Lets talk all things fermented food!
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@DanS i know you brew, we should trade. Every skobe has a different set of beneficial microbs, so I love to trade around and try different varieties.
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Heya to my favorite red head!
What do you think about doing a fermented food class? Especially once the gardens start putting out all those cucumbers…. 
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I don’t think I’m qualified to teach, but I’ve been thinking a cook in would be fun. We could do a bunch together and all learn together. I know @Jesse (who you might know) and @Robert are masters of all things brewing, I’m sure one of them would join in too.
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@Ben.rogers As I said in the other thread, I just have the one jar that I brew in. It’s a 2.5 gallon jar with a spigot toward the bottom so it’s easy to dispense into my recycled GTS kombucha bottles.
Do you brew more than one jar or vat at a time?
I’d be willing to share my SCOBY with you if you want to trade. I’ll need to cut a piece off for you, but as you know, they grow so quick and easy it wouldn’t take any time at all for it to fill out the top of the jar again.
In case anyone doesn’t know, the Mother, or SCOBY, is Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast. It looks and feels kind of ugly, but it sure does brew a mean cup of kombucha! LOL
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If you grow it bigger you can dry it out and use it like leather. I don’t know how waterproof it is but it is dyable.
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I am fermenting 5 cabbages whole instead of shredding for kraut. This is a traditional Eastern European method. Never done this before, but it should make some yummy cabbage rolls.
Looking forward to fermented dill pickles, we make them every year. You don’t need a canner to make them, just fermentation, but they store best in cool temperatures.
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@Malissa every couple of months my SCOBY gets too thick and I have to peel the bottom layers off. I just compost them as they are pretty dirty looking and brownish at that point. I wonder how they grow the bigger ones for making leather? I would assume it’s just in a larger vat or maybe a squarish tub so it covers the surface eventually.
@Jesse that’s cool you’re fermenting the whole cabbages. I’ve never heard of that. Does it take long for the fermentation to go all the way to the core, or do you cut the core out before fermenting them?
I’ve tried the fermented pickles a few times too but they never seem to taste as good as some that I’ve tasted in the past. Not sure what, if any, seasonings to put in other than the salt of course. I’ve made them with dill seeds, garlic, and peppercorns but they still don’t taste right.
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Is what I’ve seen. Like under bed storage
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That makes sense to use an under bed storage tub. If it fills completely out, it would make a nice size piece to work with I would think. Depends on how much it shrinks as it dries.
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I believe dill weed works better than the seeds for cucumber pickling. Mustard seeds are also very commonly used. And, the salt should be pickling salt, not iodized or sea salt.
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Actually, I usually use a combination of dill weed and seeds. Seems like that gives more dill flavor. I don’t think I even own any iodized salt. I usually use Kosher salt for everything. I know with the larger grains in Kosher salt you need to add more of it than pickling salt which has rather fine grains. I’ve read about twice as much Kosher as pickling salt is needed for the same amount of saltiness. With all the different minerals included with sea salt, I agree it wouldn’t be a good thing to use in fermenting as it could make “off” flavors.
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I cut the cores out of cabbages and poured salt in the hole, then submerged them
In water. It takes a few months a guess.
The fermented pickles can be finicky. Do not use city water. I use dill flowers and garlic and red pepper flakes. Dill is best imo when seeds have formed but not matured yet. 1 T pickling salt per quart. I still get a mushy jar sometimes. Im going to try adding a horseradish leaf for tannins this year.
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That sounds like a fun way to try the whole cabbabes.
I use well water since that’s all I have here at the house. Seems like I usually don’t have enough cucumbers ready to ferment at the same time the dill is at that stage. LOL But it would be worth a try. I only grow pickling cucumbers these days because I like the flavor better, for pickling as well as fresh eating.
Do you have plenty of horseradish leaves? If you need any to try, I have a patch that’s starting to spread and lots of leaves. I’ve tried oak leaves for the tannins before. It seems to help I think. But I imagine the horseradish leaves would work better. They’re bigger and can be used to cover the top layer if that’s the way you do your ferments, and I imagine they would give a better flavor to the pickles wouldn’t they?
Hey Dan. We have a really nice horseradish patch but thank you for the offer. I am excited to try the leaves in this years pickles. We will bring some up to the space to share when they are ready, I’m sure. 
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Have you heard of or tried using tea as a source of tannins? Just curious.
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You’re welcome, April. I thought you probably did have horseradish but wanted to offer just in case. Have you seen anything on people using horseradish leaves for tannins? I don’t remember ever hearing of that. Makes me wonder what those leaves taste like. Hopefully your experiment using them will come out tasting awesome.
Mike, I hadn’t thought of using tea leaves, but I imagine that could work too. Of course, that could impart some of its own flavor to the ferment too I would guess.
Grape leaves are another traditional source of tannins for fermenting veggies.
I found a new recipe that uses kombucha to make pickles. Once I searched it several options came up. I’m quite excited. Two of my favorite flavors combined, I just need to put my kombucha thru the litmus test. @DanS I’ve been running around 6 jars this year; black green and white teas. The different cultures are incredibly different from eachother. This is my first year doing so many, but the results have been very rewarding. Ive also used a ton of fruit, but I want to try tumeric, ginger and hops. They are some of my favorite flavors and I have no excuse for not using them yet.
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@Ben.rogers Six jars would be quite a bit to keep up with, but I know some people keep a bunch of different jars like that. I wouldn’t have thought that the different SCOBYs would make a whole lot of difference, but I guess it makes sense that it would.
Do you ferment your kombucha first and then add the fruit to it after it’s finished? That’s the way I’ve read that it is to be done, but since I haven’t tried it myself, I wasn’t sure. I used to buy the GTS kombucha that was ginger flavored and really like it. But I love ginger anyway.
I imagine it would be easy to get carried away with the hops and that could make the brew really bitter. I’m imagining the flavor of IPAs, which, to my taste buds, is way too bitter and I don’t like them.