Fermented dill pickles, plus kimchee
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
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Fermenting Pickles doing NADA!
Comments (5)As Dave said, if you like them, they're fine. Sometimes fermentation is very slow or at such a low level it's hard to discern. I'm guessing it's cool temperatures affecting the fermentation. Cool enough and foods won't ferment at all, but that's hard to imagine outside a fridge in the summer. Carol...See MoreFermented green bean pickles?
Comments (33)My Grandmother used to make what she called "pickled beans". She would prepare jars like you would for canning anything else. Then she blanched the beans, packed the hot beans into hot jars and filled them with hot water leaving about an inch of headspace. Then she would pour 1 tablespoon of salt right into each jar and loosely put on the lids. She did not process them but she would put them in a shallow cardboard box lined with newspaper and store them under the sink or in the cellar. She said to wait until they "worked off". After a while they would ferment and overflow the jar a little. She would then take the jars, clean them up and process them. She would just use a water bath canner for this. I guess all the salt killed the bugs and there was no need to process them in the pressure canner. These beans had a wonderfully sharp, sour flavor. Sometimes she would mix the beans with a little white corn, cut off the cob....See MoreFermented vegetables: interim report, plus request for guidance
Comments (9)Fermented foods are an interest of mine, both in the eating and the making. Some things I've made are: Dill Pickles - This was long ago. I grew a lot of pickling cukes and made a large crock (about 5 gal.) of fermented pickles with lots of garlic. I had beginner's luck. They were excellent. I took the crock to an office picnic and people ate them like candy all day long. Later I made another batch which did not turn out so well. They spoiled. Sauerkraut - This was very successful. Like you, I find the home made stuff crunchy and good flavored straight from the crock. Better than any store bought. Cheese - I've tried this a few times without much success. Probably should have started with something easier than cheddar. This can be sort of expensive unless you have a cheap source of milk because the whey is removed, reducing the volume significantly. Beer - I've done a fair amount of home brewing wit. It's a lot of work but the results are satisfying. Tsukemono - There are many varieties of these Japanese fermented pickles. I recently purchases a couple of pounds of nuka (rice bran) to make the kind which are made by burying various vegetables in the bran. Instructions can be found in Joy of Pickling and in several other books on the topic. Kimchee - I've made this a few times with good results. I've made both cabbage and daikon types. The process is like making sauerkraut. Here is a recipe from Rachelellen: RACHELELLEN'S KIMCHEE 2 pounds Napa (Chinese) cabbage, quartered and sliced into 2 inch pieces 4 or 5 green onions, chopped 6 cloves garlic, sliced very thin 2"x2" chunk of ginger root, peeled and minced 2 T Korean chili powder* 4 whole, dried red chilies (opt.) 2 T fish sauce 2 t sugar Salt Dissolve 3 T salt in 6 1/4 cups water in large container. Add cabbage, cover with a plate or plastic lid that fits inside the container and weigh down with a jar full o f water (or other clean, nonreactive weight) so that the cabbage is all held under the salted water. Leave for 12 hours. Drain the cabbage, reserving the salted water. Mix the cabbage with the rest of the ingredients (if using the dried, whole chilies, divide them among the jars) and pack into sterilized, screw top jars, filling the jars with the reserved liquid to completely cover the cabbage. Put the jars into a glass baking dish or other container that will hold liquid. As the kimchee ferments, it generally bubbles up and spills over a bit. Place the lids on the jars, but only very lightly screwed down just enough to fix the lid, not seal the jar. Leave the kimchee to ferment before covering and storing in the fridge. Timing depends on temperature and taste. The longer it ferments, the more sour it will taste. The aroma (some might say stink) when ready should smell pleasantly sour, with no raw cabbage scent and the flavor shouldn't be salty, just sour. It might be ready in a few days in warm weather, or take a week or more if cooler. I think kimchee (like sauerkraut) tastes best when made in relatively cool seasons, as the fermentation is slower and develops richer flavor. Notes: Korean chili powder is available in Asian food stores. There are different grinds. You want the one that looks like small flakes rather than powder. Korean chili powder has a rich chili flavor without a lot of heat. I have seen cookbooks suggest half cayenne and half paprika, but I think that would be quite a bit hotter, and cannot vouch for it as a sub since I've never tried it. This kimchee will keep in the fridge for well over a year, though as time passes, it will lose some texture. Jim This post was edited by jimster on Wed, Feb 13, 13 at 21:00...See MoreRECIPE: Looking for reliable Korean kimchee recipe
Comments (1)-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The favorite kimchi vegetable is Chinese (or Napa) cabbage. The Koreans ferment it in enormous quantities. They then pack the kimchi into huge earthenware jars, bury the jars in the ground up to the neck, and cover the lids with straw until the kimchi is needed. Kimchi almost always includes hot pepper, usually dried and either ground or crushed into flakes. Because the ground dried hot pepper sold in Korean markets is generally fairly mild, Koreans can use generous quantities. Some of the Mexican (and New Mexican) ground peppers now sold in supermarkets are comparable. If you can't find ground pepper with a moderate heat level, you might combine sweet paprika and cayenne to suit your taste. 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon pickling salt 6 cups water 2 lbs. Chinese (Napa) cabbage, cut into 2-inch squares 6 scallions, cut into 2-inch lengths, then slivered 1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger 2 tablespoons Korean ground dried hot pepper (or other mildly hot ground red pepper) 1 teaspoon sugar Makes about 1 1/2 Quarts 1. Dissolve the 3 tablespoons salt in the water. Put the cabbage into a large bowl, a crock, or a nonreactive pot, and pour the brine over it. Weight the cabbage down with a plate. Let the cabbage stand for 12 hours. 2. Drain the cabbage, reserving the brine. Mix the cabbage with the remaining ingredients, including the 1 teaspoon salt. Pack the mixture into a 2-quart jar. Pour enough of the reserved brine over the cabbage to cover it. Push a freezer bag into the mouth of the jar, and pour the remaining brine into the bag. Seal the bag. Let the kimchi ferment in a cool place, at a temperature no higher than 68° F, for 3 to 6 days,until the kimchi is as sour as you like. 3. Remove the brine bag, and cap the jar tightly. Store the kimchi in the refrigerator, where it will keep for months. Found this on ask.com I hope it's what you want :-) Linda...See More- 8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
- 8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
Here are some photos of my pickles, after three days of fermenting (Warning: jars have a blue tint):
You can see the one cabbage rib that I added, hoping this would help fermentation.
Maybe I added too many Bay leaves, but I find their flavor very mild. The carrots were cut into eighths, lengthwise.
Here is the kimchi, after two days of supposed fermenting (still using blue jars):
The carrots were julienned by hand, and I used regular cabbage instead of Napa because that's what was at the farmers' market.
Note that the liquid at the top is rather dark, due to the darkness of my Korean chili flakes. I've had them for a while, stored properly, but I think I might need to get new ones, but these have always been dark.
This one does not look like it is fermenting, although if it is, it is doing so very slowly. The jars all measure 73° with my thermometer gun, but they are probably somewhat cooler at night.
The pickles started bubbling after one day and spilled over into the bowl that I had placed the jar in. The top of the airlock has little holes in it, to allow excess pressure to escape. This is the first time I've used this kind of lid and my first time attempting to ferment something. In the past, I've made refrigerator pickles using brine plus vinegar, but these have no vinegar added.
Should I be concerned about the kimchi? I'll post photos again in a couple of days, which is when it is supposed to be ready - the pickles are supposed to be ready tomorrow. The pickles already look a bit cloudy (as I expected), but the kimchi does not.
Has anyone else used these airlock lids? They remind me of a chemistry experiment.
8 years agoA boiled brine is not fermentation. Heat will destroy any relationship between bacteria and yeast. Still good 'food'. Just not a ferment.
Here is a Momofuku kimchee video, LINK
I think yours will be fine Lars. Difficult to mess it up. I use airlocks for kraut but not very often for kimchee. I use my glass rectangle pyrex, 24 hours, then fridge it. It is good right away but keeps fine cold...just slows down the fermentation. The stack of 1/2 pints goes to work for lunches.
Smart to use quarts to begin. It took me a bit to get a blend I like. DH just adds more hot sauce to his. Last batch I used extra ginger and garlic, fennel and radish. I put celeriac on the grocery list. I really like the rice flour slurry to thicken the pepper sauce. (and I always use carrot julienne)
Lars thanked sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
PRO8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago- 8 years ago
- PRO8 years agolast modified: 8 years ago
- 8 years ago
- 8 years ago
Here's how the kimchi looked this morning:
I decided it was fermented enough to refrigerate, and so I vacuum sealed tops on the jars and put the jars in the fridge in the garage. I tasted it first, and the flavor was not exactly what I wanted - I think I put too much chili flakes in it, and I also think the chili flakes were a bit old and lacking in flavor, although they were still hot - hotter than I really wanted. The garlic flavor was spot on, but I felt the carrot flavor was too strong - I'm not used to carrots in kimchi, and I will reduce the amount by half next time. Also, I used regular green cabbage instead of Napa (which I prefer), and next time I will not make that switch. Also, I will omit all sugar - the flavor was a bit too sweet for me, but that may have come from the carrots.
I'll taste it again after it has chilled - it was not ideal at room temperature.
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