FERMENTATION -Garden Veg

Our lovely Rachel led a brilliant workshop into the mysteries of using fermentation to preserve food.

QUICK INTRODUCTION TO LACTO-FERMENTATION

 Lacto-fermented pickles vs vinegar pickles

Lacto-fermentation is one of the oldest ways of preserving food. The “lacto” in lacto-fermentation refers to lactobacillus bacteria, one of the most prominent categories of bacteria used to create ferments, though every jar will contain a mix of different beneficial bacteria and yeasts. The process of lacto-fermentation involves creating an environment in which only beneficial bacteria can thrive, preventing pathogens and less desirable microbes from spoiling the food. All you need to do is add salt: all sourness in the finished product is generated by the bacteria themselves.

 

Most modern pickles are made by creating an environment in which no bacteria can thrive by creating a highly-acidic and heavily salted mixture, and processing the vegetables with heat to ensure that all bacteria are killed off, creating a highly shelf stable product. This means that vinegar-based pickles do not have any of the gut-friendly bacteria that traditional fermented pickles do as they are essentially sterile until opened.

 

Having a wide variety of beneficial bacteria living in our guts helps promote health and wellbeing across a surprising range of our bodily functions, not just digestion!

 

Gut-Brain Axis

Did you know that gut bacteria can influence your mood?! They can send chemical signals, via our vagus nerve, to the brain. They can also produce important neuroactive compounds like serotonin, dopamine and GABA! Healthy bacterial populations inside of us may contribute to a healthier brain, and people with higher microbial diversity in their guts may have a lower risk of depression, anxiety and even Alzheimer's!

 

Immune Function

Around 70% of our bodies’ immune cells are located in the gut lining! Gut bacteria influence our immune and inflammation responses by helping to “train” immune cells to recognise the difference between friends and foes.

 

Other impacts

Our gut microbiome has influences upon heart, bone and skin health; our metabolism; liver function; and hormone balance. These massive impacts on so much of our bodies might seem surprising, until you consider the fact that we each likely have more bacterial cells in our body than we do human cells!

 

Sauerkraut style - finely sliced or shredded vegetables

 

Whole veggies (eg baby cucumbers) or large chunks (eg cauliflower) in brine

 

Salsa/relishes - chopped or blended

For shredded/sliced/chopped veggies that will exude their own liquid:

I use 2% salt to vegetables, for example: 10g salt to 500g cabbage

Sources recommend anywhere from 1.5% - 2.5% salt ratio - less salt is faster; more salt is a little bit less likely to be colonised by undesirable species of bacteria/yeast and your veggies might stay crunchier.

 

For chunks or whole veggies:

Create a brine with 2-5% salt to water. We’ll be using a 2.5% brine, ie 12.5g salt to 500ml water

The more salt in your brine, the slower your vegetables will ferment and there will be less likelihood of cross contamination. If you would like to keep your pickles out of the fridge for longer (they’ll still need to be in a cool, dark place) choose a higher ratio; if you’d like to ferment for a week or less before storing in the fridge then you can go for 2-3%.

 

Most ferments will be ready to eat anywhere from 5 to 10 or so days, but this depends on a wide range of factors: what vegetables you are using, salt concentration, ambient temperatures, and how sour you like your pickles! For a sauerkraut type ferment or larger chunks in brine, I normally assume it will be ready in around 7 days, but I check daily (give it a sniff, a taste, check that no mold is forming.) Anything involving chillies (kimchi, hot sauce) tends to ferment quickly, so start checking after 3 days. 

1. Pack your pickles tight, trying to avoid air bubbles throughout the mixture.
2. Weigh down vegetables using a smaller glass jar (one that fits snugly through the mouth of your main jar) filled with water. This keeps vegetables submerged under the liquid and reduces their contact with air/contaminants; DO NOT seal your jar completely unless you want to “burp” the jar every day! The fermentation process can cause pressure to build up and create an explosion!
3. Place your pickle jars into a tray. The ferment can overflow as it becomes active.
4. Trust your nose! We’re well adapted to know what is going to be safe to eat and what isn’t. Your pickle might smell sour or even a little funky, and you may pick up some sulphurous smells if you are fermenting vegetables from the brassica family (cabbage, cauliflower etc) but if it smells “off” then trust your gut and send it to the compost.
5. Putting your ferment into the fridge won’t completely stop the fermentation process, but it will slow it down enough that you can keep your pickles for weeks or months in there; don’t forget to use a spotlessly clean utensil to remove ferments from the jar, and try to push any remaining vegetables underneath the surface of the brine to ensure they stay good!