Re: Pickles/Cucumber ?...

[Guest guest]

,

I am relatively new to fermenting foods as well. I just successfully made

my first batch of sauerkraut. I am including a recipe here that is from

Nourishing Traditions. I have not tried this but I plan to. My very good

friend makes pickles this way and she says they are great. She did tell me

they turn out better using pickling cucumbers rather than the regular garden

variety.

4-5 pickling cucumbers or 15-20 gerkins

1 tablespoon mustard seeds

2 tablespoons fresh dill, snipped

1 tablespoon sea salt

4 tablespoons whey (if not available, use an additional 1 tablespoon salt)

1 cup filtered water

Wash cucumbers and place in a quart-sized, wide-mouth mason jar. Combine

remaining ingredients and pour over cucumbers, adding more water if

necessary to cover the cucumbers. 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.

VARIATION: PICKLED CUCUMBER SLICES

Wash cucumbers well and slice at 1/4 inch intervals. Proceed with recipe.

Pickles will be ready for cold storage after about 2 days at room

temperature.

HTH.

--

April

The Lotus rises from the mud and dirt

Sweet Lotus Creations

www.sweetlotuscreations.com

On Wed, Jul 23, 2008 at 11:23 PM, <yis4yoga@...> wrote:

> Hello! I'm new here, and new to the world of cultured veggies. I

> recently got together w/

> some friends and made some by chopping up lots of veggies, covering them in

> a brine we

> made and packing them tightly into jars and closing them up, letting them

> ferment for a

> few days. I am wondering, could I do this to cucumbers to make pickles? I

> am interested

> in doing the tight-seal jar method so I don't have to do the

> scrape-the-mold-off-the-top

> stuff I've seen described in some pickle recipes. I'm planning to slice the

> cukes (do I peel

> first?) throw in some fresh dill, and salt, and make a brine as well to

> cover...Anything else

> needed? Will this method 'work' for cukes? Any suggestions/recommendations

> are

> welcome! I'm so new to this, and am sorry for any ignorance in this post!!!

> I'd love to

> learn more from you all!!!

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

VERY helpful! Thanks April!!!

>

> > Hello! I'm new here, and new to the world of cultured veggies. I

> > recently got together w/

> > some friends and made some by chopping up lots of veggies, covering them in

> > a brine we

> > made and packing them tightly into jars and closing them up, letting them

> > ferment for a

> > few days. I am wondering, could I do this to cucumbers to make pickles? I

> > am interested

> > in doing the tight-seal jar method so I don't have to do the

> > scrape-the-mold-off-the-top

> > stuff I've seen described in some pickle recipes. I'm planning to slice the

> > cukes (do I peel

> > first?) throw in some fresh dill, and salt, and make a brine as well to

> > cover...Anything else

> > needed? Will this method 'work' for cukes? Any suggestions/recommendations

> > are

> > welcome! I'm so new to this, and am sorry for any ignorance in this post!!!

> > I'd love to

> > learn more from you all!!!

> >

> >

> >

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

,

I have had little luck using whey and salt with my cukes. They are

mushy and slimy and to me rather gross. If you put grape leaves in

the jar with the cukes, that is supposed to help keep them crunchy,

but I had no access. As I had an abundance of Indian Gherkins and

really wanted pickles, I decided to try something else. I put the

whole gherkins in a jar with sea salt, dill and coriander seed and

covered them with very vinegary kombucha tea. I left them at room

temp about 3 or 4 days, then into the fridge. They came out really

crunchy, very sour and even feel carbonated when you bite into

them. I've had no problem with mold. If you do it this way, make

sure you store them in the fridge. This method is not suitable for

long term storage at room temp. If you use cucumbers, don't peel

them but make sure you slice off the blossom end.

Patty

>

> Hello! I'm new here, and new to the world of cultured veggies. I

recently got together w/

> some friends and made some by chopping up lots of veggies,

covering them in a brine we

> made and packing them tightly into jars and closing them up,

letting them ferment for a

> few days. I am wondering, could I do this to cucumbers to make

pickles?

[Guest guest]

Thanks Patty! I just made them using the previous recipe, but I'll keep your

recipe for the

future!!!

> >

> > Hello! I'm new here, and new to the world of cultured veggies. I

> recently got together w/

> > some friends and made some by chopping up lots of veggies,

> covering them in a brine we

> > made and packing them tightly into jars and closing them up,

> letting them ferment for a

> > few days. I am wondering, could I do this to cucumbers to make

> pickles?

>

[Guest guest]

, Patty,

If this comes to the group twice, I apologize. I tried to send it earlier, but

it got cut off mid-send. So I am trying again.

I have tried whey fermented vegetables and have not liked the outcome. However,

I have had good success with innoculating my ferments, including cucumber

pickles, with Spectrabiotic (a blend of 8 probiotic bacteria). I have no idea

what you could expect using other probiotic products, but I like what I get

doing things this way. I also sometimes sprinkle iin some AFA algae

(Aphanizomenom flos-aqua) for the added microbial nutrients that adds. Other

than these oddities, I sort of follow Sally Fallon's procedure. (At least that

was where I started, but recipes have a way of transmogrifying, using Calvin and

Hobbs' word.)

Ellis Hein

Re: Pickles/Cucumber ?...

,

I have had little luck using whey and salt with my cukes. They are

mushy and slimy and to me rather gross. If you put grape leaves in

the jar with the cukes, that is supposed to help keep them crunchy,

but I had no access. As I had an abundance of Indian Gherkins and

really wanted pickles, I decided to try something else. I put the

whole gherkins in a jar with sea salt, dill and coriander seed and

covered them with very vinegary kombucha tea. I left them at room

temp about 3 or 4 days, then into the fridge. They came out really

crunchy, very sour and even feel carbonated when you bite into

them. I've had no problem with mold. If you do it this way, make

sure you store them in the fridge. This method is not suitable for

long term storage at room temp. If you use cucumbers, don't peel

them but make sure you slice off the blossom end.

Patty

>

> Hello! I'm new here, and new to the world of cultured veggies. I

recently got together w/

> some friends and made some by chopping up lots of veggies,

covering them in a brine we

> made and packing them tightly into jars and closing them up,

letting them ferment for a

> few days. I am wondering, could I do this to cucumbers to make

pickles?

[Guest guest]

My pickles are ready, and I LOVE them--I sliced them b/4 hand and they are still

crunchy

and soooo yummy!!!

Thanks again for this recipe!!!

>

> > Hello! I'm new here, and new to the world of cultured veggies. I

> > recently got together w/

> > some friends and made some by chopping up lots of veggies, covering them in

> > a brine we

> > made and packing them tightly into jars and closing them up, letting them

> > ferment for a

> > few days. I am wondering, could I do this to cucumbers to make pickles? I

> > am interested

> > in doing the tight-seal jar method so I don't have to do the

> > scrape-the-mold-off-the-top

> > stuff I've seen described in some pickle recipes. I'm planning to slice the

> > cukes (do I peel

> > first?) throw in some fresh dill, and salt, and make a brine as well to

> > cover...Anything else

> > needed? Will this method 'work' for cukes? Any suggestions/recommendations

> > are

> > welcome! I'm so new to this, and am sorry for any ignorance in this post!!!

> > I'd love to

> > learn more from you all!!!

> >

> >

> >

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I'm glad it worked for you. I'm getting mine started today. My best friend

makes her this way all the time and she says they are great and very easy to

make.

I did my sauerkraut the same way and even though I forgot about it and it

sat on the counter for two weeks (instead of two days), it turned out great.

--

April

The Lotus rises from the mud and dirt

Sweet Lotus Creations

www.sweetlotuscreations.com

On Sat, Jul 26, 2008 at 12:36 PM, <yis4yoga@...> wrote:

> My pickles are ready, and I LOVE them--I sliced them b/4 hand and they

> are still crunchy

> and soooo yummy!!!

>

> Thanks again for this recipe!!!

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I've heard before that whey makes fermented vegetables mushy. The only reason

Sally

Fallon puts whey in EVERY recipe is to prevent the formation of alcohol. That's

really not a

concern for vegetables.

If increasing the salt makes it too salty for you, you can use lemon juice or

pretty much

anything acidic in place of whey.

I've made pickles with full-size cucumbers. They are just as quick when sliced,

but if you

don't slice them it takes a week or two for them to get sour all the way

through.

As for sauerkraut, I like mine best after two or three MONTHS! I use the NT

recipe with

caraway, and use leftover sauerkraut juice instead of whey.

Mike

> >

> > Hello! I'm new here, and new to the world of cultured veggies. I

> recently got together w/

> > some friends and made some by chopping up lots of veggies,

> covering them in a brine we

> > made and packing them tightly into jars and closing them up,

> letting them ferment for a

> > few days. I am wondering, could I do this to cucumbers to make

> pickles?

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Sally Fallon uses the whey for their probiotic value. It may also help to

prevent the formation of alcohol but her main purpose behind using whey is

the probiotic benefit.

--

April

The Lotus rises from the mud and dirt

Sweet Lotus Creations

www.sweetlotuscreations.com

On Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 1:46 PM, captainmikee <captainmikee@...>wrote:

> I've heard before that whey makes fermented vegetables mushy. The only

> reason Sally

> Fallon puts whey in EVERY recipe is to prevent the formation of alcohol.

>

[Guest guest]

My pickles are ready too! I made 4 quarts; one whole, two sliced and one

spears. I used whey. They are incredible and quite crunchy. I used

homegrown pickling cucumbers. I didn't have fresh dill or dill weed but had

dill seeds so I used those instead.

I'll be harvesting more pickling cucumbers this weekend and will be making

some of these for my grown children. This was so much easier than canning,

to the point that I can't believe it. We'll be having fermented pickles

through the winter this year! I had to make myself put them away and not

eat an entire quart.

--

April

The Lotus rises from the mud and dirt

Sweet Lotus Creations

www.sweetlotuscreations.com

On Sat, Jul 26, 2008 at 12:36 PM, <yis4yoga@...> wrote:

> My pickles are ready, and I LOVE them--I sliced them b/4 hand and they

> are still crunchy

> and soooo yummy!!!

>

[Guest guest]

Crazy, isn't it? Canning sounds like so much work, pickling is a snap... why

isn't it more

popular?

If you're planning to keep the pickles all winter, I hope they're in the fridge.

They will get

mushy eventually.

I've got a ton of pickes right now, and oddly I have no appetite for them. Which

might not

be so bad if there were more room in our little fridge. 6 cubic feet for 5

people... are we

insane? Oh wait, no, we just pickle a lot.

Mike

>

> > My pickles are ready, and I LOVE them--I sliced them b/4 hand and they

> > are still crunchy

> > and soooo yummy!!!

> >

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Oh, I'll never try canning pickles again. I did that once and it was sure a

PITA, and they pickles didn't even taste good. I had bought a bushel of

pickling cukes and it all got tossed because no one would eat them. They

really did not taste good.

My children were over for dinner tonight as well as my two grandsons ages 11

months and 22 months (they are brothers - Irish twins). They all tried the

pickles and loved them, even the babies. I started another five quarts this

morning but changed up the recipe a bit. I used distilled water, garlic

paste, Himalayan salt, dill weed and whey. I will probably not make anymore

until the cukes we are growing come in. I've been buying pickling cukes.

And yes, I've been keeping them refrigerated. I have two refrigerators so

space is not an issue...yet...but I have a feeling that will change...LOL!!

I found out tonight my son-in-law likes pickled beets. A young man after my

heart...I LOVE pickled beets. Can you ferment beets like you do cukes?

--

April

The Lotus rises from the mud and dirt

Sweet Lotus Creations

www.sweetlotuscreations.com

On Fri, Aug 1, 2008 at 9:47 AM, captainmikee <captainmikee@...> wrote:

> Crazy, isn't it? Canning sounds like so much work, pickling is a snap...

> why isn't it more

> popular?

>

> If you're planning to keep the pickles all winter, I hope they're in the

> fridge. They will get

> mushy eventually.

>

[Guest guest]

On Sun, Aug 3, 2008 at 7:33 PM, April McCart

<sweetlotuscreations@...> wrote:

> I found out tonight my son-in-law likes pickled beets. A young man after my

> heart...I LOVE pickled beets. Can you ferment beets like you do cukes?

Pickled beets are wonderful. Since they have so

much sugar, they tend to grow mold, so I gave

up on them. I expect adding more vinegar would

help though, or cabbage juice. I've done them mixed

with cabbage and they've been fine.

[Guest guest]

We have pickled beets with out any problem with mold. I don't know if it is

because I use an innoculant or because I have not done as many batches as you,

. I can't say that I love pickled beets, but I do like them much better

pickled than any other way.

We are growing mangels this year, which is some kind of beet (yellow and

elongated rather than globe shaped). I am looking forward to finding out how

they will pickle.

Ellis Hein

----- Original Message -----

From:

[Guest guest]

Are these raw pickled beets? I'd be interested in trying these too.

What books or websites do you recommend to learn about how to make

fresh pickles and fermented products. I'm new on this list and new to

these methods and want to learn more. I'd like to try preserving some

of the produce from my garden for winter.

Anything you can do with zucchinis? ;-)

On Aug 4, 2008, at 5:45 AM, Ellis Hein wrote:

> We have pickled beets with out any problem with mold. I don't know

> if it is because I use an innoculant or because I have not done as

> many batches as you, . I can't say that I love pickled beets,

> but I do like them much better pickled than any other way.

>

> We are growing mangels this year, which is some kind of beet (yellow

> and elongated rather than globe shaped). I am looking forward to

> finding out how they will pickle.

>

> Ellis Hein

> ----- Original Messages -----

>

>> Can you ferment beets like you do cukes?

>

> Pickled beets are wonderful. Since they have so

> much sugar, they tend to grow mold, so I gave

> up on them. I expect adding more vinegar would

> help though, or cabbage juice. I've done them mixed

> with cabbage and they've been fine.

[Guest guest]

Well, I'll just have to try it again. Last

time I tried it was years ago and I probably did

something wrong. I do love beets!

On Mon, Aug 4, 2008 at 4:45 AM, Ellis Hein <woodturnedart@...> wrote:

> We have pickled beets with out any problem with mold. I don't know if it is

because I use an innoculant or because I have not done as many batches as you,

. I can't say that I love pickled beets, but I do like them much better

pickled than any other way.

>

> We are growing mangels this year, which is some kind of beet (yellow and

elongated rather than globe shaped). I am looking forward to finding out how

they will pickle.

>

> Ellis Hein

[Guest guest]

This sounds interesting except that I don't make kefir, so I wouldn't

have the kefir whey. Could I use commercial kefir in some way? What

about yogurt, do you think the whey from that would work?

Thanks for the method, Patty, I'd like to try it sometime.

On Aug 4, 2008, at 6:23 PM, Patty <mellowsong@...> wrote:

> ,

> I take raw beets, peel them, grate them, cover with filtered (non-

> chlorinated) water to which I've added about 2 tablespoonsful of kefir

> whey. Leave at room temp about 4 days, then in fridge. I really like

> them this way. I did NOT like them with salt. I've been doing it

> this

> way for nearly a year and have never had mold.

>

> --- C <christinecassidy@...> wrote:

>>

>> Are these raw pickled beets? I'd be interested in trying these too.

>

[Guest guest]

C wrote:

>What books or websites do you recommend to learn about how to make

>fresh pickles and fermented products. I'm new on this list and new to

>these methods and want to learn more. I'd like to try preserving some

>of the produce from my garden for winter.

Search this group for more, but here's a couple of good ones:

" Wild Fermentation "

Sandor Ellix Katz

ISBN 1-931498-23-7

http://www.wildfermentation.com/books_wildfermentation.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-931498-23-7

" Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning "

(was: " Keeping Food Fresh " )

The Gardeners and Farmers of Centre Terre Vivante

ISBN 9781933392592

http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/preservingfood

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781933392592

>Anything you can do with zucchinis? ;-)

Add them to ratatouille! We make up a big batch of ratatouille with some

red wine vinegar for acid, and bottle (can?) the lot for later. Makes a

great instant vege serve, hot or cold. The concept was introduced to me

by someone who exchanged some pickled ratatouille for kefir grains

--

Ross McKay, Toronto, NSW Australia

The planet is in a pickle, but fermenting will help save us

[Guest guest]

,

I take raw beets, peel them, grate them, cover with filtered (non-

chlorinated) water to which I've added about 2 tablespoonsful of kefir

whey. Leave at room temp about 4 days, then in fridge. I really like

them this way. I did NOT like them with salt. I've been doing it this

way for nearly a year and have never had mold.

>

> Are these raw pickled beets? I'd be interested in trying these too.

[Guest guest]

I don't use any dairy; I start my beet kvass with sauerkraut juice or fermented

ginger ale.

Once you have one batch, you can use beet kvass to start the next batch.

Sally Fallon says grating the beets will make them ferment too fast and produce

alcohol.

Maybe the whey inhibits that? I chop mine pretty coarsely, but I'm sometimes

tempted to

make it alcoholic on purpose. I've been using less salt lately.

Mike

> >>

> >> Are these raw pickled beets? I'd be interested in trying these too.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Sure ,

You could use whey drained from yogurt. Just make sure it's plain

organic yogurt with live cultures. Commercial Kefir usually has stuff

added, like thickeners and sweeteners. If you found a plain one, I

imagine you could let it sit in a jar at room temp until it separated

into curds and whey, then drain it. You need a very tightly woven

cotton cloth, like a pillowcase typle cloth. Cheesecloth is much too

porous.

Patty

>

> This sounds interesting except that I don't make kefir, so I

wouldn't

> have the kefir whey. Could I use commercial kefir in some way?

What

> about yogurt, do you think the whey from that would work?

> Thanks for the method, Patty, I'd like to try it sometime.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks so much Patty! I give it a shot.

On Aug 5, 2008, at 6:44 PM, Patty wrote:

> Sure ,

> You could use whey drained from yogurt. Just make sure it's plain

> organic yogurt with live cultures. Commercial Kefir usually has stuff

> added, like thickeners and sweeteners. If you found a plain one, I

> imagine you could let it sit in a jar at room temp until it separated

> into curds and whey, then drain it. You need a very tightly woven

> cotton cloth, like a pillowcase typle cloth. Cheesecloth is much too

> porous.

> Patty

> --- C <christinecassidy@...> wrote:

>>

>> This sounds interesting except that I don't make kefir, so I

> wouldn't have the kefir whey. Could I use commercial kefir in some

> way?

> What about yogurt, do you think the whey from that would work?

>>

>> Thanks for the method, Patty, I'd like to try it sometime.

>>

>>

[Guest guest]

I've been grating the beets all this time and have NEVER had a problem

with alcohol. I'm not sure if that's because I use raw beets. I

started doing it before I'd ever heard of Sally Fallon or Nourishing

Traditions, lol. I grate with my food processor as I have fairly

severe arthritis in my hands and it's all I can do to cut them up

enough to go in the food processor. I would know if there was

significant alcohol because I accidentally made watermelon wine with

water kefir one time and got quite a buzz. As a non-drinker, it

doesn't take much. I can't promise it won't end up alcholic, but that

hasn't happened to me.

Patty

Sally Fallon says grating the beets will make them ferment too fast and

produce alcohol.

Mike

[Guest guest]

I think if the lactobacilli get going good you don't

get the alcohol content. That's one reason beer makers

really dislike LB. If there is some salt and/or acid

and/or a starter, you tend to get the LB rather than

yeast. I find this in kimchi too ... even if fruit is

added, the fruit doesn't go to " wine " as it usually

does (if you mash fruit up with sugar in a pot, you

get wine, and with a lot of fruits you don't even

need the sugar).

The problem I had with beets is mold ... but like

I said, I probably didn't do something right, it

was a long time ago. I think adding some vinegar

to make it a bit sour to start with is a good

preventative: whey could do something similar,

or kraut or juice from the last batch of beets,

as was suggested earlier.

On Wed, Aug 6, 2008 at 11:54 AM, Patty <mellowsong@...> wrote:

> I've been grating the beets all this time and have NEVER had a problem

> with alcohol. I'm not sure if that's because I use raw beets. I

> started doing it before I'd ever heard of Sally Fallon or Nourishing

> Traditions, lol. I grate with my food processor as I have fairly

> severe arthritis in my hands and it's all I can do to cut them up

> enough to go in the food processor. I would know if there was

> significant alcohol because I accidentally made watermelon wine with

> water kefir one time and got quite a buzz. As a non-drinker, it

> doesn't take much. I can't promise it won't end up alcholic, but that

> hasn't happened to me.

> Patty

>

[Guest guest]

,

As I understand it, you are right about lacto-bacillus bacteria preventing

yeasts getting a foothold. I have never tried adding vinegar to my fermenting

vegetables, beets or otherwise. I have found that by innoculating them with the

probiotic blend, the jar of fermenting vegetables develop lactic acid very

quickly. We have had mold problems with fermenting mashed pinto beans and with

oatmeal or other cooked grains. However, I think those problems have been

temperature related, i.e. it got too warm for too long. I have never been able

to understand that, because those bacterial are supposed to work in the gut,

which is about 101 degrees F. But, if we keep the temperatures in the low 70s

(some fluctuations allowed), we have much less trouble with mold than when it

gets hotter.

Well enough rambling.

Ellis Hein

----- Original Message -----

From: