By creating a 2% brine you are guaranteed to have a successful ferment.
Due to issues with histamines, we always use the air lock vessel for our ferments. The bonus, is that it also keeps your ferments from mould and yeast overgrowth. Many people ferment without an airlock system and have great success. My personal suggestion would be, if you choose to not use an anaerobic vessel you may want to add a culture starter.
You can choose to add or not to add a culture starter, but it will add more beneficial bacteria and helps to keep ferments crunchy for longer.
Servings: 0
Ingredients
Boiled kettle of water that has cooled for 20 minutes
20g of good quality mineral salt, like pink himalayan or celtic grey sea salt (you really need to weigh the salt to ensure your salinity is at 2%)
1-L glass mason jar
4-6 cups of chopped veggies (the finer the shred the more you can pack into the jars)
1-L glass jar (preferably with water air lock lid)
1/2 tsp of culture starter
pinch of organic sugar
1/2 cup water
Instructions
Step 1.
Pour salt into glass mason jar, add salt and fill to jam marker, which is 2" below the top.
Stir and let cool.
Step 2.
Put culture starter in a small bowl, add a pinch of organic sugar and 1/2 cup of water. Set aside to "wake up"
Step 3.
Chop approx. 6 cups of veggies of choice.
Step 4.
Pack into 1-L jar, leaving enough room at the top for brine to cover veggies by 1". In a mason jar this is at the shoulder of the jar.
Step 5.
Pour culture starter into the jar, then fill with brine to cover by 1"
Step 6.
Place a glass weight or a piece of cabbage over veggies and gently press down to submerge under the brine.
Step 7.
Put secure fitting lid on or fermenting lid with water air lock, cover with a tea towel or what I do is tie a hanky folded into a triangle around the jar. Light will degrade Vitamin C levels, so it is important to keep your ferments in the dark or covered.
Set the jar onto a plate or tray to catch any overflow.
Step 8.
Let sit on counter 5-7 days depending on how warm it is. Warmer weather, ferments faster as does adding a culture starter.
DO NOT open your jar in those first three days, even if it overflows. This is when your beneficial bacteria are overpowering the bad. Any air that is introduced during this stage could compromise your ferments.
After initial counter ferment, place into the fridge or in a cold storage room or root cellar (optimum temperature is 1-5 degrees C)
Step 9.
Ferments are ready to enjoy after the initial counter ferment or allow them to mature in flavour and nutrition over time. The peak is at 10-12 weeks.
Ferments will last 9-12 months depending on the type of ferment. Pure cabbage ferments last the longest.
NOTE:
Depending on how many jars of cultured/fermented vegetables you do at a time, will determine how much brine you will need to make.
A 1-L (approx 4 cups) of brine is usually just enough to fill two 1-L jars with enough brine to cover the veggies by 1". I prefer to make more brine than I think I'll need. Just so I don't have to stop in the middle of packing and make more.