Kimchi, Kefir, Sauerkraut and all other fermented foods

Thanks J. Will try it at room temp. What about my grain ratio - too many perhaps? Like two or three little grape sized clumps for a pint-sizer jar? Maybe, like many other ferments, bigger (overall) quantities are more reliable.

Nice, they look great but I haven’t splashed out yet. For 1L quantities I have successfully re-use those big jars that Polish pickles and kraut come in, weighting the contents down with a smaller jar filled with water.

Interestingly my Czech MiL insists that the bare minimum viable quantity of sauerkraut is 10L and her crock looks about 25L.

Thanks for posting that glorious film. She reminds me of (at least) two potential kimchi upgrades to try ... some rice flour and dried shrimp in my spicy paste/porridge. Oh, and growing my own Chinese Cabbage. And generally doing things in an effortless yet organised manner, whilst eschewing tech, whilst looking a million bucks.

We tend to use more grains, until the quantity is a significant part of the jar and then bin some.

Also it is good to shake and wash the grains as they can get too much of a coating that stops them contacting the milk. If you break up the grains you get a larger surface area so more area for milk and grain to contact each other.

I've made some vegan kimchi so I could give a jar to a vegan friend. Made with soy sauce and seaweed. I think next time I'd put more seaweed in. Recipe is otherwise pretty standard: Cabbage, mouli, carrots, spring onions, ginger and I like it really garlicy so plenty of that (3 whole bulbs per 2L jar!).

The thing the fish sauce adds besides umami, is an extra dimension to the bouquet. That said the vegan stuff turned out really well.

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Haha, I recently changed it from danslecarton. I reckon there is also @kimchi and @jaeyukdapbap

I know that many Korean households have a separate kimchi fridge because of that. My parents don't, because they are serious about kimchi.

You definitely should try radish or cucumber kimchi! And if you feel extra fancy, white kimchi. Really nice for summer days

They have stopped making and selling kefir at Bridge Farm on the Archers. Does this herald the end of the fermented bubble?

what is it with your Ambridge fascination?

have you jacked in reinsurance law and and taken up work as a social media influencer?

No cost plot twist to reset Susan into default moaning mode. Basic tenet of The Archers: a Horrobin can seldom be happy, for long.

Has anyone tried water kefir ? I ususally buy Nourish kefir but listened to a podcast that mentioned water kefir recently so I'm going to order some soon and give it a go.

I like kimchi but kefir can >>>

#youcanliveonitbutittasteslikeshit

I usually make vegan kimchi. Just leave out the fish sauce and it’s great.

I don’t know if it’s the cabbage I use, but my kimchi never lasts very long. It’s great in the first and second weeks, but third week it usually starts tasting a bit alcoholic/mildewy so I bin it at that point. I thought it was supposed to last a long time? Stored in the fridge in a sealed Kilner jar. Any ideas?

Great thread!

Once is stopped eating meat and had to curtail my meat curing hobby I have jumped in feet first to fermentation.
Kimchi,kraut are regulars.
Just started some fermented chilli sauce which is about ready and I'm looking forward to how that turns out.
Also have a vinegar crock which I've been playing around with but it leaked on me and I haven't got the courage to restart yet.

Even in a Kilner, the veggies etc need to be weighted down to keep them under the brine. A proper crock has weights to do this, and a lid that sits in a water seal to prevent ingress of airborne nasties.

That’s the likely culprit but if you still have problems, it’s probably too low in salt.

It will keep fermenting a bit whatever happens. Fridge should slow it down but it will continue to get more fizzy. Mildewy sounds not right though so that is strange. Look at salt levels?

Big pickler here. Good thread.

fermented chilli sauce

Done this before and provided it has a bit of garlic in there it should be banging. My only issue was bottling it... it kept on fermenting and blowing the bottle tops. Next time i’ll keep it in a crock and decant as required.

vinegar

Now we’re talking. Any alcohol can be turned to vinegar pretty much just through exposure to air. I had a very good Demi-John of cider vinegar in the go a few years back. I plan to start another soon with surplus home brew or maybe wine dregs scavenged from a Christmas party. The only issue I had was that I left it exposed too long and another bacteria got in which denatured the acetic acid to water, so the tail end went down the drain.

Yeah i had a good batch of red wine vinegar which leaked and destroyed both some floor and my wifes relationship with me making vinegar.

But i`m keen to get back going. Cider vinegar is next on the list

Miso is next on my list, but since i`m moving house (and country) in a month, new projects are on hold!

Also have people watched Its Alive with Brad? Love it
(i seem to be having trouble with linking it but its a youtube series)

I started brewing Kombucha around a year ago and have a regular fermentation on the go in a Kelner jar with a tap so I can bottle it a and top it up with new batch of sugared tea.

So here's how to start:

1. Get hold of a SCOBY and starter tea a Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast. The process produces a growing SCOBY so I always have spare. If you want a starter SCOBY and starter tea from me PM me.

2. Boil water and add to 4 -6 tea bags/gallon, green or standard. Must contain caffeine to work so no herbals at this point. Add cup of Sugar per gallon. I use organic cane sugar.

3. Remove teabags after around 1/2 hour them wait till the brew cools to room temperature. Then add to fermenting vessel (Mine is the 8L kilner with tap.

4. Add the SCOBY and starter tea and leave out of the sunlight for 3-7 days depending on how sour you like it.

5. Tap it into bottles adding a spoon of sugar per 35ml bottle for plain Kombucha or use your imagination adding various fruit or veg to taste. (Currently I am experimenting with dried fruit adding a handful of either chopped dried apricots, prunes, mulberries, cranberries, or dried mango. Over the summer I added mango, orange, watermelon. I've added spinach with teaspoon of sugar, carrots and even coconut water from cartons.) Leave for a secondary fermentation for at least 3 day, the longer the better.

6. Before you are ready to drink it you must put it in the fridge to ensure the CO2 produced during secondary fermentation dissolves in the liquid so minimise the chance of a kombucha explosive fountain. (Fun but wasteful and messy).

7. Start off with small amounts like 1/2 glass and build up to a glass or 2 a day.

You will notice the benefit to your gut when you go to the loo the next day :)

Add the SCOBY and starter tea and leave out of the sunlight for 3-7 days depending on how sour you like it

Longer, sourer?

I'd not really liked it last time I tried Kombucha but was in Australia a bit last month and ended up drinking a lot of it to see if it could fix post-long-haul belly. Sort of grew on me so will make this with some kimchi soon.

Yup. Longer = sourer

Fantastic thread. My Goat's Milk Kefir sharing room temp with the washing and my cacti.

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A quite splendid domestic scene. That kefir is open to the elements, not even a cheesecloth?

@Olly398 & @jb000 thanks. I think it’s salty enough, but I think from what you’ve described I’m storing it too dry. There’s no liquid, certainly not enough for the cabbage to be submerged. So it might be the cabbage after all - I’ve only ever done it with leftover white cabbage and it doesn’t really express any liquid at all.