Why Should You Try Fermenting Your Own Veggies?
Why Should You Try Fermenting Your Own Veggies?
Fermented foods have a ton of health benefits that you can easily take advantage of—and all you have to do is eat them! Vegetables are great options for fermentation because they are easy to actually ferment on your own, and they already have lots of vitamins before they’re fermented. If you want to learn more about how to make your own fermented veggies, and what the benefits are, keep reading!
So first, we should know why we would even try fermenting our own vegetables, right? Well for all the fabulous benefits, of course! Here are my top five favorite health benefits of fermented veggies:
Gut flora. The fermenting process creates lots of probiotics that balance out the bacteria in your gut. This can help with bloating, colitis, constipation, Crohn’s disease, IBS, and more.
Immunity. Probiotics, zinc, vitamin C, and iron are all commonly found in high levels in fermented foods. All of these contribute to boosting your immune system, and can both prevent and reduce illnesses.
Digestion. Nutrients and antinutrients are both broken down during the fermentation process. This makes good nutrients easier to digest, and keeps antinutrients from interfering with proper absorption.
Mental health. Probiotics created by fermentation have been found to help with relieving depression and anxiety. These probiotic strains are specifically known as, “Lactobacillus helveticus” and “Bifidobacterium longum.”
Weight loss. Links to other probiotics found in fermented foods have also been found to help reduce overall weight, and fat in the belly area. The names for these probiotics are, “Lactobacillus rhamnosus” and “Lactobacillus gasseri.”
There are so many more health benefits to eating fermented veggies and other foods, but these five are the most exciting to me. I think it’s also just enough to show you just how worth it it is to give fermented foods, and DIY fermented veggies a try!
So now that we can see exactly how awesome fermented veggies are, let’s talk about how you can make your very own!
First, choose your veggies. You can choose from pretty much any vegetable you like. Just be sure to research the best ways to ferment certain types of veggies, so you get the best results. I also have list here of the most common ones to ferment: garlic, cabbage, broccoli, peppers, radishes, carrots, beans (not a veggie, I know, but GREAT for fermenting), cucumbers, turnips, kohlrabi, and cauliflower.
The next thing to do is to prep your veggies. They should be completely flawless, and washed well. Then you can choose whether to shred, chop, or leave them whole for the fermentation process. Of course, some veggies like cabbage, just aren’t quite reasonable to ferment whole in a jar. So just use good judgement as you move forward. :)
Now that you’ve got your beautiful vegetables ready for fermenting, it’s time to get them into jars with your favorite fermenting mixture/brine. You have a lot of options in this case. There are starter brines you can purchase at the store, you can make your own brine, and you can even use a style of fermenting called, “lacto-fermentation.” The easiest style, in my opinion, is just using a quick and homemade brine.
To make a brine, all you need is filtered water, sea salt, and your choice of seasonings. The sky is the limit with seasonings… You can keep it simple with salt and pepper, or get creative with some curry, fennel seeds, ginger, cloves, etc. There’s no wrong way to season your brine, so have fun with it!
Okay, so now you’ve got prepped veggies and a brine. Time to fully submerge your veggies in said brine! You’ll want to leave about an inch of room at the top of your jar, but make sure everything is completely covered by your brine. Placing a smaller jar or other kind of weight is highly recommended to keep the vegetables all the way in. A sealed baggie full of water works great, and can also be filled enough to fit tightly over the veggies while still allowing the mixture to “breathe.”
Covering the jar with a breathable material like cheesecloth or a towel with a rubber band is the next step. If you have an air-lock style jar lid, that works great as well. It’s important for your fermenting project to be able to release gasses freely.
Leave for about three days in a cool area that doesn’t get hotter than 80 degrees. The best temp for fermenting is between 70 and 75 degrees, so keep that in mind as you go.
After about three days, you can start giving your veggies a try! Once they reach the taste you’re looking for, you can fully seal the jar, and stop the fermentation process by popping it in the fridge. You can add more salt or seasonings for taste as you try to reach the flavor you’re looking for, so don’t feel like you can’t adjust your brine a bit throughout.
There you have it! Yummy, fermented vegetables with all the benefits! I hope you enjoy all the fermented veggies I’m sure you’ll be making soon! :)
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