What are you fermenting today?

[freemotion]

Once you try it, you will realize that making many of these things actually takes less time than it takes to buy them! Seriously! Yes, a bit longer the first time or two, but only because we obsess over the directions. Yogurt is sinfully simple and quick. Kefir looks the same.

I made beet kvass and it is still in my fridge. I drink a little cold now and then with a chaser. I wouldn't cook fermented things on a regular basis....why ferment them if you're gonna kill 'em? Of course, some recipes benefit greatly from the fermented item, like buttermilk biscuits. But I wouldn't cook ALL my kvas or sauerkraut, I would try to get as much into me raw as possible.

Beet and bread kvas were two of the ferments that were also found in the homes in that community that was cancer-free after Chernobyl. Be sure to use filtered water if you are on municiple water and organic or homegrown beets.

Tanks, both the yocheese and the whey will have good beasties.

Dace, dh puts some organic juice, the strong kinds like pomegranate or pom/raspberry or pom/cherry, that kinda juice, unsweetened but naturally very sweet, in his, along with lots of water.

You will develop a taste for it as your body starts to thank you!

 

[big brown horse]

When I went to the closest and largest health food market, ours is called Central Market, they didn't know what I was talking about when I asked where their kombucha tea starter was...I was in the tea aisle. I went quickly down the yeast aisle, but saw nothing of the sort.

What do I ask for specifically? Scoby, Magic Mushroom? What section of the store would it most likely be in?

ETA spelling issues

 

[FarmerDenise]

I used to make yogurt in college on the radiator. But then I had my roomates joining me in the eating of it. SO will have it once in a blue moon, so I am not that motivated to make it and use up all the milk. SO gets upset, if I use all his milk for his cereal or coffee and then he'll ask me what that weird stuff is cooking up on the counter... So I have to time it right. Next time I go to the organic store I'll look for kefir culture.
Our kitchen is not designed for farm living either. No space to put anything to let it sit and ferment. I would love to put in some extra shelves at the breakfast bar that we never use, but then we have that nasty word that SO hates so much, "change".
Free, do you go fix up a bunch of healthy snack foods to keep around, when you find you haven't been eating right? If you make the healthy stuff easier to grab and eat, you'll probably find yourself eating more of it. That's what I do. There'll be days when I just eat crackers and cheese and forget about the fruit and vegies. Then I spend days just eating fruit until dinner, when SO makes me eat something more sustaining.

 

[big brown horse]

Yogurt on the radiator? Thats so smart!!

 

[FarmerDenise]

Yogurt on the radiator? Thats so smart!!

In Buffalo NY, that radiator had to be on nearly all the time It was the only warm place in the house. We froze to death half the time.

 

[freemotion]

BBH, I kinda doubt you'll find it there....try craigslist, or see if there is a chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation nearby, someone who is a member will have some or know who has some. I can ship it, but it needs to get there fast this time of year. PM me if you can't find it.

FD, yes, normally I am much more prepared than I was last weekend. DH always cooks and prepares food for me on the weekends, but he got stuck at his job.....he works part-time for the State of CT with mentally retarded adults and if someone calls out, he legally has to stay at work for another shift or until a replacement arrives. So last weekend was an unusual circumstance. Normally, I think ahead and prepare ahead.

And with all the fermenting and the gallons of milk in the fridge, and aging cheeses....there is no room to keep much fresh stuff at all.....we seriously need a second fridge, and I've been watching craigslist and keep just missing the good deals....I'll snag one eventually.

Today I got my 15 heads of garlic all peeled and minced and into jars to ferment for a few days. I filled one quart halfway and one quart about 3/4 of the way. I mixed in whey, sea salt, and some filtered water. If I like the results, I'll get a bunch more and do up enough to make in until garlic harvest....oh, when is that....spring? Next fall from planting this fall?

Years ago, I spent one cold winter in a little house in WV, taking care of it and the person who had been renting it's dogs while she was away getting medical treatments for.....I can't remember now. I do remember there was no stove, and I got really good at cooking on a little gas radiator in the living room!

 

[ORChick]

FD, I doubt you will find kefir grains at your health food store. I've heard that someimes you can get a dried culture, kind of like for yogurt, but it is not as good as the kefir grains, not as bacterially active. However, if you ask there they may be able to connect you with someone who has the grains - I say this as a former N. Calif. girl myself . Where I live now I would be very surprised to find that anybody else in this town has any . If you cannot find any I'm sure that someone here could get some to you. Either that, or I can give you a link to a place in Fort Bragg CA that sells them - for $20+ .

 

[FarmerDenise]

Thanks ORChick. I'll stick with trying to get around to making yogurt for now
Free, having a second fridge definitely helps. We have one. We especially need it in the summer, for all our extra produce. It is nice to be able to get extra food and just put it in the "outside" fridge. We also have two freezers that way.

 

[Dace]

BBH...check out this link. Basically you use purchased kombucha as your base and a new mother will grow. This is what I am going to do.

http://loveyourmother.livejournal.com/3388.html

If you google it you will find more directions as well

 

[sylvie]

I hope someone can clarify this for me.
During a conversation about fermenting lots of food someone mentioned reading that over consumption of fermented vegetables and dairy like yogurt, kefir has led to high incidences of stomach cancer. They cited Asian countries from an article. I googled, finding many articles restating this.
Is there a component that they are overlooking? Salt named as the main culprit, but so too are vinegar and lactic fermentation. Wine, also a fermented product, for the sulfites.

Also, I had been under the impression that most stomach cancer is the end result of the Helicobacter pylori and related bacteria.

How judicious do we need to be when eating our own fermented products?