austin87 getting funky (with fermentation)

[austin87]

Last week I started a quart of sauerkraut in a rigged/re-purposed food grade plastic pickle jar. I used 2% salt by weight, added some caraway seeds and Joyner's 7 pod white powder, and covered with a double layer of cheesecloth held on by a rubber band. It turned out fantastic and was so easy that I invested in a couple airlock lids and glass fermentation weights to get some more stuff going, and spent several hours yesterday setting it up. From left to right (all jars are wide mouthed quart jars):
 

1. Finished sauerkraut w/ caraway and Joyner's 7 pod white powder (coincidentally transferred into a jar from store bought kraut)
2. Garlic (13 freaking heads all painstakingly peeled!)
3. Asparagus spears with garlic, lemon peel, and peppercorns
4. Mushrooms (boiled in salt water, with added ginger, peppercorns, and rosemary; 2% brine was created from the leftover mushroom broth - just occurred to me while writing this that it may be over-salted, we will see!)
5. Onion, carrot, and jalapeño w/ garlic, peppercorns, cumin, and Mexican oregano

 
All of these have a bay leaf, which is supposed to help with texture, and each jar received a spoonful of kraut juice from my first ferment as a "starter". I'm not sure if it was sufficient volume to kick anything off, but it can't hurt.
 
The garlic will probably go for at least a month, most others will probably be done in a week or two.
 
The goal/plan is to spend the next several months fermenting anything and everything and get my technique, salt ratios, and any other variables dialed in before pepper harvest.

 

[austin87]

Also, I signed up for a 6 week pottery class with the intention to make a couple of my own fermentation crocks, similar to this German-made one here. It starts January 25 and I'm really excited for it. Should also be able to make a couple bowls and/or vases for my mom and girlfriend.

 

[tctenten]

Interesting stuff. Fermented garlic, that sounds cool. Have you ever done this before?

 

[Mr.CtChilihead]

Looks great..I have Amanda Feifer's book on fermenting vegetables it is a great read with lots of cool recipes I've never tried. After seeing yours I need to expand my horizons beyond kraut and hot sauce.

 

[austin87]

Interesting stuff. Fermented garlic, that sounds cool. Have you ever done this before?

 
Nope, sauerkraut was my first attempt. I've done a quite a bit of online reading and I have several years of experience curing ham and bacon at home. Decently familiar with salt percentages and very careful about food safety and cleanliness.
 
Here's the garlic recipe I followed: https://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/recipe/lacto-fermentation-recipes/lacto-fermented-garlic-cloves/ - guess it can be used pretty much anywhere you would use fresh garlic.
 

Looks great..I have Amanda Feifer's book on fermenting vegetables it is a great read with lots of cool recipes I've never tried. After seeing yours I need to expand my horizons beyond kraut and hot sauce.

 
I've looked at a couple of books to pick up on Amazon and this one is pretty highly rated. It's probably the next source I check out.

 

[tctenten]

Thanks for the link, I might try fermenting some garlic.

 

[austin87]

Update: juice from the first batch of sauerkraut seems to be a very effective starter, even at the small amount of a spoonful. The escabeche (jalapeños, onions, and carrots) bubbled out of the airlock lid (it was the fullest jar) and all of them are showing a cloudy brine and bubbles, all good signs for fermentation!

Now, what to do while I wait around on this stuff for a month...