended up with hot-pepper-flavoured wine-water. 😐

My first project will probably be pickles, if I can find appropriate cucumbers.