Sunday, November 27, 2011

Update on the Sandwich Baggie Method


Pickleers, we set up a batch of garlic potpourri to bring the holiday cheer to Sigrid and Brak's house this week. Three folks went to work at the counter with $20 worth of garlic and quickly worked out an efficient process. The three stations were: rough peeling and separation; cutting the ends off; and fine peeling, using a silicone rolling sleeve that looks a lot like a yellow rubber canneloni. We had everything done within an hour.

We used the plastic bag seal in a half-gallon jar this time, far and away our favorite technique when not using the crock these days.

We got a great batch out of it but wound up with some dry headspace at the top, under the bag. We saw this last week, too, after each time insuring that we had enough water inside to provide positive pressure once the lil' critters started farting. Each time, we saw the scrim left by water as it burped out of the jar but we still wound up with open airspace on top of the fermenting goodies, which we want to avoid!

Where'd the water go? After talking and thinking about it, I'm gonna guess capillary action and surface tension are to blame. With the baggie so close to the jar walls, these two related processes aided and abetted fluid in its escape, pushed from behind by the CO2 generated by our little friends.

---> What we didn't do was fill the baggies with water, we just put the coconut juice cans in for weight like we normally do. And we didn't leave much headspace; now I know why we want that- water weight. I'm betting that, had we increased headspace and filled the bags with water, once putting the can of coco juice in there as the primary weight, we would have seen better sealing of the plastic layer to the top of the fermenting goodies.

Now, as that fluid burps out, volume will decrease. So, the plastic layer needs to be able to sink. So, we need to stop securing the plastic with the lid bands. Just weight it down with water and the can or water bottle.

Hmmmm. Details, eh?

Happy pickling!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Ginger, my Ginger

Oh, heavenly spell, let me crack that lid open again to sniff that perfume, and again... this is a special but silly moment, even broaching the subject of trying to convey to you digitally what's happening for me olfactorily right now.
-sniff-
This is the last indulgent few slices of ginger we pickled in vinegar (a change for us at the time) in Spring '09. We've had ginger keep mellowing and last almost this long before but this is something else, the nose is deeper and more fully developed, mellower yet richer, as it tastes. Like an angular, angry teenager or a Cabernet, ginger's beauty takes time to mature after fermentation. We originally preferred using whey as the inoculant for ginger, it left a creamier side to the flavor profile but it didn't keep as long. The vinegar-pickled batches are sharper initially but really show up to party after a few months in the fridge, quietly rounding off the sharp bits. There, I made it the whole way without making a Cougar joke!
Cheers!

Temperature Controlled Ferment Cabinet

Anyone got a kitchen cabinet they don't need?
I'm working on plans for an insulated curing cabinet with active heating/cooling, so we can pickle all year long and still maintain control over temperature. Keeping it local and frugal, I'm looking for a free-cycled kitchen cabinet, the under-the-counter kind but free standing, with one or two doors. I'm going to insulate it and make spaces above and below for a heating element and a cooling element. With a sliding horizontal divider to close one or the other off, we'll be able to maintain specific temperature ranges, whether heating or cooling the cabinet space. The cooling element can be as stupid simple as coffee cans or water bottles full of ice, periodically replaced. The heating bit could be a hot rock from the pet store but I'll try a light bulb first.
And if I get my hands on a dorm fridge, that's another level altogether, get to hack in a digital controller and mebbe play with moving the hot and cold elements around...
Happy pickling, y'all! Remember, if it smells off, toss it!

It's been a while!

Happy Spring! We've had a busy and delicious fermenting season!
  • We've settled on using the plastic bag as an anaerobic barrier in place of the oil. A full water bottle on top acts as the weight, holding down floaters and keeping the bag in place. Inside the jar, the water line goes all the way to the top. As soon as the batch starts fermenting, the burping water creates positive pressure, helping keep the mold at bay. The trick is to not leave any airspace inside the jar- it's all veggies and brine. A little water inside the bag can help expand the bag to make this contact.
  • We're sticking with the spicier ketchup formulations, thumbs up all around. Substituting Power (jalapeno, serrano, garlic, and onion) Mix for the garlic and cayenne is even better, just chop it down to a paste or sauce consistency if you're the "smooth peanut butter" type. And you can't leave out the fish sauce! Mmmmm, Umami!
  • Three Crabs Brand Fish Sauce- great flavor profile, not too funky-fishy, and it's available at Kroger, as well as more esoteric spots.
  • Certain dried food products, like polenta, is now being packaged in sewn bags made of the same breathable polyester material the popular reusable shopping bags are made of. The stuff is prone to tearing but these polenta bags make great whey strainers.
  • The last batch of ketchup was close to three gallons and it's almost all gone. Some hungry critters up in here! We use it on its own or as a sauce base equally. Mix it with lemon or lime and some Worcestershire Sauce (can you spell that from memory?) for an old-school treat, balsamic vinegar and Power Mix for a surprise, as a sticky base to hold crepe or sandwich bits in place, ugh, I'm going to get some right now, before the other critters do! And just in case, Whole Paycheck carries a couple different Worcestershires that ain't made with corn syrup.
  • The latest batch of Power Mix was three gallons. Equal parts jalapenos, serranos, onions, and garlic. Uh, a little less than equal part of garlic, call it four or five pounds to the six of each other ingredients. And we're not de-seeding all the japs now, just half or so. The idea used to be that we ferment everything separately and then make mixes to order. We go through so much Power, though, it's worth it's own batch. Just to keep the metrics straight, that 24 pounds of produce took between 25 and 30 man-hours to process from bags to jars. Which is about what filling the three gallon crock takes.
  • Jardiniere, as per PB's request, was outstanding and didn't last long. We put cauliflower (< thumbnail sized), pepperoncinis (banana peppers), garlic, onion, red Anaheim peppers, carrots, and cute little purple and white cocktail onions all together for a party. We could've thrown olives and capers in there but nobody complained as we were eating it.
  • We have a purple cabbage, beet, and carrot mix that's getting mixed reviews. I've still not pinned down the temperature range and ferment time for better cabbage mixes, that's a tricky one.
  • New Items: Fingerling Radishes fermented as expected (by themselves, as a proper experimental batch); they stained the brine a bright orange-red, like someone threw a Jolly Rancher in there. They still smell very earthy, not appetizing in my nose but worth aging and mellowing for the rest of us. Nopales (Prickly Pear, Gringo) were edible after pickling but not appetizing- they developed a thick slime and some funky spots on the skin. Daikon radish, on the other hand, came out great- we successfully replicated the batch our mentor, Pat Greer made. Score!
  • We have sampled a few commercial Kvasses from Eastern Europe that we really liked. Each was a beet/carrot mix, can't wait to try some of our own.
It's already hot again but we sure enjoyed a nice Spring. If asked, I might opine that the ferment gods gave us AC, for to extend our pickling seasons... Thanks for reading, I hope you're smelling lactobacilli farts, too!