Re: Fermenting in Quart Jars

August 6, 2005

Are you using whey? Are you packing firmly? Between the whey, juices from the

veggies (and/or juice from a previous batch) and the salt pulling more juices

out of the veggies, you should have enough brine to cover the veggies after 24

hrs. If not, you can mix a tablespoon of salt in a cup of water and add to

cover. The more you pound the veggies first, the more juice you will have. I

have never heavily pounded though. I just pack firmly. I seal it tightly, then

let the pressure off each day. The Body Ecology Diet book tells you to put some

of the veggies and water in a blender and mix that into your veggies as starter.

That's another way to get brine, but I don't care for the ground up bits of

veggies mixed in. I can't say I've experienced a real problem with the veggies

floating. What veggies are you using?

belscb <belscb@...> wrote:

Howdy,

I've run into a problem in my fermenting. I use Quart Mason Jars to

ferment my vegetables, and I can never seem to keep the vegetables

*below* the water. The veggies always float up to the top of the jar,

get exposed to air, and rot. I realize that they need to stay

underwater in order to be fermented properly, but I can't figure out

*how* to make them stay underwater. I certainly can't fit a plate

inside a Wide Mouth mason jar. Can anyone help me with this problem?

Brad

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August 6, 2005

>Howdy,

>

>I've run into a problem in my fermenting. I use Quart Mason Jars to

>ferment my vegetables, and I can never seem to keep the vegetables

>*below* the water. The veggies always float up to the top of the jar,

>get exposed to air, and rot. I realize that they need to stay

>underwater in order to be fermented properly, but I can't figure out

>*how* to make them stay underwater. I certainly can't fit a plate

>inside a Wide Mouth mason jar. Can anyone help me with this problem?

>

>Brad

>

Sounds like you could use a dunker. :-) I usually take a 1 cup mason

jar filled about halfway with water and stick it in the top of the quart

jar to hold the veggies down under the liquid.

Steph

August 6, 2005

At 11:05 PM 8/5/2005, you wrote:

>I realize that they need to stay

>underwater in order to be fermented properly, but I can't figure out

>*how* to make them stay underwater. I certainly can't fit a plate

>inside a Wide Mouth mason jar. Can anyone help me with this problem?

>

>Brad

I made some clay thingies to hold them down ... I made a big batch

to sell and give away and now they just need to be fired. However,

you can also use these little " condiment cups " they sell at

restaurant supply stores:

http://www.servu-online.com/Restaurant-Supplies-Table-Top-Items/Tortilla-Warmers\

-Ramekins-Condiment-Cups.asp

The ones pictured there are plastic, but Costco restaurant supply

sells them in porceline (as do other places). The sizes are all listed:

you want ones 2 1/2 inches in diameter. I'm sure you can get

a dozen online, cheap, with a web search.

The lid holds them down, and they hold down the vegies.

A folded cabbage leaf on top of the vegies will keep

tiny pieces down, if needed. Porceline is as safe as

you can get, btw, plus condiment cups would be made

of certified clay and glazes (it's only low-fired bright-colored

ceramic that has a problem with lead anyway, but they

do test for that stuff nowadays, and my clay is certified).

I also use plastic mason jar lids (sold in most

hardware stores around here) which don't rust and

that will deform to let the gas out if there is too

much pressure. All the kimchi I buy is in jars with

plastic lids too: they make great fermenting jars.

Heidi Jean

August 6, 2005

,

I think I have enough juice and brine. That's not the problem. The

problem is that for some reason the vegetables float to the top. I'm

mostly using cucumbers, cabbage, sliced carrots, and diced beets.

> Howdy,

>

> I've run into a problem in my fermenting. I use Quart Mason Jars to

> ferment my vegetables, and I can never seem to keep the vegetables

> *below* the water. The veggies always float up to the top of the

jar,

> get exposed to air, and rot. I realize that they need to stay

> underwater in order to be fermented properly, but I can't figure

out

> *how* to make them stay underwater. I certainly can't fit a plate

> inside a Wide Mouth mason jar. Can anyone help me with this problem?

>

> Brad

>

> <HTML><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC " -//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0

Transitional//EN " " http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-

transitional.dtd " ><BODY>

> IMPORTANT ADDRESSES

> <UL>

> <LI><A HREF= " native-

nutrition/ " >NATIVE NUTRITION</A> online</LI>

> <LI><A HREF= " http://onibasu.com/ " >SEARCH</A> the entire

message archive with Onibasu</LI>

> </UL>

> <PRE><A HREF= " mailto:native-

nutrition-owner " >LIST OWNER:</A> Idol

> MODERATORS: Heidi Schuppenhauer

> Wanita Sears

> </PRE>

> </BODY>

> </HTML>

>

August 6, 2005

Thanks! Those sound like great ideas. I wonder why Sally Fallon never

mentioned stuff like this before. It would seem to be required

information for fermenting vegetables.

> >I realize that they need to stay

> >underwater in order to be fermented properly, but I can't figure

out

> >*how* to make them stay underwater. I certainly can't fit a plate

> >inside a Wide Mouth mason jar. Can anyone help me with this

problem?

> >

> >Brad

>

> I made some clay thingies to hold them down ... I made a big batch

> to sell and give away and now they just need to be fired. However,

> you can also use these little " condiment cups " they sell at

> restaurant supply stores:

>

> http://www.servu-online.com/Restaurant-Supplies-Table-Top-

Items/Tortilla-Warmers-Ramekins-Condiment-Cups.asp

>

> The ones pictured there are plastic, but Costco restaurant supply

> sells them in porceline (as do other places). The sizes are all

listed:

> you want ones 2 1/2 inches in diameter. I'm sure you can get

> a dozen online, cheap, with a web search.

>

> The lid holds them down, and they hold down the vegies.

> A folded cabbage leaf on top of the vegies will keep

> tiny pieces down, if needed. Porceline is as safe as

> you can get, btw, plus condiment cups would be made

> of certified clay and glazes (it's only low-fired bright-colored

> ceramic that has a problem with lead anyway, but they

> do test for that stuff nowadays, and my clay is certified).

>

> I also use plastic mason jar lids (sold in most

> hardware stores around here) which don't rust and

> that will deform to let the gas out if there is too

> much pressure. All the kimchi I buy is in jars with

> plastic lids too: they make great fermenting jars.

>

> Heidi Jean

August 6, 2005

>Thanks! Those sound like great ideas. I wonder why Sally Fallon never

>mentioned stuff like this before. It would seem to be required

>information for fermenting vegetables.

Really, it needs a whole book. Sally's writings were really

groundbreaking at the time, but the Internet has been

amazing at creating a whole new " culture " of fermentation.

I get a lot of my info from

other books, like " Kimchi: A Korean Health Food " ... but

even then, they tend to leave out info that the average

Korean girl would take for granted. The Koreans would

use rocks to hold down the vegies. I tried that, but some

rocks, it turns out, dissolve in the juice and turn it red,

and they can contain lead. The Koreans also will coat

each thing that needs to ferment with a rice paste, which

keeps the liquidy part stuck to the vegetable so it doesn't mold

or discolor.

The Harsch crock uses weights, which work great.

And you CAN juggle the vegies so they stay under the

brine, which is what narrow mouth mason jars are good

for. That works better on bigger pieces tho, like cukes.

Most vegies tend to float, because of the CO2 that

gets produced.

Heidi Jean

August 6, 2005

belscb wrote:

>Thanks! Those sound like great ideas. I wonder why Sally Fallon never

>mentioned stuff like this before. It would seem to be required

>information for fermenting vegetables.

>

That's what _Wild Fermentation_ by Sandor Katz is good for. :-)

Steph

August 8, 2005

> I also use plastic mason jar lids (sold in most

> hardware stores around here) which don't rust and

> that will deform to let the gas out if there is too

> much pressure. All the kimchi I buy is in jars with

> plastic lids too: they make great fermenting jars.

>

> Heidi Jean

I can buy the empty gallon jars at the Korean store and use those.

Heidi, do you buy kimchee or just the jars? I have stayed away from

the commercial kimchee since I read the recipe for " kimchee starter "

which included wheat flour (also listed on the jar if you can get an

English translation). Perhaps it is a different supplier.

Connie

August 8, 2005

>Heidi, do you buy kimchee or just the jars? I have stayed away from

>the commercial kimchee since I read the recipe for " kimchee starter "

>which included wheat flour (also listed on the jar if you can get an

>English translation). Perhaps it is a different supplier.

>Connie

I buy the kimchi. I've never had a reaction from it, but perhaps

I'm just lucky. The one I get is made in this state, I think, and it

is labelled in English. Some types do use rice flour in the paste,

but it is labelled " rice flour " .

You can buy the jars online though, and they are fairly cheap.

Since the kimchi makers are converting to plastic these days

that might be the ONLY way to get glass ones soon!

Heidi Jean

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