Kimchi And Fermented Vegetables How To And Why

ACV works wonders for my skin. and it only cost like 4 or 5 bucks for a huge container of it.

 

My jars are fermenting like crazy!

Go pre-biotics and pro-biotics!

 

Yayz! Fun isn't it.

You're probably right, or they don't know better, comparing it to canning. There's controversy in a lot of the techniques. I guess it's only recently become popular in modern times. I couldn't get through the first video, they were way too chatty, part of which was the brunette promoting her products. lol, it took so long to chop up the cabbage to make it small enough to go into the processor, they may as well have chopped the whole thing by hand. A few more strokes and you wouldn't have needed that (deafening) contraption… that seemed to only chop half the ingredients. Not the greatest promotion of the dang thing. I'd like to have seen how long it takes to clean it afterwards.

The second video was better. Those carrots looked good. I can't wait until mine are done fermenting. Though I questioned the safety of that plastic barrier she put in the jar that she cut out from "some container".

Did you poke holes in the cabbage leaves? Poor Aerianne... "use cabbage leaves" "don't use cabbage leaves" "poke them" “don't poke them” "use jars or marbles but only some marbles". Your head must be spinning. I was so confused at the beginning. But trial and error gets you there and it gets easier and more fun.

I had to throw out my first batch. If you remember, I only covered them with coffee filters and a rubber band. The failure was probably a combination of the room being too hot and too much airborne bacteria. My second batch was delicious, where I used lids (regular lids at that time) and it was cooler in the room. You'll be able to tell by the smell. One batch ended up smelling like decaying flesh. lol That went onto the compost heap. I bought packaged pre-shredded cabbage that time. Now I only use whole produce and chop it myself and give it a salt rinse before putting it in the jars.

 

That video was long and hard to get through, OMG, yes!

The 9 jars turned into 14 yesterday when I took some out of the top of each jar.

If they go bad, it's not from sitting outside the frig for too long; is it?

Mine won't be 48 hrs. old until 2 a.m.

 

It can, if it's really warm in the room. The general rule is that it ferments a lot faster in warmth than colder areas. Yours haven't been out long enough yet to go bad. You should keep them out of the sun, they should be in a darker area ideally in case you hadn't read that. Mine were out over a week, and in the heat of the room I should have stopped them earlier. Also mine didn't have lids on them, yours do. You can have a smell when you burp them. Bit of sour or cabbagey smell, they're okay. Rotting flesh, not so much. lol

14 jars, you're ambitious! That's going to be a nice stash.

 

They are out of the sun, on a deep shelf in the kitchen, where the a/c is on. I don't know the actual temp in there but I keep the window unit set on 76 degrees.

They are still partying up a storm. You can just watch them bubbling.

I'm going to have some when I eat in a little while.

 

Nom nom nom...

I think I'm going to buy or find some more jars tomorrow!

I still have two turnips, carrots, garlic and ginger left.

The turnips are really good. I'd rather ferment them than to figure out what else to do with them.

 

You likey? Turnips are def one of the best. Kohlrabi works very nicely too. I'm trying green beans and Yucca root sometime this week

 

I wondered about yucca when I saw it in the store. I love yucca.

 

Another convert! Out of curiosity, did you put salt in the water? Can't remember if you mentioned. Your jars fermented really quickly. (Salt slows the fermenting.)

Ooh, turnips. I fermented a jar once and really liked them. I have a few lids free now. Besides more cabbage maybe I'll make turnip again. I loved the kohlrabi I made but it's expensive here and not always available.

I haven't seen yucca root here, alas.

 

Lucy, I made my brine with water (of course), salt, and apple.

 

Thats possibly why you have a quick ferment, the apple adds readily available sugar (fructose) that certain yeasts love.

I'm not sure there's anything wrong with using apples, and I know a lot of websites recommend using them, I've just never done it.

There's really very little if any available sugars in most veggies. I don't know for sure, but my guess is sugar may promote a different bacteria than the lactobaccillus acidophilus. It could promote the kind of yeast that makes alcohol from sugar, which could give your kimchi a more yeasty flavor.

 

Hmmm...I don't know.

I bet that lady says somewhere in that 45 minute boring video.

 

Wait, does this page answer the question?

http://wellpreserved.ca/lactofermented-apple-slices/

 

That's what I was thinking, that the sugar speeded up the process. The one time I used apple was in the traditional kimchi recipe with the paste. I used Danny Mac's recipe with a few amendments and he used apple. Those jars fermented a lot quicker than any of my straight veggies did.

Go watch the video again, Aerianne, and see what she says! :-D

 

I need to get myself sleepy and watching that video makes me feel violent toward both of those women.

 

Besides the link to the article above, I found this. They are talking about making cultured applesauce.

"Please note that you must check this ferment frequently because it is made of fruit. The lactic acid bacteria can quickly convert to an alcohol ferment so only culture for a short period of time, especially if the temperature is warmer." http://www.culturesforhealth.com/lacto-fermented-apple-sauce-recipe

 

I think, based on that, I'm going to go ahead and put this stuff in the refrigerator.

 

lol It may actually put you to sleep.