Fermenting Made Easy: 3 Fermented Recipes

As people are rediscovering the health benefits of live-culture foods, more and more people are looking for ways to introduce fermented foods into their daily diets. Fermenting food is a creative and inexpensive way to enhance the nutritive properties of foods and to introduce exciting, new flavors into your weekly menus. Adding fermented foods to your daily diet is an essential piece of the clean-eating puzzle and can be done easily in any kitchen!

Grab a Jar and Get Fermented!

In order to lacto-ferment food, there are a couple of things required. The easiest way to get started is with Masontops Complete Fermentation Kit which includes everything listed below except the wide-mouth Mason jars.

• A vessel to hold the food (We recommended using any wide-mouth Mason jars to start.
• A tool to pack the food into your vessel: Pickle Packers --> To pack your food into your vessel you can use your hands, but tampers are also available to speed up the process and cram in the food with more force
• Something to hold or weigh the food below the brine: Pickle Pebbles --> What you choose to weigh the food down with is very important: you need your food to stay below the brine or else mold will start to grow.
• A way of releasing CO2 as it the food ferments: Pickle Pipes --> the most critical thing to note is that when food ferments, it releases carbon dioxide which has to somehow be released or your vessel could explode. Manually "burping" (quickly opening and closing the lid) every day is an option, but if you let in too much oxygen mold will start to grow. For this reason, we recommend beginners use an airlock tool, like our Pickle Pipes, to get the job done automatically. 

You don't need Masontops to ferment, but it makes things a lot easier. It takes the guesswork out of fermenting food by reducing the likelihood of mold growth and saving you from having to continually oversee the jars, which is easy to forget as a beginner.

 Fermented Dilly Carrot Sticks (courtesy of Masontops)

INGREDIENTS

• 3 tbs sea salt
• 4 cups water
• 6 medium carrots, sliced lengthwise
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 sprigs of dill 

INSTRUCTIONS (using the Complete Fermentation Kit)

1. 1. Clean and cut your carrots lengthwise, into easy-to-eat sticks.
2. 2. In a measuring cup, dissolve the salt into water (whisk if necessary).
3. 3. Begin placing your carrot sticks into the Mason jar and push the dill and crushed garlic to the sides. Note: your carrot sticks should be trimmed so there is a 1.5" gap between the lid and the carrot sticks.
4. 4. Once the jar is filled with carrot sticks, pour in the salt water until the carrots are submerged and they are about 1" below the rim.
5. 5. Place a Pickle Pebble on top of all of the ingredients (this will weigh them down below the brine). The Pickle Pebble should be slightly submerged; if dill or garlic bits rise above it, scoop it out to prevent mold. 
6. 6. Place a Pickle Pipe on the jar and secure it with a band; let them sit in a cupboard or other dry, dark space for 7 - 10 days. 
7. 7. After fermentation is complete, replace the Pickle Pipe with a Chalk Top, write the date on the lid, and move them to the fridge. They're now ready to eat!

 

Fermented Cherry Tomato Bombs (courtesy of Masontops)

TOOLS

• 24 oz Mason jar* with band
• Masontops Pickle Pebble
• Masontops Pickle Pipe

*This recipe can easily be scaled up or down if you can't find a 24 oz jar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. 1. Clean your tomatoes and herbs.
2. 2. Place crushed garlic and herbs at the bottom of your Mason jar.
3. 3. Fill the Mason jar with tomatoes until they are just below the neck of the jar (leave approximately 1.25 inch gap)
4. 4. In a measuring cup, dissolve the salt into the water (whisk if necessary) and pour over the tomatoes until they are fully submerged with 1 inch of headspace.  
5. 5. Place a Pickle Pebble on top of tomatoes, ensuring all food is below the brine (remove anything that floats up above the Pickle Pebble to prevent mold). The Pickle Pebble too should be just below the brine.
6. 6. Secure the Pickle Pipe to the mouth of the jar and screw on the band and leave in a dark, dry place at room temperature for 3 - 5 days (we recommend trying them after 3 days).

 

Fermented Garlic Cloves (courtesy of Masontops)

Ingredients

• Peeled, raw garlic gloves from 13 - 14 heads 
• 4 cups non-chlorinated water 
• 2 tbsp coarse, non-iodized salt 

Tools

• 1-quart wide mouth Mason jar with band
• Masontops Pickle Pipe, Wide Mouth
• Masontops Pickle Pebble, Wide Mouth 

Instructions

1. Move the garlic cloves into a Mason jar, packing them with as little space as possible, until there is 1.75" headspace. 
2. Mix your salt and water in a measuring cup, ensuring the salt properly dissolves, and pour it over your garlic cloves until they are completely submerged and there is still 1" headspace.
3. Place your Pickle Pebble on top of the garlic cloves so they are weighted down below the brine.
4. Add your Pickle Pipe, screw on a band, and leave it to ferment for 2 - 4 weeks in a dark, cool, cupboard or other space. 

We recommend tasting the cloves along the way (bring some gum) to ensure they stop fermenting at your preferred taste. Sometimes garlic turns blue while fermenting: don't be alarmed, this is very common and it's still safe to eat. 

WHAT HAVE YOU FERMENTED? PLEASE SHARE...