It’s the new cool thing y’all…
For me anyways. But, in fact, fermenting veggies goes way back. Like a really really long time. Prior to people having water bath canners, electricity, and all the cool canning stuff, they were fermenting foods.
Fermented foods (AKA- lacto-fermented foods) are really quite simple and don’t involve anything but:
- Vegetables
- Water
- Salt
Fermented foods provide those awesome beneficial probiotics that our bodies need. It’s the real deal, baby! We have fermented quite a few things around the homestead since we started six months ago. Our top three include: kimchi, sauerkraut, and asparagus. I actually prefer to eat my fermented asparagus with some hot sauce. This lady loves her some hot sauce- or just anything that is h-o-t ~ including Mountain Man. 
There is one trick to fermenting- you MUST keep the vegetables submerged in the saltwater brine. I was always unscrewing and pressing the veggies down every single day. I also had to unscrew the lid to make sure that the jar didn’t “explode” from the gasses being trapped. Neither ‘issue’ took very long to do, nor were they very hard, but I thought there had to be something easier! Enter Fermentools.
Fermentools
Imagine how ECSTATIC (yes- that requires yelling because I was that excited) I was when Matt, from Fermentools, contacted me. He wanted to graciously send me a 6 pack Fermentools kit and some Himalayan Powder Salt.
I didn’t even hesitate! I happily obliged! Two days later my kit arrived!
It was time to get to fermentin’ ‘all up in here!’
Mountain Man and I decided to ferment some good ‘ol asparagus with fresh garlic and thyme.
We gathered what we needed and got started. Pictured below is what we needed from the Fermentools kit for one jar. All we needed to provide was a quart sized wide-mouth mason jar and the metal ring.
***Please note, Fermentools kits fit wide-mouth mason jars***
Fermented Asparagus with Garlic and Thyme
Below is the recipe, but I wanted to include some pics because they are GORG!
Asparagus and Thyme
All the ingredients, baby!
Weights- holdin’ it down!
See those weights!
All done!
- 2 Bunches of Asparagus
- 3-5 Peeled Garlic Cloves
- ½ teaspoon of Peppercorns
- 1-5 Sprigs of Fresh Thyme (depending on taste)
- 1 Quart of Water
- 1 Tablespoon, plus 1.5 teaspoons of Himalayan Powder Salt
- Add all of the salt to one quart of filtered water.
- Mix thoroughly and set aside.
- Trim the ends of the asparagus to fit into your quart wide-mouth mason jar.
- Add to jar (spear head down). Pack them baby's in tight!. While packing don't forget to add your fresh thyme! Yep- pack that thyme in with the asparagus spears.
- Add garlic cloves and peppercorns on top of the asparagus spears.
- Add weights from the Fermentools kit (this keeps the food submerged in the brine)
- Fill jar with brine.
- Assemble your Fermentools kit for the jar (pictures included with the kit- and it's super easy!).
- Store in a cool/dark place (we use the cabinet) for at least 7 days- up to 30 days.
Must be chlorine free water (preferably fluoride free too).
Happy Fermenting!
Shared On: Tuesdays with a Twist
I have never heard of this. Maybe it is something I should try. I like it. I will Stumble too.
Let me know if you do!
Back in college, I used to brew beer and had so many of those airlocks! Even though I’ve thought about fermenting foods for a while, I somehow never connected making them with needing an airlock. Now I feel silly! It’s really cool how the airlock fits on the jar like that. Now I wish our apartment had any “cool” places so I could try this!
I use my kitchen cabinets to ferment things!!
I’ve wanted to try this for a while and you make it look easy. How do you determine the amount of salt to use if you are replacing it with another kind? I have Himalayan Pink Rock Salt at home right now, would that work?
I’ve wanted to try this for a while and you make it look easy. How do you determine the amount of salt to use if you are replacing it with another kind? I have Himalayan Pink Sea Salt at home right now, would that work?
Yes! The Pink Himalayan Salt would be the same as the recipe and would work great! If in doubt, I always stick to the general rule of thumb of using 1 Tablespoon of Salt to 1 quart of water. I measure it this way then pour the water I need into the jar stuffed with food. HTH!
Jen
The recipe says 2 Bushels of Asparagus. I think that may be an error!
Oh my word! You are right. It is supposed to be 2 bunches not bushels! Thank you for noticing and I changed it! 🙂