Fermented food

1COBearsfan

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Let's expand on the kimchi thread a little bit.

I'm getting more and more interested in fermenting my own foods. It started with the Cooked documentary by Michael Pollan we watched on Netflix. The very first thing I tried was sourdough but wasn't very successful. It was ok but very dense, and it was my first bread recipe ever. Next was my apple chunks that I mentioned in the kimchi thread, this is what I think hooked me. They were just a tiny bit sour but still sweet and crunchy like normal apples.

Which leads me to my current experiment: a tiny batch of wild fermented mead. Honey, water, cover, & wait. Hopefully after a few months of sitting on the counter I'll have my own hooch.

And this leads to some future plans. Carrot sticks and garlic which is a pretty easy recipe for beginners. And garlic & jalapeño green beans, I seriously can't wait for these but I want to have a bit better idea of what I'm doing so I don't mess it up. After these is most certainly some sauerkraut. And then, everything else in the produce section.

Anyone else experiment with some beneficial bugs?
 

AussieBear

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pickled asian mustard greens... i guess that sounds better than fermintaed greens.. .. just a basic salt/garlic brine....i like those fresh, you can let them get sour depending on the recipe..., but i cut them up and sautee in bacon grease.. add in mo bacon and tripe..season.... talk about yums.. with or without tripe.
 

Tater

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pickled asian mustard greens... i guess that sounds better than fermintaed greens.. .. just a basic salt/garlic brine....i like those fresh, you can let them get sour depending on the recipe..., but i cut them up and sautee in bacon grease.. add in mo bacon and tripe..season.... talk about yums.. with or without tripe.

Well, you ruined the mood and thread right there.
 

AussieBear

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Well, you ruined the mood and thread right there.

tripe is alright.. good tripe has a clean mild flavor. its more about texture for me... pickled greens and its cruchy stalks to soft leaf.. the soft to harder bits of bacon then the chewy goodness of tripe taken from a previously stewed prep...
 

Tater

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To each his own. I just hate the chewy/rubbery stuff like calamari and octopus.
 

AussieBear

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To each his own. I just hate the chewy/rubbery stuff like calamari and octopus.

i hear ye.. i dont like slimy food much.. nah thanks okra..

good, fresh, real calamari... not da squid imposter should be soft like stick butter though... come to oz.. even the frozen transported shat isnt a fried rubber tire
 

Burque

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Tripe is Bomb! Love in either Pho, or Caldo De Res. Two very different worlds of soup that use the same ingredient at times.
 

1COBearsfan

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Hey, get your goddamned soup outta my thread!:lol:

I started my hooch on Tuesday. Just filled an almost empty raw honey jar with warm water, stirred until dissolved, and left it in a warm spot on the counter. I have a few weeks until the yeast gets going, our house is on the cool side. After the yeast is finished and still have a few months left of loosely covered fermentation. Hopefully it works, and hopefully this weekend I'll get to my carrot sticks
 

winos5

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I've brewed mead. Tend to add fruit to it. Citrus, berries or mango work well. I believe there is a term for mead/fruit mixtures, can't recall. Some hard core mead brewer can wax poetic. Always liked it better carbonated/sparkling so would bottle condition it for a while.
 

Crystallas

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I gotta try mead as well.

Right now I have vinegar stinking up the shed. Then I'm going to start the dandelion wines. Trying to not do too many of these things at once, easier to track and do correctly. Plus glass carboys are heavy and fragile.
 

1COBearsfan

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I want to do dandelion hooch really bad.

I bought cucumber, a jalapeño pepper, and some edible flower heads at the store this morning. Gonna start some interesting cucumber slices tomorrow
 

Crystallas

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A real treat are the fermented hot dogs at the 7-11. (sorry, couldn't help it)
 

1COBearsfan

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A real treat are the fermented hot dogs at the 7-11. (sorry, couldn't help it)

Eek, I'm not that brave.

Alright, got my cucumber started. 2 cucumbers sliced thin, 1 jalapeño sliced, 3 cloves of garlic coarsely chopped, 1 small package of edible flower heads. Put into a half gallon mason jar and covered with a 5% brine. Keep everything under the brine somehow and let it sit for a week.
 

Tater

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Eek, I'm not that brave.

Alright, got my cucumber started. 2 cucumbers sliced thin, 1 jalapeño sliced, 3 cloves of garlic coarsely chopped, 1 small package of edible flower heads. Put into a half gallon mason jar and covered with a 5% brine. Keep everything under the brine somehow and let it sit for a week.

Is the brine the only ingredient that makes it ferment?
 

1COBearsfan

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Is the brine the only ingredient that makes it ferment?

Nope. The thing that makes food ferment is bacteria and the absence of air. The brine slows the process of the wild bacteria(good or bad) and lets the starter culture start the process before any harmful bacteria get strong
 

AussieBear

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Eek, I'm not that brave.

Alright, got my cucumber started. 2 cucumbers sliced thin, 1 jalapeño sliced, 3 cloves of garlic coarsely chopped, 1 small package of edible flower heads. Put into a half gallon mason jar and covered with a 5% brine. Keep everything under the brine somehow and let it sit for a week.

fill those cheap non zip freezer bags with water, tie them shut and set on top of mix -- since they are so thin, double or triple bag it....
 

1COBearsfan

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This is probably how I'll end up doing it. Right now I'm fitting another small glass in the top of the mason jar. It's working but is awkward and can be messy

I just checked my mead and it's starting to bubble. I'll probably be able to get a buzz off it next weekend
 

AussieBear

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This is probably how I'll end up doing it. Right now I'm fitting another small glass in the top of the mason jar. It's working but is awkward and can be messy

I just checked my mead and it's starting to bubble. I'll probably be able to get a buzz off it next weekend

damn alkeys.. sounds like a orange is the new black episode..

but on da real, never tried mead or making any alcohol.. if yours turns out, i may give it a go.. whats the price break down vs say a mainstream 5th of anything??

i know real retail honey is big dolla.. but i could probably source honey from local farmers @ a nearby monthly farmers market for betta fo sure
 

Spunky Porkstacker

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Not fermented but I have an uncle that makes dandelion and lilac jellies. They both look like a jar of honey. The dandelion tastes sweet, not what I would have expected.
 

Tater

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damn alkeys.. sounds like a orange is the new black episode..

but on da real, never tried mead or making any alcohol.. if yours turns out, i may give it a go.. whats the price break down vs say a mainstream 5th of anything??

i know real retail honey is big dolla.. but i could probably source honey from local farmers @ a nearby monthly farmers market for betta fo sure

Farmers markets, market days and farm stands around here are WAY overpriced.
 

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