Make Apple Cider Vinegar from scratch
Here’s two quick and easy ways to start making your own Apple Cider Vinegar for (almost) nothing.
Kitchen
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
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.
Tomatoes on a charcoal burner
Fundraising food!
Our great friend, Pam, is holding a high tea to raise funds to help Jelina and Aunty Ellen get to Vancouver to present their paper at an important conference. Here’s the link if you want to join us today… https://www.facebook.com/events/248565192447933/ Pam has been preparing a high tea and Jelina has been making traditional Filipino foods. Both gals have been working overnight. Wow. We’ll be drawing the raffle after everyone’s eaten…
Kitchen lab.
The kitchen lab. Kombucha, milk kefir, water kefir and viili yoghurt all fermenting happily. Lemon barley water also joins the gang today.
It cost a few dollars to buy the cultures and a couple of big jars but it is paying off in cheap, if not free probiotics.
The milk kefir is undergoing a second ferment to separate the whey and to get a more solid ‘cream’.
Since starting a couple of months ago, I’ve managed to get enough cultures and scobys to be able to dry a complete set of each and also to freeze a complete set of each.
