Making lacto fermented vegetables

This was a new thing that I started doing about three weeks ago, and it’s been very successful.  Like the sourdough bread, I thought it would be a big deal to make, and it’s amazing how incredibly simple it is.

Let me backtrack a minute and say what lacto fermented vegetables are, and what the benefit of them is.  It’s a natural method of pickling that was used by traditional societies throughout the world until vinegar was created and replaced lacto fermentation because the results were easily duplicated and consistent.  But vinegar kills all the microorganisms, while lacto fermentation enhances the nutritional value of vegetables by enhancing the growth of lactobacilli, which enhances the vitamins, aids digestion and helps produce other helpful enzymes.  Lacto fermented veggies are a good addition to any meal because they help all the foods be better digested.

So here’s how incredibly easy it is: you take a quart sized jar, chop or shred up the vegetables you want to ferment, and pack it in as firmly as possible so that the juices of the vegetable(s) cover the top.  If there isn’t enough juice for that, you add some filtered water to cover.  Add some spices if you want.  Put in some sea salt at the top (I use Celtic sea salt for this), close the lid, and voila – after two days to three days your veggies are ready.  That’s the basic process in a nutshell. It took me making about six different recipes to realize that it was all this basic process, since there were little variations of ingredients and spicing for all of them.

Using this basic process, we’ve so far made: cucumber pickles (my 5 and 7 yo kids did these), pickled tomatoes and peppers, ginger carrots, kimchi (so far the favorite), beets, roasted red peppers, turnips, sauerkraut, preserved lemons, salsa, horseradish, garlic, daikon, and a veggie mix of my own creation (second favorite).  A bonus is that they look very attractive lined up on the kitchen counter.  🙂

Though they can be ready in as few as 2 – 3 days, they can stay out for lots longer than that.  That’s nice because there aren’t suddenly lots of pickled vegetables that all have to be eaten at the same time.   And I don’t know about you, but I often find that I don’t serve as many salads or fresh veggies at mealtimes because of the time it takes to prepare.  Now even at my busiest, I can whip out two or three of these at mealtime – no preparation needed but to put it in a serving bowl!

I’ve also made pineapple vinegar, but have yet to use it for anything.  I’m planning to use it for salad dressing and for some of my next batch of fermented vegetables, but I still have about 8 jars on the counter, fermenting away, so I’m not rushing to make any more right now. I combined the two quarts of preserved lemon into one jar when it was finished and drained out a bunch of the liquid for salad dressing – it’s delish!  I’ve been using it every day by itself as dressing for my lunchtime salad.  Since I poured it into a salad dressing container (there was just a little of the original stuff left so I poured it out to make room for this), everyone, guest included, has been using it on their salads and is none the wiser.  🙂

9 thoughts on “Making lacto fermented vegetables

  1. >>I made lacto-fermented veggies, and my sauerkraut came out awesomely. My cucumbers rotted though. Do you know why that would be?<<

    Did you weight your cucumbers down so that they stayed covered with the brine? Cabbage is heavy enough that it stays down, but cucumbers will float to the top of the jar. If they aren’t submerged, mold or slime will grow since there’s no preserving agent all around it- I’ve had it happen, too (to 5 jars that I made at the same time :(). To keep them submerged you can fill a plastic bag with water and place it on top of the veggies. Good luck next time – we love how the pickles turn out!

  2. Hi Aviva, started reading your blog recently and really enjoying. I see that you don’t put whey in when fermenting – is that a mistake or whey isn’t necessary?

  3. What sort of jars do you use? I know any people buy theirs used on craigslist/ebay buy I am concerned about the kashrus of used jars. Also, do you use jars with BPA-free lids and, if so, which ones?
    Thanks!

    1. I use standard canning jars. I’ve written here about buying used jars and what I was told by Rav Heinemann needs to be done to kasher them. As far as lids, last year I learned about a fantastic option that I started using (and wanted to post about last year, but not enough time!) – they are reusable canning lids that last forever, BPA free (Tattler). I bought a lifetime supply of 70 + dozen. 🙂

      Now I’m in the midst of selling all my jars and lids…. 🙁

      1. If I lived in Baltimore, I would buy the from you! We’re moving to Israel too this summer, but we’re taking a lift…

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