Lactofermentation

[Brewforagegrow]

So I've finally tried lactofermentation ad a means of preserving the harvest, tried my first batch of three cornered leek at the weekend. I definitely used too much salt when preparing them, so will have to adjust accordingly for the next batch.

What are your favourite foragables for fermenting? Anyone have any special tricks to boost flavour?

[herbwise]

I know some people who ferment without salt, which isn't advisable, but I've done it before under the instructions of my employer at the time...was successful every time no batch failures and passed testing for E. coli ....  Salt is really to keep bad bacteria from taking over before the lactobacilli do, and extend the batch life...also amount will control the rate of fermentation...more will make fermentation go slower...you can use less with confidence!  Some cultures when salt is not available will add an oak leaf to help prevent rotting before the lactic acids are formed.  Never tried that, not sure how much the tannins affect the taste.

To concentrate flavor sometimes I like to run some material that I'm fermenting through the juicer and use the juice as part of the water portion of the recipe.

Also, some ppl are adamant about using whey to get fermentation going, but as I'm allergic to diary I don't do that.  It's also unnecessary because the lactobacilli are present on the plant material.  As long as it's not sprayed/conventionally grown you don't have to worry about inoculating the batch. The closer a plant is to the soil the more lactobacilli are on the plant material. So things like garlic, onions, etc. are loaded with the good stuff.  It's only called lactobacilli because they wanted to know why unpasteurized cow's milk turned to cheese and they found these bacteria did it...and named them lactobacilli.  They are present in cow's milk because cows eat grass all day and the bacteria are on the grass...

If you *do* want to jump start a batch in the future so it ferments faster you can take some left over brine from a previous fermentation and add to the next.

Also I'm sure you probably know but temperature affects how fast it ferments and you don't want to use metal lids as the salt and the acids will corrode the metal.  I use plastic lids or put a double layer of wax paper and plastic wrap under a metal lid to protect it.

As I'm just getting my foraging legs I can't say that I have any foraging favorites to ferment, so I'm really curious to see what ideas, trips and tricks others have!  Fermentation is a limitless playground of possibilities.

I personally really love fermenting sweet peppers with jalapenos and onions.  Ferments in 3 days before it must be put in fridge.  Looking forward to growing a bigger garden in the future so I can make this in big batches as sweet peppers are stupidly expensive at the store any more...

[herbwise]

Oh also, if you see some white stuff form at the top of your fermented foods, just scrape it off and toss it and press the rest of the plant material back under the juice line. It's harmless stuff called "kahm yeast"...won't hurt you. If you see other colors, and there's an off smell, toss it. Best way to keep it tidy and free from strange things growing is to keep the plant material weighed down under the brine.

[Brewforagegrow]

Always ridiculously informative hw, thanks for that post. I am going to try some non foraged ferments too, but want to use homegrown produce so will wait until the summer for that.

[herbwise]

No prob, also realized I should mention only some recipes need brine added, most involve just sprinkling plant material with salt and pounding it till juicy then smashing it in the jar, below the juice line like with sauerkraut...this is probably what you do with wild leeks?  If you want to ferment things like whole cucumbers, sliced carrots, etc, then saltwater brine is added which is when juicing some of the veggies to ferment can help increase flavor.  Brine is usually at a ratio of 1 tbs. salt (free of anti-caking agents) to 1 pint of filtered water.  I find this to be a bit salty for my tastes and usually scale back on the salt by a teaspoon or two. One consideration to this, though is that over time water will be pulled from the plants, mix with and water down the brine.  I taste as I go to see if I like the salt ratio.

Once forage-worthy plant I've wanted to try to lactoferment (and almost did last year except the neighbors cut down the wild grape vine literally the day before I wandered out to get them) is wild grape leaves!!  You see them preserved in jars with some acid, like lemon juice helping preserve them.  I've often wondered how they would do lactofermented.  I expect it would be a quick ferment, like with peppers, so the leaves wouldn't go mushy....?  If you try it out before I do let me know how that goes!!

P.S. Always crack the lid of the jar so gasses can escape...and put a plate or bowl under it to catch any juices that bubble out...let ferment in dark place as light will lower the populations of the lactobacilli.

Good luck!

[emmac]

I've decided to infuse my sauerkrauts with wilds rather than ferment just one thing. The wild garlic ferment was great last year but could've knocked your head off

I don't think I've ever overdone the salt. Bummer. Don't use whey either