Apple/Pineapple/Cranberry Lacto-Ferment: made Dec. 2/19

- 5 med. "wild" apples cored and chopped

- 1 1/2 - 2 cups frozen minced pineapple

- 3 cups dried cranberries chopped coarsely
- 1 med. onion diced
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 med./small carrots coarsely grated
- 10 slices of frozen cucumber chopped

- 1 rounded Tbsp Himalayan pink salt

- 4 small leaves of green cabbage chopped finely

I mixed this all together.  It made enough to fill 2 liter mason jars firmly packed to just above the shoulder. I planned to leave them in the warm cupboard for 3 days or until I could see they were fermenting well, before moving them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten.... However, I explain how this REALLY happened below...

I've made use of some leftovers for this one...  The cranberries I bought, not noticing that they were infused with sugar and they are TOO sweet for me.  The pineapple I minced and froze into ice-cubes thinking I'd add a little at a time to my meals, but I'm no longer feeling like I want to do this.  So, I've used both of these in this mix.  I'm hoping the sugar will get used by the fermenting bacteria so the final ferment will still have the cranberry flavor I like but be less sweet and it seemed appropriate to add the pineapple I wasn't using here too...  I tasted it fresh mixed and it does taste good... but still quite sweet which I expected.  We'll see what the final result is like down the road...

This is VERY slow to ferment.  Perhaps because my "warm" cupboard isn't so warm now, or maybe something preventing fermentation was added to the cranberries.  I don't think this is the case though, because I checked the current stock from the place where I bought them and nothing but cranberries and sugar are listed as ingredients... In any case after 3 days with NO sign of activity, I've added about 1 Tbsp. of the liquid from my corn/carrot/apple ferment which is quite lively to each jar and hope this will make a difference...  I also placed them under a box in front of one of my rads and then added 1/2 of a finely chopped cabbage leaf to each jar...  They still taste fine... They just aren't fermenting...  Well this is the SLOWEST ferment I've EVER done!  However, with the addition of the cabbage and starter and spending almost 3 weeks in a warmish place they are finally fermenting...  I haven't bothered moving them to the fridge to stabilize though because they certainly don't need to be slowed down!  Well it took 5 weeks before these were finally fermenting well enough to be moved to the fridge... I think it was the extra quantity of sugar in the cranberries that the lacto-fermenting bacteria had trouble digesting...  When I make this again I'll choose something other than the pineapple and apple to add as both of these are quite sweet too...

Ginger Lacto-Ferment - 1 lb. batch... Made 1st on Nov 30/19 - repeated & refined again & again & again...

- .85 lbs ginger root peeled & finely chopped

- 1/2 tsp. (rounded) Himalayan pink salt  Note: - I'd like to increase this to 3/4 tsp.

- 1 leaf of green cabbage finely chopped

This is an approximately 1/2 size version of the one I made Apr 27/19.  As before, I chopped everything as finely as I could and then mixed it all together before packing it firmly into a 500 ml. mason jar, filled to the shoulder.  I left it in the cupboard over my stove for a week until I could see it was fermenting well... before I moved it to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten...   This is a slow ferment, but I expected this as my last batch of this recipe was also slow to ferment.  I suspect the slow speed is due to my cupboard not being so warm these days and because it is a very spicy mix.

Note: this was a PERFECT amount for the 1/2 size (500 ml.) jar.  I used one LARGE & one small piece of ginger.

May 1/20 - I repeated this mix fairly closely using just one LARGE piece of ginger and 3/4 tsp of salt... I must have used a little more ginger because the 500 ml jar is filled to about 3/8" from the top... a little high... but since this is usually a slow ferment I think it will be OK.  I chopped the ginger first fairly fine with a knife and then finished with my "mini-prep" in 2 batches... It is now beautifully fine... In the end this fermented quite rapidly for this mix.  It only lasted 4 days in my cupboard, before I moved it to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten...

Aug 23/20 - Again I'm repeating this mix... using 1/2 kg of ginger, 3/4 tsp. of salt and 1 leaf of green cabbage finely chopped....  This time I only chopped the ginger coarsely with a knife and processed this in 4 batches in my "mini-prep" food processor.  Maybe I could have used my large food processor and done it in 1 batch, but the mini-prep comes apart and cleans more easily than the large processor that I have, so I'll stick with the "mini-prep"...  This was also very slightly more ginger than I used before and as I was at the limit of what could be squeezed into a 500 ml. jar with my prior batches, this time I've used a 750 ml. jar and it is PERFECT!  I moved it to my fridge to stabilize and be eaten after 5 days in my cupboard... This ferment usually takes a little longer than the standard 3 days to start and the weather has suddenly turned cool, so my cupboard isn't so warm either...

Nov 20/20 - Another repetition...  I haven't finished the last batch yet, but this is the right time to get more ginger... so I'm making it in advance.  I'm guessing I have 1/2 lb. of ginger this time as I only needed to do 2 rather than 4 batches in my "mini-prep".  I've used  a  slightly rounded 1/2 tsp. of Himalayan pink salt and one finely chopped leaf of green cabbage and packed the mix into a 500 ml. mason jar, filled to about 3/4" from the rim and left  it in my "warmish" cupboard to ferment...  This  one is VERY slow to ferment... As of Dec. 9/20 it is still not fermenting strongly enough to require refrigeration.  There are bubbles and it is fermenting... just  VERY slowly.  Perhaps I used a little too much salt... However, I'm not concerned as long as it continues to ferment... Since I eat it, also VERY slowly, it will be FINE!

Cabbage, Cucumber & Pepper Lacto-Ferment - Made Nov 18/19

- 2 red & 1 orange bell peppers chopped

- a 5" diameter green cabbage chopped finely

- 7 med wild apples - approx. 3 cups chopped

- 1 med onion chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

-  most of 1/2 a large zip-lock bag of frozen sliced cucumber chopped

- 2 Tbsp. Himalayan pink salt

I mixed everything together, then packed it into 3 liter mason jars and 1 500 ml jar, filled perfectly just to the shoulder...  I left them in the cupboard over my stove for 4 days, (it isn't so warm there these days, so they needed to spend a little more time there than usual).  I then moved them to the refrigerator to stabilize and be eaten...  

Apple, Fennel, Rutabaga & Beet Lacto-Ferment - Made Oct 22/19

- 8 med. wild apples chopped - approx 3 cups

- most of a large bunch of fennel with a few leaves chopped

- 1 large rutabaga coarsely grated
- 1 med. chiogga beet coarsely grated
- 1 med. gold beet coarsely grated

- 1 large onion chopped
- 1 Tbsp of whole fennel seeds crushed

- 3 small cloves of garlic minced

- 2 Tbsp Himalayan pink salt

- 4 small leaves of green cabbage chopped finely

I mixed everything together; then firmly packed it into 3 liter mason jars, filled to the shoulder.  It fermented faster than expected, so it spent only 2 days  in my warmish cupboard before I transferred them to the fridge to stabilize... 

Note: I don't want to use more than the 2 Tbsp of salt for the 3 liters... this feels just right, but a little less might be OK too.

Bean Lacto-Ferment Made Oct 17/19

- 2 1/2 cups dried pinto beans

- 2 small pieces of kombu seaweed broken up

- 1 med. onion diced

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- almost 2 Tbsp Himalayan pink salt

- 4 small leaves of green cabbage chopped finely
- 5 med. red beets coarsely grated
- 4 stalks of celery chopped

- 7 med. wild apples cored and diced - about 2 cups

I  cooked the beans with the kombu for about 3 hours, until they were tender, when I mashed them with the water remaining into a thick paste.  I then added  this bean paste to the rest of the ingredients, adding the cabbage last when the mixture was just warm (NOT hot).  After mixing it well, I packed it into 3 liter and one 500 ml mason jars filled to the shoulder.  These fermented very well, so I only left them in my "warm" cupboard for 2 days, before I put them in the fridge to stabilize and be eaten...

Apple, Celery & Beet Lacto-Ferment - made Oct 5/19

- 30 small wild apples cored and diced - about 6 cups
- 1 medium/large onion chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- 3 leaves of green cabbage chopped

- 4 med. red beets grated

- 8 stalks of celery chopped

- 2 Tbsp Himalayan pink salt

I mixed everything together; completely filling my large glass bowl.  I mashed it down best I could then let it sit for a few minutes, before transferring it to  3 liter mason jars, firmly packed to the shoulder.  This one surprisingly fermented VERY quickly, even with the cooler temperatures, so they only stayed in the cupboard over my stove for 2 days, before I moved them to the fridge to stabilize...

Corn, Celery & Apple Lacto-Ferment - made Oct. 3/19

- 1/2 a large Zip-lock bag of frozen corn

- 9 stalks of celery chopped

- 1 medium/large onion diced

- 2 cloves of garlic finely minced

- 25 wild apples cored & chopped - approx. 6 cups

- 3 leaves of green cabbage finely chopped
- 1 large carrot coarsely grated

- 2 Tbsp Himalayan pink salt

I stirred everything together except the carrot.  This made enough for 3  liter & a 500 ml. mason jars to be filled, firmly pressed, to the shoulder.  Tasting this just before making my next ferment, I decided it could use the addition of something with more flavor...  I thought of beet, but saw I'd used beet with corn frequently, so I decided on carrot.  When I finished the beet, apple & celery ferment, I poured this corn mix out into the recently vacated bowl, (which had the remains of the beet mix left in it) along with the carrot, nixed to all together thoroughly and then repacked the jars... I left them in the cupboard over my stove (which isn't so warm these days) for a total of 4 days, before I moved them to the fridge.  This is a little longer than my average.  Probably due to the cooler temperature and to repacking the jars...   

Carrot & Mango Lacto-Ferment - done Aug 24/19

- about 1 lb. of carrots coarsely grated

- 2 good sized mangoes chopped

- 2 med/small  onions chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 1/2 cups of frozen chopped rhubarb

- 2 Tbsp Himalayan pink salt

- a small green cabbage (about 5" in diameter) chopped finely

I mixed everything together; completely filling my large glass bowl.  I mashed it down best I could then I let it sit for a few minutes, before transferring it to 3 liter mason jars, firmly packed to just above the shoulder.  They are filled a little high, so I thought I might have to strain off some of the liquid, but this wasn't necessary. They fermented quite quickly, so I only left  them in the cupboard over my stove for 2 days before moving them to the fridge...

Cabbage & Zucchini Lacto-Ferment - Made Aug 24/19

- 1 small head of red cabbage (about 5" in diameter) chopped finely

- 1 large zucchini chopped

- 1 med./large onion chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 1/2 cups of frozen chopped rhubarb

- 1 1/2 cups of frozen apple diced

- a little less than 2 Tbsp. Himalayan pink salt

I mixed everything together in my largest glass bowl.  After stirring it well, I let it sit for a few minutes to warm, before transferring it to 3 liter & a 500 ml. mason jars, firmly packed to just below the shoulder.  They fermented quite quickly, so I left them in my warm cupboard for only 2 days before moving them to the fridge... 

Cabbage, Yam & Zucchini Lacto-Ferment - Made Aug 3/19

- approx. 11/2 cups of finely chopped frozen pineapple

- 1 large zip-lock bag of frozen sliced zucchini diced
- 2 med. sweet potato (my parents called them yams), coarsely grated

- 1/2 a green cabbage (about 6" in diameter) finely chopped

- 2 small/medium onions diced
- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- a little less than 2 Tbsp of Himalayan pink salt

I mixed everything together... It makes a very liquid, "Spring" colored mix which  filled 4 liter mason jars firmly packed to the shoulder.  I only left them in the cupboard over my stove for a ;little more than a day as they fermented VERY quickly, before transferring them to the fridge...

Beans & Beet Lacto-Ferment Done July 16/19

- a generous 1 1/3 cups dried black turtle beans cooked

- 1 cup adzuki beans cooked

- 3 small pieces of kombu seaweed crumbled

- 1 med. onion diced

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- 7 large slices of frozen cucumber diced
- 2 med. red beets coarsely grated
- 1 small celery root (celeriac) coarsely grated

- 5 1/2 small leaves of green cabbage finely chopped 
- 1 cup of frozen chopped rhubarb

- 1 1/2 Tbsp. Himalayan pink salt

I added the beans to boiling water with the kombu and then cooked them until there was only a little water left and they were tender (about 2 hours).   After mashing them, I added them to the rest of the ingredients, adding the cabbage last, after I'd mixed the other things together and the whole mixture was an even warm temperature (NOT hot)... I then packed it into three 1 liter mason jars  filled to the shoulder.  I only left them in the warmish cupboard over my stove for one day.  The weather is VERY warm, so they fermented VERY quickly.  They are now in the fridge stabilizing; available for eating... 

Squash, & Celery root (celeriac) Lacto-Ferment - Made July 9/19

- 4 leaves of green cabbage chopped finely

- 7 slices of frozen cucumber chopped
- 1/2 of a large zip lock bag of frozen chopped beet stems

- 1 med. onion chopped

- 1 clove of garlic minced
- 1 onion flower chopped

- 2 cups of chopped frozen apples
- 2 med./small celery roots (celeriac) coarsely grated
- 1 large zip-lock bag of frozen squash chopped in the food processor
- 2 Tbsp.  Himalayan pink salt

I mixed everything together, adding the cabbage last after the other ingredients had warmed a little.  After stirring it well, I transferred it to 3 liter and one 750 ml mason jars, firmly packed to the shoulder.  I left them in the warm cupboard over my stove for only 2 days as they fermented very well...  so they are now in the fridge stabilizing and getting ready to be eaten... 

Note: I used the food processor because I wanted the skin on the squash to be chopped finely...  I tried 2 batches.  For one I chopped the squash quite finely before using the food processor and for the other I just chopped it roughly.  There wasn't much difference in the end result.  The skin for the roughly chopped batch did have a few larger pieces left but not many.

Pea, Carrots, Rhubarb & Coconut Lacto-Ferment Done July 8/19

- 1 1/4 cup dried green peas

- 1/3 cup green lentils
- 2 small pieces of kombu seaweed broken up

- 1 med. onion diced

- 1 clove of garlic minced

- 1 Tbsp Himalayan pink salt

- 3 leaves of green cabbage chopped finely
- 4 med./small carrots coarsely grated

- 1 generous cup of chopped frozen rhubarb

- 5 Tbsp of  desiccated coconut

I  cooked the peas with the kombu for about 2 1/2 hours, until there was only a little water left and they were tender.  I added the lentils for the last 1/2 hour of cooking time, then mashed both together.  I then added  this pea mixture to the rest of the ingredients, adding the cabbage last when the mixture was just warm (NOT hot).  After mixing it well, I packed it into 2 liter mason jars filled to just below the shoulder.  I left them in my warm cupboard for only 2 days as I could see they were fermenting well, and then put them in the fridge to stabilize and be eaten...

Note: Even just fresh mixed this tastes VERY good!  So I may want to make something similar again... If I do, I'd use 1 1/2 cups of peas, as the jars could have been filled a little more.  

Beans & Lentils Lacto-Ferment Done May 30/19

- a generous 1 1/2 cups dried black turtle beans cooked

- 1/3 cup large green lentils cooked

- 1/4 cup black lentils cooked
- 3 small pieces of kombu seaweed crumbled

- 1 med. onion diced

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- 7 large slices of frozen cucumber diced
- 2 med. red beets coarsely grated
- 3 med. black radishes coarsely grated

- 5 1/2 small leaves of green cabbage finely chopped 
- 1 cup of frozen chopped rhubarb

- 1 1/2 Tbsp. Himalayan pink salt

I added the beans to boiling water with the kombu and then cooked them until there was only a little water left and they were tender (about 2 hours).  I cooked the lentils separately in a small amount of water for 20 mins.  I mashed both together, then added the rest of the ingredients, except the cabbage and mixed it all together.   I added the cabbage last, after I'd mixed the other things together and the whole mixture was an even warm temperature (NOT hot)... I then packed it into three 1 liter mason jars  filled to the shoulder.  These are a GORGEOUS almost black, deep, reddish purple, and already taste delicious!  I left them in the warmish cupboard over my stove for only 1 day, as they fermented VERY quickly...  I then moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten... 

Fennel, Yam & Rutabaga Lacto-Ferment - Made May 1/19

- 6 leaves of green cabbage chopped finely

- 2 med./large rutabaga coarsely grated
- 7 slices of frozen kiwi chopped
- 6 slices of cucumber chopped
- 1 good sized bunch of fennel with leaves chopped
- 3 med. sweet potato (my parents called them yams), coarsely grated
- 1 medium onion chopped

- 2 garlic cloves minced

- close to 2 Tbsp Himalayan pink salt
- 1 tsp fennel seeds ground

I mixed everything together, except for 2 leaves of the cabbage, then transferred the mix to  4 liter  mason jars, packed firmly to the shoulder.  I thought I was done, but got nervous about the cabbage being enough...  These are smaller inside leaves, so I chopped another 2 leaves and added and equal amount to the top layer of each of the four jars.  We'll see if I've added enough by how well they ferment... I  left them in my warmish cupboard above the stove for 3 days. After this I could see they were fermenting well, so I transferred them to the fridge...

Ginger Lacto-Ferment - 2 lb. batch. First Made Apr 27/19 & repeated... again & again & again...

- 1.8 lbs ginger root peeled & finely chopped

- 1 1/2 tsp. pink salt

- 2 smallish leaves of green cabbage finely chopped

I chopped everything as finely as I could and then mixed it all together before packing it firmly into a liter mason jar, filled to the shoulder.  I thought I might need to add water since this mix doesn't have much water, but it wasn't necessary; there's PLENTY of water. I've made it with my usual amount of salt, but I'll only be using it in very small quantities as it's VERY spicy, so I may add a little extra salt down the road if I feel it will keep better with more.  However, I'm not sure, so for now, I've left it as it is in the cupboard over my stove for 3 days...  This has fermented a little strangely.  After 2 days it seemed to be fermenting well and usually I would have just moved it to the fridge at this point, but this time for some reason I just repacked it so the ginger was well submerged in the liquid and left it in the cupboard... and it stalled out...  I'm not sure why... Maybe it takes longer to ferment such a spicy mix... In any case after 4 days in the cupboard I added about another 1 Tbsp of finely chopped green cabbage... We'll see... I've also tasted it and decided it didn't need more salt...  I'll move it to the fridge when I can see it's REALLY fermenting well...  Well I waited until May 4th... It wasn't any livelier, so rather than force it, I decided I want this one to last for a LONG time, so it's OK if it's SLOW to ferment... and I moved it to the fridge.

Made again Mar 29/21:  I used the same quantities of ingredients, but after chopping the ginger finely I ran it through my "mini-prep" food processor in 4 batches to chop it extra fine.  After mixing everything together I put it into a 750 ml and a 500 ml jar, firmly packed to about 1 1/4" from the rim, and left them covered in front of one of my rads to begin fermenting... After 4 days I could see they were fermenting well, so I moved them to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten...

Made again Sept 10/21:  This was made the same as my previous batch... except that I bought about 2.2 lbs of ginger so I've increased the amount of Himalayan pink salt to 2 tsp and added this along with the 2 leaves of finely chopped cabbage.  The mix was then packed  into a liter mason jar... It's filled a little higher than I usually like to fill my jars, only about 1/2" from the rim.  However, this is usually a slow, not very lively ferment, so I'm trusting this will be enough expansion room...  We'll see...  After 3 days it is fermenting well... I'll leave it for another day or two... but the water on top of the ginger paste was almost touching the lid, so I removed about 1 Tbsp. of this water and added it to the remains of my last batch of ginger (about 2/3 of the 250 ml. jar) which I'm still using... so there's now little danger of it contacting the metal lid.  It spent a total of 5 days in my cupboard before I moved it permanently to the fridge.

Made again... Sep 3/22...  I bought 1.93 lbs. of ginger, but one piece had quite a bit that had to be discarded... so I think I ended up with about 1.75 lbs.  This time I have a new Ninja processor... it doesn't shred or slice, but with its 4 or 6 super sharp blades it SURE does chop!   I only had to coarsely chop the ginger and it chopped it all in one go nice and fine. I added 1 1/2 rounded tsp. of Himalayan pink salt and 2 leaves of finely chopped cabbage.  I'm sure I could have added the cabbage to the ginger and chopped it all together in the Ninja, but since it was my first time I did them separately... Next time I'll try chopping them both together...  It fills a 1 liter mason jar perfectly to about 1" from the rim... I left it in my warm cupboard over my stove for a week... It's slow to ferment again, but I want it to last for about a year, so that's OK...  Nonetheless, it's clearly fermenting well so I've moved it to the fridge to stabilize and be eaten...

Yam, Beet, Radish & Cucumber Lacto-Ferment - Made Apr 18/19

- 12 slices of frozen cucumber chopped
- 6 slices of a large frozen zucchini chopped

- 1 med/large onion chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- 5 small chiogga beets coarsely grated
- 5 med. black radish coarsely grated
- 4 leaves of Green Cabbage finely chopped

- 3  med./large sweet potatoes (my parents called them yams), coarsely grated
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Himalayan pink sea salt

I mixed everything together in my large glass bowl, mashed it down best I could, then transferred it to 3 liter mason jars, firmly packed to the shoulder.  I left them in a cupboard for only 2 days as they fermented VERY well, before moving them into the fridge to stabilize...  

Beans & Lentils Lacto-Ferment Done Mar 27/19

- 1 1/2 cup dried adzuki beans cooked

- 1/4 cup french lentils cooked

- 1/4 cup black lentils cooked
- 3 small pieces of kombu seaweed crumbled

- 1 med. onion diced

- 1 clove of garlic minced

- 6 large slices of frozen cucumber diced

- 1 1/2 cups (approximately) of frozen ccrn
- 3 leaves of green cabbage finely chopped 
- 1/2 cup of frozen chopped rhubarb

- 1/4 cup desiccated coconut
- 1  Tbsp. Himalayan pink salt

I added the beans to boiling water with the kombu and then cooked them until there was only a little water left and they were tender about 1 1/2 hours.  I cooked the lentils separately in a small amount of water for 20 mins.  I mashed both together, then added the rest of the ingredients, mixed it all together and packed it into two 1 liter and one 750 ml. mason jars  filled to about 1 1/2" from the rim.  I left them in the cupboard over my stove for only 2 days before putting them in the fridge...  However, I got nervous after a day, when they didn't seem to be doing much.  I thought maybe I'd added the lentils to the other ingredients when they were too hot and killed the bacteria on the cabbage... so after a day I also added 1 tsp of the liquid from my red cabbage/zucchini mix to each jar.  I think this probably wasn't necessary, but if I make a mixture which includes hot things and cabbage in the future I'll add the cabbage last after I've mixed the hot and cold things together and the whole mixture is an even temperature...

Peas, Zucchini, Carrot & Rutabaga Lacto-Ferment - Done Feb 1/19

- 3/4 cup dried green peas

- 3/4 cup dried speckled peas
- 3 small pieces of kombu seaweed crumbled

- 3 Tbsp of green split peas

- 3 Tbsp of yellow split peas

- 1 med.  onion diced

- 2 cloves of garlic minced

- 1 med. carrot coarsely grated
- 1 med. rutabaga coarsely grated

- 7 slices of frozen zucchini diced

- 1 1/2 cups (approximately) of frozen chopped rhubarb

- 1  1/2 Tbsp. Himalayan pink salt

- 3 Tbsp. of my cabbage, celery root (celeriac), corn & rhubarb mix as a starter

I cooked the dried peas with the kombu for 3 1/2 hours, adding the split peas for the last 1 hour of cooking time.  I've added the kombu as it's supposed to reduce the cooking time of peas and beans and also make them more digestible....  We'll see.... I mashed them together after they'd been cooked and there was only a little water left and they were tender.  I mixed the rest of the ingredients together except the starter and added the still warm pea mixture.  I added the starter once the mixture reached room temperature. I packed it into 3 liter mason jars, 2,filled to the shoulder and 1 a little lower. This batch too only needed to spend 1 day in the cupboard, even though it isn't so warm there these days, as they fermented VERY rapidly....  I've  now moved them to the fridge to stabilize and for me to eat.  My sense is that pea mixtures like this don't have such a long shelf life, so I begin eating them almost immediately.