Learning to ferment? Here's the supplies you need
With many kitchen shops now selling a variety of fermenting equipment, it can be a little difficult to work out what you need. Listed below are some fermenting equipment recommendations. While you can choose to purchase some high end fermenting equipment, there are inexpensive alternatives offered below as well.
Recommended Fermenting Equipment
Fermenting Jars
Fermenting jars are available online. A 5L jar is handy for making big family sized batches of sauerkraut, vegetable medley and fermented carrot sticks. 1.5L jars are great for kefir and crème fraiche as well as smaller batches of vegetable ferments.
Storage Jars
You can use lead-free Fido glass jars with glass lids for storing your ferments in the fridge once your ferments are completed. Remember stress alone will change your gut microbiome, so if fancy fermenting jars don’t fit within your budget, use what does!
If you don’t have the airlock apparatus on the top of your fermenting jars, remember to burb the jars each day, by opening the lid for a second or two, and then re- sealing your ferment.
Canning Funnel
It will save your massaged cabbage decorating your kitchen bench when you are trying to fill your fermenting jar. It will also hold your sieve firmly in place when straining beet kvass or dripping whey.
Weights
To hold down your ferment. A heavy tea light candleholder, cleaned rock or glass disk will help in holding your longer-term ferments under the saline solution.
Vegetable Starters
These are available on line and also in many health food stores. You can also purchase unpasteurised sauerkraut or beet kvass from health food stores to use as a starter for your vegetable ferments. Once your ferments are started, you can use the juice from one vegetable ferment to start another vegetable ferment. For example, you can use sauerkraut juice as the starter for beet kvass, dill carrots or your vegetable medley. Some commercial vegetable starters include Caldwell’s and Body Ecology.
Kefir Grains
There is often a free online local group that give away their excess kefir grains. You can also purchase them online.
Yogurt Starter
This is available online or from health food stores or you can use your favourite probiotic.
Yogurt Maker
This is optional. If you do wish to purchase a yogurt maker, best to find one that has an extended timer on it. Many yogurt makers only run for 8 to 9 hours. A few brands run to 15+ hours. The longer ferment time ensures all the lactose is taken up.
As Hippocrates said, ‘Let food be thy medicine and medicine by thy food.’
So let’s begin fermenting and healing with food!
