Kimchi And Fermented Vegetables How To And Why

I can't stop! Actually, I ferment the jars for 6 to 8 weeks so I make them in stages so there's always something in the fridge when the time is up. The turnips will be coming off the shelf soon. The first batch of mixed veggies and the beet/carrot mix are almost eaten.

 

I'm really wanting to try the squash. I'd like to do a jar of turnips too. I slice raw turnip for snacking sometimes. And I want to do some beets too - I almost forgot.

I'm a copycat!

 

I think we're all copying each other. lol When you make the beets, I suggest slicing them thin, with a mandoline slicer if you have one. It comes out a lot better. I'm really liking the striped beets and the golden beets, they're not as strong. Though I do like the red beets too. But I'd put less basil and dill into that particular recipe. I found it a little strong after it sat longer.

 

Is this a mandoline slicer?

 

Yes! It's probably my favourite kitchen implement. I have one of the V-types but yours in a classic one. Mine has different inserts with different blade sizes. Does yours have screws for thin and thick slices? That's what some of the classic types have. This is mine. It has a hand guard too. I'd probably slice my fingers off otherwise.





I like that it all fits into a small stand, it's a real space saver. I just stand it up in the back on top of a cabinet I have in the kitchen.

 

I have a white plastic one, or I did. I need to search around and see if I still have it.

 

Mine has a couple of inserts; no screws. It's got a hand guard too. The hand guard sucks when used with cabbage though.

I've just been calling it a slicer, lol.

 

I hope yours and Lucy's aren't as dangerous as mine. I learned really fast to always use the hand guard.

 

Mandoline slicers are dangerous. Those blades are sharp! One wrong move and you won't be counting to ten anymore. I often start without the guard, for larger or longer veggies, then switch to the guard when the pieces are smaller (and my fingers get frighteningly close to the razor sharp blades!).

I can see now where the insert pops out. I was viewing it on a dark screen before and couldn't tell. It's definitely a mandoline, apparently the thinnest slicer around. I call it mandoline slicer as opposed to plain mandolin (which to me is the musical instrument). Not sure of the spelling but they seem to usually throw in an "e" at the end for the slicer. Slicing peppers with a mandoline is neat, the pieces come out in a pretty swirl and it's so quick to do.

This is another popular mandoline, one of the original ones. The brand is Benriner. See the screws on the side? Tightening or loosening them adjusts the thickness, the screws give you more control over the thickness than fixed inserts do. I think it's supposed to be the mandoline that slices the thinnest. I didn't choose it because it's narrower than the one I purchased. They have wider models out now though.



Yeah, cabbage and other bigger vegetables don't fit the hand guard. That's when I'll start without it, then use it when the piece gets smaller. This particular hand guard that comes with my slicer is a good one. It has spikes inside to hold the pieces and a pusher on top to get the produce as close to the blade as possible. Less waste that way. What's left I usually use to put in the top of the jar to keep the contents submerged. Or I keep the bigger pieces for other cooking.

 

Little correction on the above mandonline, the Benriner. The side screws are for the interchangeable julienne blades. There's a screw on the back that adjusts the thickness.I got one that was on sale so I'll be trying it out soon.

Today I had to clean out the airlocks in the sauerkraut jars I made the other day. Guess I overfilled them and the contents got into the airlocks. You can see the pretty pink airlocks in the back before I cleaned them. Science experiment gone awry!

 

Here are my attempts at fermenting buttercup and acorn squash. I used quart jars, 1 teaspoon if salt in each, and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon in one of the buttercups.



Roasted some seeds too. The buttercups seeds were harder to clean than pumpkin seeds. I just roasted them with a little squash left on them.

 

Ohh, cinnamon, that's a good idea. Never thought of that. I'll try that next time too. Did you mix the squashes in one jar or make separate jars of each squash? Looks like they're separate. I might do that next time if I use different squashes. Then I can ferment the buttercup longer than the acorn to get the optimum texture. They were a bit too crunchy for my liking. I use more salt than you do, but I do a slower, colder ferment so I want to keep the bad bacteria at bay.

Those seeds look so good. I love them, but really, really, really hate cleaning them, so I usually just throw them in the compost.

 

I kept them separate for the most part, but I had a little extra buttercup that I mixed in with one of the acorn jars.

I hoped I didn't use too little salt. I looked this morning and saw some bubbling. I hope it's the good bacteria.

Cleaning the seeds does suck. I kinda think it's worth the trouble but the seeds didn't last but a very small fraction of the time taken to prepare them, lol.

 

I took another 2L jar of mixed veggies off the shelf, I finished off the one in the fridge. I'll have to make more since that's the last jar of mixed I had. And I can use my new slicer! Got my Benriner mandoline slicer today. It's made really well. I was happy to see that this one came with the steel screws. They're now making them with plastic screws that can break easier.


The top with the finger guard




The finger guard is pretty well useless. It's very shallow and you can see here it has only plastic prongs. More like protrusions than actual prongs. The veggies fall off very easily, there's not much grip to it. I'll use my Swiss Borner guard with this slicer.




The bottom. You can see the middle screw. That adjusts the thickness of the slice.




If you turn the screw all the way to the right (to make slices thinner) it actually goes higher than the blade. You can't cut this way of course, but it's a safety feature for storing the slicer.




One side comes up so you can give the blade (carefully!) a good clean.




Not sure how well you can tell from the pics, here are various slice thicknesses. The first is a standard thin slice of zucchini, about what my other slicer does at its thinnest setting. The second is thinner, the third is paper thin, (cucumber, I ran out of zucchini).




This is going to be great for shaving veggies but I may end up using it for thicker slices too. It's sturdier than my other slicer and slices cleaner. I'll still use the Swiss Borner for wider vegetables since this slicer is pretty narrow (usable surface is 2-1/2" wide, the Swiss Borner is 3-3/4"), and for julienne slices. The julienne blades on this one aren't the greatest. They tear more than cut and you have to put a lot more pressure with those blades than with my Swiss Borner.

 

Oh beauty slicer Lucy!
I noticed the blade looks like carbon steel, which sounds about right for a blade on a Japanese slicer.
The Japanese know a thing or two about blades...

I was dubious though, almost everything is made of food grade stainless steel these days.
A quick search confirmed my observation. Yep, carbon steel blade! Does the julienne blade look like the same material?
Japanese blades tend to be very sharp and in my experience, carbon steel is capable of a sharper edge, which would be the most important feature of a good slicer.
My point is, be sure to keep that blade dry, and wipe it with a bit of vegetable oil after you wash and dry it to keep it conditioned and prevent it from rusting. ( Is that a tiny tarnish of rust I see near the edge of the blade there? Tsk, Tsk, (lol) If rust is left on the cutting edge, it can eventually cause micro-pitting and dull your blade!)
I actually did see stainless replacement blades for that model online, but like I said, I doubt they will be as sharp as the carbon steel blade it came with.

 

That better not be rust on the blade, I just got it! I'm sure it's just the light. Or you're toying with me.

Yes, the main blade is carbon steel but I'm not sure the interchangeable julienne blades are. Were the replacements blades the julienne cut blades or the smooth blade? That's a good lesson on taking care of the blade. I did know the routine, from the knives in my cooking collection, but always good to mention it.

 

I didn't look at the site, I just saw in the description " stainless steel replacement blades for Benriner mandoline slicer"

Aww, you know I wouldn't toy with you Lucy!

The pic of the bottom side, it looks like coupla tiny rust lines on the bevel of the blade.

 

I checked the blade and there is no rust. Just a trick of the light, probably picking up the colour of the cutting board. BUT it's not a carbon steel blade after all. The specs say it's stainless steel. A "special" stainless steel, lol. They don't go into specifics.

I bought a slew of vegetables yesterday and even found the elusive kohlrabi! I loaded up on it, along with golden and striped beets. And I mean loaded, the one jar I estimated the lot would make ended up making 3! Three 2 litre jars, not the small ones. I also bought 3 acorn squashes but they'll have to wait, I'm out of jars and lids. Good thing squash keeps well.

The slicing went super fast with the Benriner mandoline. It's amazing. This is definitely the one I'll use for straight slicing. It also has a lot more thickness variation than my other one. The peeling is what took ages. If only there was an automatic peeler to do the job. I need an assistant! Maybe I'll hire expanse to do the peeling next time, we know how much he loves peeling.

Here's the kohlrabi, I left a couple unpeeled for the picture, the rest in the bowl are peeled.




All jarred up! I added green and yellow zucchinis as well.

 

I still can't find kohlrabi right now. I'm jealous!
Those jars look really good!

I would have to supply earplugs for any bystanders because of the cursing.

 

How are you at cleanup? That's the part I really hate. Peeling the kohlrabi and beets wasn't hard, they have thin enough skins and you can use a potato peeler, it's just time consuming. I'll leave the squash for you. It's acorn, with all the ridges to really frustrate you. :-D