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...