What are you fermenting today?

[ORChick]

I started some ginger beer this morning. I got the recipe here: http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2007/05/ginger-beer.html and made it for the first time last year. I changed the recipe in that I used fresh, grated ginger (about twice as much as dried), and honey instead of sugar. I recently saw that Sally Fallon has a similar recipe in "Nourishing Traditions".

(A little preserving trick for those who like ginger, but not the price - if you find fresh ginger at a good price buy however much you want, take it home, and peel it all; drop the pieces into a clean jar, and cover with white rum or vodka, and then store in a cool spot. I buy several pounds every Spring when we are in the SF Bay Area at a little Indian market that I know (at 49 cents a pound last time ). The ginger stays good through the year, and even longer if I buy more than I can use up.)

 

[big brown horse]

ORchick! What a fantastic trick! I am soo making that Ginger Beer too!

Cant wait to try it!
What do you do with that vodka? I hope you don't let it go to waste.

 

[Wifezilla]

I made some mead. Haven't done any in years, but they had local clover honey at the farmer's market...so what the heck?

I made about 2 1/2 gallons. My first batch of yeast didn't work so I had to get more, but a quick trip to the homebrew shop for some champagne yeast did the trick. It is happily bubbling away now.

 

[freemotion]

Update on my bean paste....came home just now, and it overflowed the jars.....just cleaned up bean juice from the counter, cupboards, floor, under the stove, the rug by the sink....WOW! I've never had a ferment overflow in a day. I did leave the inch of headspace. I wonder if my jars will explode????? The beans are right up against the glass dome lids....

 

[ORChick]

ORchick! What a fantastic trick! I am soo making that Ginger Beer too!

Cant wait to try it!
What do you do with that vodka? I hope you don't let it go to waste.

BBH, I have tried, I really have, but a ginger vodka tonic is just beyond me . However, I do usually re-use the vodka/rum for another batch of ginger with no ill effects. I wouldn't use it for more than that because the ginger juice is bound to dilute the alcohol. Though maybe I could use half the old, and top it up with new ...

 

[FarmerDenise]

I keep wine vinegar going at all times. I got a bottle of wonderfull homemade oak aged wine vinegar from a friend many years ago. I keep adding leftover red wine to it and keep it covered with a piece of fabric. My friend has since died, but I still have his vinegar.
I was doing some research on making wines and hope to make some fruit wine this year.
Free, I like your sticky note suggestion. SO thinks most of what I make is not fit for human consumption, until he sees someone make it on tv and then he brags about me making that same thing
Just the other day he showed the lavender salt to his friend:, "check this out, it is good on fish" he says (he has never even tried it), his friends tastes it and thinks it would go good on chicken.

 

[Hattie the Hen]

I started some ginger beer this morning. I got the recipe here: http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/2007/05/ginger-beer.html and made it for the first time last year. I changed the recipe in that I used fresh, grated ginger (about twice as much as dried), and honey instead of sugar. I recently saw that Sally Fallon has a similar recipe in "Nourishing Traditions".

(A little preserving trick for those who like ginger, but not the price - if you find fresh ginger at a good price buy however much you want, take it home, and peel it all; drop the pieces into a clean jar, and cover with white rum or vodka, and then store in a cool spot. I buy several pounds every Spring when we are in the SF Bay Area at a little Indian market that I know (at 49 cents a pound last time ). The ginger stays good through the year, and even longer if I buy more than I can use up.)

Hi there!

I just wanted to say that you can store fresh ginger in sherry too. Personally I prefer this as I then use the liquid in Chinese & Japanese dishes where it substitutes for their wines. It is also much cheaper here in the UK.

I'm new here ( I have been over here, lurking for a few months now). I came via BYC & TEG (same user-name). I wasn't sure that I fitted in because I don't have more land than my gardens. I do have chickens, & will happily eat those who are surplus or aggressive. I am keeping myself in vegetables once again -- after a few years off due to illness. I own a lot of tools which I love to use.

I'm looking forward to learning a lot from you all & joining in the discussions. I have enjoyed them a lot in my "lurking mode"!

Hattie

 

[keljonma]

Hattie! Glad to see you here!

Thanks for the tip on the sherry. I think I'm going to use that one...

 

[freemotion]

Hattie!!!! As far as I'm concerned, you can live in a high-rise and still work towards self-sufficiency. We did a LOT at our apartment for years, and it prepared us for the property we suddenly found ourselves on!

FD, I love the perpetual wine vinegar idea! I will copy/paste that to my recipe file so I don't forget. I will have to make some wine when my grapes start producing and do that, but that will be in a couple more years at least!

My beans are now escaping their jars and are working there way onto my counter. Now I have them on towels and the three jars are wrapped in another towel.....I have visions of the jars exploding before the fermentation is done. I've never had such a lively ferment before, but I've never fermented my bean paste before, either.

 

[keljonma]

free your beans have flatulence! Maybe larger jars???