How to preserve fermented cucumbers?

Owl
Owl Posts: 346 ✭✭✭
edited October 2020 in Ferments

I keep reading about people saving their fermented vegetables but I don’t know how. I ferment cucumbers, garlic and zucchini mostly but I don’t know how to keep it shelf stable. I’m using tea leaves to keep them crisp, if that mattters. Please help me understand this process.

Comments

  • RachelWrites
    RachelWrites Posts: 20 ✭✭✭

    I haven’t done much of this myself, so I’m eager to hear what others say, but my understanding is that the fermentation process itself it what makes it “shelf stable.”

    For example, with lacto-fermentation the lactobacilli (good bacteria) create a culture that counters harmful bacteria and is actually good for the human gut microbiome.

    I there are recipes for fermentation online or in certain cookbooks (I like the ones from Sally Fallon). But in true fermentation, nothing more needs to be done for food safety. That’s my understanding.

  • Owl
    Owl Posts: 346 ✭✭✭

    I use a standard salt solution to ferment and it is done to taste in a few days but, when I try to let it go longer, the vegetables seem to go mushy.

  • seeker.nancy - Central Texas
    seeker.nancy - Central Texas Posts: 795 ✭✭✭✭

    From what I have read and done, I taste every day and when it gets where I want it I refrigerate it. This keeps the ferment at roughly the same level and will keep for months, even a year in that colder environment. If not kept at the much cooler temp it will continue to ferment. There are many on here that have much more experience so I'm always open to learning more!

  • John
    John Posts: 163 ✭✭✭

    Very interesting! Appreciate the good thoughts and ideas-going to try this. :)

  • naomi.kohlmeier
    naomi.kohlmeier Posts: 380 ✭✭✭

    @Owl and @seeker.nancy - Central Texas and Same here. I put fresh cucumbers or cabbage or whatever I am fermenting in a jar with herbs and spices a brine solution of salt and water that covers it. I keep the veggies under the brine and the wild yeasts and bacteria on the surface of the veggies will start the process. I check it every day to make sure it's fermenting properly and after it has fermented to the way I want it to taste I refrigerate it to slow down the process. Depending on what it is, it will last anywhere from a month or two up to a year in the fridge.


  • annbeck62
    annbeck62 Posts: 1,028 ✭✭✭✭

    When you ferment vegetables, you create a living culture. So when it is done you can refrigerate it to slow down the fermentation process but it will still be active. I would think (but this is just my opinion based on my own playing around with fermentation) if you do something to make it shelf stable after the fermenting process is complete you'd kill the beneficial probiotic organisms.

  • erikawinterton
    erikawinterton Posts: 98 ✭✭✭

    I definitely concure with alot of what is said above. I do my brine solution the same way, set out for a week to two weeks, and then place it in the fridge to slow the process down. It will still continue to ferment while in the fridge so there is a time frame to eat it still. I learned from a woman who was able to shelf stabailze them, but it was just the temperature of the cellar she stored them in. It was cool enough, and maintained well enough to continue a healthy rotation.