Tried to do a fermenting style of pickles. The liquid went slimy. Any idea's for the next attempt? Fermenting/live food type idea's that is.
What ingredients did you use? You might try a dill or sweet pickle recipe, I have never had regular cucumber pickles turn like that.
I used Kohlrabi cut like thick fries, salt, dill, mustard seed, two serrano peppers, and water. I layered everything in a quart jar and filled with boiling water. The jar and lid were clean, I did not boil the lid though. After three days they were good but not sour enough. After 10 days they were sour enough but the liquid had become slimy. I didn't get sick from eating them, but reading online said it was best to discard, because something wasn't clean enough. Edit to add, this was supposed to be a fermentation recipe.
The only thing different in your recipe from the one I used for my first attempt at making sauerkraut is possibly the salt. My recipe and what I have found on-line stipulate that you use either Pickling Salt or Sea-Salt, not regular table salt. I wonder if that could be the problem?
You should not have added water to a fermentation tpe recipe. Maybe after they fermented a bit you could but you likely had minimal salt and it was not enough to firm them. Have you looked at the wild fermentation site ?
I did use sea salt, about 1 TBS per pound. I also salted the water I used. I'll just have to try again. Thanks for the lead on wild fermentation Ms. Mart.
That site should help you a lot. Another problem can be the boiling water. That would start the cooking process on the Kohlrabi. To ferment most vegetables the juice needs to be extracted from them. That is what keeps them firm and not slimy
lacto-fermentation is the name I have found for the type of recipe using only the veggie (cabbage, kohlrabi, etc) Salt and water. You don't extract juice from them first. Also found these instructions on making pickled kohlrabi spears.... http://christensenka.squarespace.com/im ... nd-ca.html And an explanation of how it works... http://foodpreservation.about.com/od/Fe ... -Works.htm
Are you going to try again? Maybe the Kohlrabi was not fresh or already starting to mold and that's what caused it to turn on you. You might also add a little vinegar to it. The recipe I used for Sauerkraut calls for as much shredded cabbage as you can pack tightly into quart jars, then add 1 tablespoon each of Canning Salt, Vinegar and Sugar. Fill the jar with boiling water and seal. This sits for up to 2 months before testing so I guess I have a while before I know if it is a success.
yes ma'am, I will be trying again. The kohlrabi was garden fresh. Harvested by me that very morning. I used freshly washed jars and lids. I will sterilize next time. I've started 'kraut, but the restrictions from eye surgery won't let me do ANYTHING right now. :-x
Toni,, that is what the salt does, extracts water and firms it. Sprinkle salt on any vegetable and let it sit a few minutes, you can see the water on the surface. Perhaps I was not clear in how that was phrased.
