You may have noticed that fermented foods are getting a lot of attention lately. From kimchi and tempeh to kombucha and kefir, people are turning to fermented foods in hopes of improving their health through boosting “good” bacteria in the gut, which is said to not only improve digestion, but improve immunity (among other preliminary claims).
I’ve got a jar of sauerkraut in the fridge myself, but beyond that I haven’t done much home fermenting. It’s cheap and easy to do at home, but you’ve got to occasionally burp your mixture and also prevent oxygen from getting in (which can cause mold). That’s where The Easy Fermenter comes in. It simplifies the process by removing the burping step and making it less likely to develop bad microbes.
The Easy Fermenter works by allowing air to escape as needed without letting air get in. The lids fit on a standard wide-mouth mason jar, so other than the lids (and the pump that removes excess oxygen when you want to check your food mid-ferment), you don’t need any special equipment (like weights), and you can just set it and forget it until you're ready to eat it (anywhere from a few hours to 30 days or so).
I happily set about using my new fermenting system but immediately encountered a problem: I already have sauerkraut (which I don’t use much), so what to make? The Easy Fermenter website has several recipes — including an intriguing recipe for fermented brussels sprouts — but my next issue was determining exactly how to eat my fermented foods.
And that’s where a cookbook, Fermented Foods at Every Meal, by Hayley Barisa Ryczek, comes in handy. Not only are there recipes for additional foods to ferment, but also recipes for how to use your newly fermented foods. For example, it includes a recipe for fermented sweet pickle relish as well as several applications, including avocado egg salad.
There are also recipes for salad dressings made with kombucha, as well as ideas for fermented ketchup and mayonnaise. My favorite recipe is for the fermented ginger orange carrots, which are very versatile.
The Easy Fermenter comes with three lids (so you can ferment multiple items at once) and a pump (you supply the jars) and is available from Nourished Essentials.
The book, Fermented Foods at Every Meal is available on Amazon.
