Make Apple Cider Vinegar from scratch
Here’s two quick and easy ways to start making your own Apple Cider Vinegar for (almost) nothing.
fermentation
KSF… My favourite!
So what’s a KSF? It’s my name for one of my favourite, most economical dishes… ‘Kitchen Scrap Ferment’. It’s just chopped vegetable leftovers after a couple of meals fermented in a salt solution, but ‘KSF’ sounds pretty cool. So… How do I make it?… It’s an ‘anaerobic’ (without oxygen) process using anaerobic bacteria. That means that the bacteria don’t like oxygen. The salt in the water stops the wrong bacteria from thriving. The acidity from the citrus helps too. I used to often get mold on the top of many of my ferments because I didn’t make sure the veggies were underwater and they got exposed to the small amount of air trapped under the lid. Thinking on it, I mused ‘I need a good way to keep the veggies under the water level, an air seal and acidity’ (that helps both the fermentation and the taste). One day I was inspired to use a thick slice of excess grapefruit
My super cheap fermentation indicator
Sometimes, you just don’t have the gear. I lost my airlock the other morning… It’s somewhere around but will probably turn up along with all those misplaced pens… I was making Beet kvass – a delicious, easy to make ferment. So… I got to thinking how to make an airlock, then realized I didn’t need one for this short time ferment. Airlocks are used in fermentation to let the carbon dioxide produced by the anaerobic bacteria out of the system while preventing oxygen from getting in. But, I asked myself, is there any reason to let it out? What did I do? I merely squished the bottle a little with my thumb, expelling some air. Then I tightened up the top. The result is a slight indent in the bottle that fills out when the CO2 is produced. When you see the indent full, that shows that the fermentation has worked and the CO2 has pushed the bottle back to
Not everything works…
Not everything works… As pretty as it looks, this Elderberry ferment didn’t kick off. There’s no bubbles or bite to it at all, just a pretty pink. Not to worry though, I’ll just add a pinch of yeast and rebottle it! Never give up with fermentation. You can get unexpected and strange results by just fermenting the failures.
Tasty cheese, a byproduct from the Lactic Acid Bacteria process. Mmmmm!
ligayagarden cooking fermentation bacteria via Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpltf4iFJU0/
Viili – a room temperature yoghurt.
Make yoghurt without the fuss.
Milk Kefir cheese
Making kefir into cheese.
