A ramblicious post on Lacto-fermentation

I've been buying Bubbies sauerkraut and pickles from my local health food stores for the past year or so. We love Bubbies. But Bubbies is pricey. When I told a fellow-WAPF friend that I bought sauerkraut regularly, she looked at me in disbelief. "But it's so easy to make!" That got me thinking... okay, maybe?

Recently, my mama handed me some pickle-sized cucumbers from her garden, and I bought eight pounds of okra at my local farm. Thus, I've decided to try my hand at traditional preservation, or lacto-fermentation. I fermented some radishes earlier in the season (on the left, above). When they were fresh, the flavor was good, but not as developed as it is three months later. A few days ago, we re-opened the jar; the kids love them now!

The main thing that I love about doing this is the nutritional benefit (the purpose for everything I do in the kitchen?). My second favorite thing is that this is as easy as falling off a log. If you follow the basic directions, the rest is not very involved. That's really nice for someone like me, who's had varying success with pressure canning. Thirdly, the taste is amazing. Definitely an acquired taste, but complex, tangy and delicious.

The nutrition. Plenty of experts say that eating raw vegetables is best. But eating raw, lacto-fermented vegetables is even better. It "develops the picture," nutritionally speaking. The nutrient levels skyrocket when you preserve the vegetable this way. For example, naturally brined sauerkraut has three times the vitamin C that raw cabbage has. Factor in the probiotics that naturally happen when you use whey to ferment, and you just can't go wrong. It's like veggie-yogurt, only better!

As for the directions, I purchased the book, Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz, which has a ton of tried-and-true recipes and also provides basic guidelines for striking it on your own. There's plenty of explanation and science, but I sort of skipped over that part. Here are the basic steps: 1) Mix up a brine of whey (hence the "lacto"- whey is a milk product), salt water, and maybe some herbs. 2) Place the veggies in a jar. 3) Pour the brine over the veggies and close the lid tightly. 4) Let it sit for three days at room temperature. 5) Put it in the fridge to slow things down.

No real canning... definitely a no-brainer for me.

Finally, here are the recipes that I used for the cucumbers and okra. The cucumber recipe is from Wild Fermentation, and the okra recipe is from this blog.

Traditionally fermented Pickles

3-4 lbs. cucumbers
3/8 c (6 Tbsp) sea salt
3 to 4 heads fresh flowering dill, or 3-4 Tbsp any form of dill
2 to 3 heads garlic, peeled
1 handful fresh grape, cherry, oak, or horseradish leaves (I used oak)
1 pinch black peppercorns

1. Rinse cucumbers. If not fresh from the vine, soak several hours in cold water to freshen them.

2. Dissolve sea salt in 1/2 gallon of water to create brine solution. Stir until salt is throughly dissolved.

3. Clean the crock or food-grade bucket, then place at the bottom of it dill, garlic, fresh grape leaves, and a pinch of black peppercorns.

4. Place cucumbers in the crock.

5. Pour brine over the cucumbers, place the (clean) plate over them, then weigh it down with a jug filled with water or a boiled rock. If the brine doesn't cover the weighed-down plate, add more brine mixed at the same ratio of just under 1 Tbsp. of salt to each cup of water.

6. Cover the crock with a cloth to keep out dust and flies and store it in a cool place.

7. Check the crock every day. Skim any mold from the surface, but don't worry if you can't get it all. If there's mold, be sure to rinse the plate and weight. Taste the pickles after a few days.

8. Enjoy the pickles as they continue to ferment. Continue to check the crock every day.

9. Eventually, after one to four weeks (depending on the temperature), the pickles will be fully sour. Continue to enjoy them, moving them to the fridge to slow down fermentation.

Don't you just love the earthy look of cucumbers surrounded by oak leaves, garlic cloves, and the dill weed that volunteered in our sandbox?

Lacto-fermented Pickled Okra

About a pound of small okra
1 jalapeno – seeded & quartered lengthwise
2 cloves garlic peeled & halved
1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
1 tbsp sea salt
1 cup filtered water
4 tbsp whey

Wash the okra well and place in a quart-sized mason jar. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over the okra, adding more water if necessary to cover the okra.The top of the liquid should be at least 1 inch below the top of the jar. Cover tightly and keep at room temperature for about 3 days before transferring to cold storage.

It takes four to six weeks for these to really develop their flavor, so you have to be patient. And the flavor is not at all like the commercial variety, where the okra is pickled in vinegar. But once they have aged properly, they are very good – at least if you like okra.

I'm loving that pink water from the red velvet variety! The red and green hot peppers are an artistic touch, too.