In February, Anna at Fermented Homestead hosted a collaboration called Fermented February on YouTube. Each day a different content provider created a video on some form of fermentation. The idea was that you would watch the video, make a constructive comment, and be entered in a drawing for a variety of prizes. I was especially interested in the fermentation books and the crock. So I watched them, took notes, and commented. Did I win? No, I did not. However, I got some ideas (good and not so good) for fermenting.
I started by making a ginger bug. I don’t know why it’s called a ginger “bug,” but it’s a very gingery ferment that can be used as a base for some yummy beverages. It’s made with organic (MUST be organic) ginger, sugar and filtered water. Unless you’re me, then it’s made with our delightful spring water. The instructions said that it shouldn’t be covered more than to keep bugs and dust out. I had no luck getting bubbles to form, so I did a bit of research and found more people saying it should be covered. So I did that and voila! bubbles.
I used the ginger bug for two ferments: ginger beer and fermented lemonade. The ginger beer was A. MA. ZING. Well, only amazing if you like ginger. It was so, so good. Just in case you don’t know, ginger beer is NOT “beer.” It doesn’t taste like beer and it’s not alcoholic. Think ginger ale with more ginger. My favorite ginger ale used to be made by Deschutes Brewery, and you could only get it in Bend, OR. They stopped making it in 2020, so it’s been awhile since I tasted it. My ginger beer certainly had a stronger ginger flavor, but I don’t think it had quite the depth of flavor. Not that it wasn’t good. It was. I just think it could be better. I think next time I will add just a tiny bit of allspice. Stay tuned for those results.
The fermented lemonade was also very good. A nice strong lemon taste with a bit of fizz. Definitely making that again. Since lemonade is really more of a summer beverage, I put it in swing top bottles with plenty of headspace with the caps off and put it in the freezer. Or at least, I thought it was plenty of headspace. As it froze, it expanded more than I expected and I had frozen fermented lemonade puddles in the freezer. I had to scoop out some (which of course I had to taste…yum) just to close the bottles. But now I have two good-sized bottles of delicious, healthful lemonade in the freezer for when the weather turns warm. I recently bought some more lemons to make it again.
Not wanting to waste the lemon peels (organic), I also made the limoncello that the video on the lemonade recommended. (That would be limoncello-the Italian lemon-flavored liqueur, NOT lemon jell-o.) It’s quite easy. You steep lemon peels in Everclear for a couple of weeks, strain it and mix it with simple syrup and let it sit for another couple weeks. Then you can store it in the freezer. Pretty easy to do. I have two take-aways. First, cut the lemon peels quite small. They are nice and supple when they go into the bottle, but are crisp when they come out. It took me almost half an hour to work all of the now white peels out of the bottle. Second, I would definitely use a lower proof alcohol. At 190 proof, Everclear is pretty potent and is the dominant flavor in the liqueur. The next time I make it, I will try vodka. I’m hoping it will give me a stronger lemon flavor because right now Whoo baby!!
I highly recommend fermented carrot sticks as a good entry ferment. Super easy to make and not too much of the ferment funk. Carrot sticks, salt and water is all you need. Although you can add lemon, garlic, or other flavors. I added garlic. They are all gone now. I bought rainbow carrots from my favorite farmer to make really pretty ones.
Almost all of my ferments were successful, and I ended up with some really yummy, healthy food. (Although I’m not sure about the health benefits of 190 proof limoncello!) However, I did try to make Douglas Fir soda. The video was for “Pine Needle Soda,” but I don’t have pine trees growing on my property. What I do have is Douglas Fir. I’ve made tea from the needles before, and it was tasty, sort of citrusy. So I cut a few branches and put the needles in a swing top bottle along with some sugar and water. I let it sit in the window sill for a week, and then I burped it. It spurted a little bit out, but not enough to worry about. Back to the window sill for another week. (The instructions were to ferment in direct sun for 2-3 weeks.) When I burped it after another week, it did more than spurt. It was sort of like Old Faithful. Liquid (sticky liquid) shot out of the bottle and just wouldn’t stop. It kept going and going and going. Eventually it did die down enough that I could put the lid back on it. But by then there were fir needles stuck on the ceiling, the window, the sink, the counters, the floor and me. And there was only a couple of inches of soda left in the bottle. I put the bottle in the fridge to sample later and spent the next half an hour cleaning needles off the surfaces of the kitchen. Later my friend and I tasted it. We both decided that it tasted medicinal. I could probably figure out how to make the carbonation more manageable. But the taste just made it not worth the trouble.
Currently I’m finishing up some mushroom umami sauce and powder. The fermentation is finished and I strained out the solids. The initial tasting was pretty good. I’m looking forward to use it to add more depth to various dishes I make. As I write this, the solids are dehydrating to grind into mushroom powder which will have the same purpose. Until I actually use it, I will withhold judgement on if its worth repeating.
If you haven’t tried fermenting, I highly recommend it. It’s easy and inexpensive. Often all you need are vegetables with a brine. And it’s so very good for your gut. Give it a try!!
The Haphazard Homesteader 