Fermenting food has been around for a LONG TIME!
Before refrigerators were around, fermenting food was one of the ways that food was preserved.
We now know the health benefits that come along with fermenting food.
I'm not going to explain all those benefits (you can read about them online), but I am going to talk about how and why we ferment as a family as well as some pretty cool simple equipment from Fermentools that has become a regular part of our lives!!
We ferment foods primarily because it's a cheap way to get probiotics into our diet. I cannot afford to put all my 6 children on probiotics so fermenting foods right on our counter top is the next best solution. All it takes is salt and water!
We also ferment food because I garden and don't want all the food I get to go to waste. When I have a large harvest of bell peppers, carrots, hot peppers, cucumbers ect, fermenting these fresh vegetables adds an extra kick to them that simply canning or freezing doesn't do. It captures the freshness and adds to the health value.
We ferment foods because it adds depth and flavor to basic meals. Fermented habanero sauce, fermented tomato salsas, fermented raw milk sour cream, fermented spicy sauerkraut and so many more all add something different when placed on the dish at hand.
We ferment foods because it's an incredible learning/home-educating experience. My kids get to see the changes food goes through when the natural bacteria in the environment start to break down the sugars and starches in our food. They get to physically see a loaf of sourdough bread rise, a glass of milk cultivate into kefir, and cucumbers turn into probiotic rich pickles!
We ferment foods because it brings culture to my children. Something American's have lost tremendously is our culture and roots when it comes to so many things including our knowledge and appreciation of real, living food. All our food is so processed and tastes so different then it used to. We aren't concerned with preserving foods and think it's just too much work to take that extra step to freshness and health. I really want my children to appreciate working the ground, growing the food, preserving the food and creating some amazing dishes to share with friends and family.
Fermentools is a resource that got our family excited about fermenting about a year ago. We were gifted their 6-pack kit as well as a couple packs of the Himalayan Powder Salt. We've been experimenting and using these resources over the last six months and I must say, these tools (as far as our experience goes) guarantees a perfect ferment every single time!
A simple starter kit from Fermentools includes the following elements:
(1) Stainless Steel Lid: this lid fits all wide mouth mason jars perfectly.
(2) Glass Fermenting weight: This is by FAR my favorite part of this kit! It weighs whatever you're fermenting down perfectly keeping your produce well below the brine and ensuring you don't have any mold growth on the top of your ferment!
(3) Air Lock System with Gasket and Rubber Stoppers: This allows gasses to escape your jar, but keeps everything else from entering your ferment.
(4) Hymalain Posder Salt: a specifically chosen salt for it's high mineral content.
Here you can see all the products we received:
Fermentools also offers a blog that has lots of recipes, tips, and encouragement in your fermenting journey.
Fermenting is truly an art as well as a science. The combinations and flavors are endless. There are so many more tastes, sauces, side dishes, beverages, and desserts that you have to discover!!
So check out Fermentool and order your first kit of tools and get started!!
It's become a part of our daily lives.
