Category: Fermenting

I first heard about sourdough bread in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s, Little House series. To be specific, the title of that book was called By the Shores of Silver Lake. In the chapter titled, Merry Christmas, Laura’s ma explains to Mrs. Boast, how to make sourdough bread.

“But how do you make the sour dough?” Mrs. Boast asked. “You start it,” said Ma, “by putting some flour and warm water in a jar and letting it stand till it sours.” “Then when you use it, always leave a little,” said Laura. “And put in the scraps of biscuit dough, like this, and more warm water.” Laura put in the warm water, “and cover it,” she put a clean cloth and the plate on the jar, “and just set it in a warm place,” she set it in its place on the shelf by the stove. “And it’s always ready to use whenever you want it.” ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder: By the Shores of Silver Lake

I remember reading this passage and wanting to make it myself. I was seven at the time. I could not convince my mother to embark on a sourdough adventure with me. She rarely deviated from a recipe and here I was wanting to attempt to make sourdough from a passage I read in a book! And so… sourdough bread making was placed on the back burner, until more recent years.

Sourdough bread is fermented, which means, you don’t need yeast. In addition, due to the fermenting process, you are creating lactic acid and lots of healthy bacteria that are baked into the bread. I guess, my question would be how much of the healthy bacteria remains during the baking process? That’s something I’ll have to research a bit more. The majority of the fermented foods that I prepare are consumed without heat.

Since I don’t really feel like making my sourdough starter this evening, I’ll do it tomorrow or Wednesday. I’m hoping my first sourdough projects are a success. If they are, I’ll eventually purchase a fermenting crock specifically for my sourdough starter. Since, my daughter and I have not made homemade pizza in a while, I believe one of our first sourdough projects will be pizza!

How to make your own sourdough starter

Photo Source: Sourdough Companion

Earlier today, I set about prepping my sauerkraut for the fermenting pot. Last evening, I’d set the produce aside in a weak brine solution that I’d prepared and today, I rinsed the quartered cabbage thoroughly and started chopping up all that produce.

 

It looks lovely, don’t you think?

I chopped the cabbage with one of my large knives. I guess, it took about twenty to thirty minutes to chop everything. Who knows? I wasn’t really counting.

 

Once the chopping was finished, I started adding the produce layers to the fermentation pot. In between the produce layers, I sprinkled salt and other seasonings. I continued to do this until I stuffed everything into my 4 gallon fermentation clay pot.

 

I then placed the outer cabbage leaves on top of the produce. The leaves keep the shredded produce trapped. I weighed everything down with a few plates and set a weight on top of the plates. Tomorrow, I’ll take a peek to see if the brine is covering the shredded produce. If not, I’ll add enough water to complete this task. The next time I’ll check, will be about the two week mark. If it’s not ready, I’ll check two weeks later.

Although we have been having some cooler temperatures, we’re still have some hot days ahead. Because of this, it might not take as long to ferment as it would during the cooler months.

 

My large fermentation clay pot arrived today.

 

Surprisingly, I haven’t placed anything in it yet, but that will happen tomorrow. Today was a bit busy getting the few remaining items that my daughter needed for school. However, I did open the large well packaged box that contained my new fermentation pot. It appears that the handmade clay pot doesn’t have any cracks, and that’s a good thing!

This evening, I roughly cut 12 pounds of cabbage and have submerged the produce in a weak brine solution. Tomorrow morning, I’ll rinse and finally place in it’s final resting place… my 15L TSM fermentation clay pot. This is my largest clay pot by far, it holds 4 gallons.

I’ve included a video on fermenting food on a much larger scale than most homeowners will ever do. I found this video fascinating and quite informative. Enjoy!

 

In other news…

While school shopping with my daughter. I picked up some “quilted jelly jars”.  Tomorrow after church, we’ll be canning jams and jellies. I’m also working on my fourth knitted dreadlock tube, and I started and finished a book on my iPad today. Of course, I hung out with my lovely daughter today also.

In order to increase my knowledge of fermentation, I decided I needed to purchase a book.

I’ve browsed forums, checked out blogs, but I thought it would be a great idea to have a reference book on hand. Something I could turn to without having to be plugged into a technology device.

After much research, I finally decided to purchase The Art of Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz. It’s over 500 pages. I purchased the hard copy and the digital copy for my iPad.

I already knew I was in for a real treat since I’d read numerous glowing reviews about this book and I’ve seen several of his videos.

One thing you won’t ever see me do is work with the produce without wearing gloves. My nails are naturally long and even though I make sure I keep them clean, the thought of handling produce with my hands is something you won’t see me do.

Sandor is very knowledgeable about fermenting foods, and I look forward to improving my understanding of fermentation.   Since I have also purchased a digital copy, I don’t have to worry about getting my hard copy messy. That’s important to me, since I like keeping my physical books clean.

I’m finally getting around to posting pictures of my kimchi preparation.

In hindsight, I don’t think I made kimchi before. I’ve made other fermented foods, but the more I think about it, I’m almost positive kimchi wasn’t what I prepared. Regardless, I’m excited about fermenting foods on a more regular basis. With this first batch, I can see a few mistakes I made, but those will be corrected the next time I make kimchi. The cabbage was mildly sweet.

I added carrots, leeks, radish and onions. I then added some freshly ground spices, hot peppers, hot pepper powder, salt, water and a few other things. I’ll be sure to check on the kimchi towards the end of this week. Hopefully, all will be well and we’ll have some delicious kimchi!

Judging by my most recent posts, it’s obvious that fermented foods is top on my list. I’m really excited about fermenting on an active basis. Before, I just did it now and again.

I will readily admit the biggest turnoff for me, was the wait time; however, I must not look at that as the negative aspect of fermenting. In actuality, that’s one of the most important steps to making fermented foods so healthy.

Recently, I wrote a post about Fermenting Crocks.

@suituapui, Yes, these do look lovely. I do hope they measure up. I’ll be getting one more crock, another brand that has a well where you can add water. I’ll see which type I like the best.

In the comment section, I mentioned to suituapui, I’ve decided to purchase a few different fermenting crocks. The first fermenting crock, the Ohio Stoneware crock will arrive tomorrow. I’ll also be ordering a TSM fermenting crock. I chose the 15L size, which holds a little over 4 gallons.

 

 

The TSM crock, costs a bit more than the Ohio Stoneware crocks. I decided to purchase one of those because of the reviews.

What I like about the TSM fermenting crocks is that they have a “well” that you fill with water. I’ll see which I like better and purchase additional fermented crocks based on my review.