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When you cogitate about preserving the crop , often boil pots of mason jar and airtight freezer base are the first things that come to listen . But you should n’t overlook agitation when trust to make your harvest last . Yes , this includes progress to sauerkraut and pickles , but that ’s just the tip of the berg . you could also ferment salsas , chutneys , wines , beer , kimchi and more . The sky is the limitation with fermentation , which is precisely why you should n’t circumscribe yourself to canning and freeze . Below are seven reasons to not only view ferment as your preservation method acting of pick , but why it ’s the safest and childlike way to put food by .
1. Because it’s Easy
It ’s comparatively simple to turn almost any veggie : Stuff veggies and spices into a vas of option , pour brine overtop , hatch , set vessel on countertop , wait until it polish off bubbling , and put in in a cool , dark place . Obviously there is some nuance to the cognitive process , but indeed , most vegetables are so easy to work , the process can accurately be distill into a single sentence .
2. Because of Flavor
You likely already love fermented food ; you just might not gain it yet . Mustard , pickles , java , beer , wine , yogurt and salami––fermented food make up some of the most unique and tempting feel on the major planet , and chances are , you have at least one in your fridge at this minute . Fermentation bring out great condiments and food complements . Adding a little sauerkraut to your brat , mess to your burgers , vinegar to your salad , or have a fiddling wine-coloured with your dinner is common drill for a understanding : ferment food enhances just about any meal .
3. Because of Health
probiotic microflora have become a red-hot subject in modern wellness circles , but they ’re old news show to ferment - intellectual nourishment aficionados . probiotic bacterium are beneficial bacteria or enzymes , which nowadays , can often be find out in pill var. , but ferment foods have always provided us with natural probiotic flora , and let ’s be honest , oral contraceptive pill never sample as estimable as their solid food counterpart . Fermented foods are not only tasty but super good , supply ( depending on the ferment ) vitamin C , lactic Zen , and a whole host of good , pathogen - fighting microorganism and enzymes .
4. Because of Safety
According to Sandor Katz in his bookThe Art of Fermentation(Chelsea Green Publishing , 2012 ) , there have been no known cases of botulism due to fermented food . In fact , many scientist and Cook contend that fermentation is not only a good path to preserve foods , but perhaps the safest . In fermentation , instead of remove all bacteria , you encourage beneficial bacteria to herd out dangerous microorganisms , such as botulism , and create an environment in which they can not survive . When send away , you stress to kill as much bacteria as possible , but you ca n’t kill it all . And if what exist happens to be bad bacteria , it no longer has any competition within the intellectual nourishment to keep it from taking over and can well proliferate , make the food dangerous .
5. Because it’s Fun
Cooking with organisms , as fermentation is sometimes telephone , is like thaumaturgy . In fact , for many years some even shout out it thaumaturgy , and in many societies it was banned because the foods and wines seemed to “ churn ” without the supporter of rut . It would n’t be until Louis Pasteur ’s body of work in the 1800s that citizenry would begin to see the microbiology––not sorcery––involved in fermenting . Today , now that fermentation is understood as secure , it ’s sport to involve children in the mental process . They , like our ancestors , find the babble utterly magical and the sour hole a tasty — and , shhh , sizable — noontide snack .
6. Because Our Ancestors Did It
Before refrigeration and canning ( which was n’t all that long ago ) , we had to be originative when it came to preserving our food . We could dry , bullet or salt our excess green groceries , but for many , it was leisurely and safer to just submerge nutrient under piquant weewee and let it ferment . Also , in the winter , when fresh food was scarce , fermented food often provided a much requisite dose of vitamin speed of light , which would help keep our antecedent healthy until spring . When the garden was torpid , they could go into their wine cellar or dig up their crock , pull some of the ferment food for thought out , and it would still taste as fresh as the 24-hour interval it was picked .
7. Because Everyone Else is Doing It
OK , maybe not everyone else , but fermentation is in spades becoming a heavy muckle in the food and wellness cosmos . Famed chef David Chang , for example , dedicated an entire research lab to fermentation experiment . Sandor Katz ’s aforementionedThe prowess of Fermentationeven made the New York Times Best Sellers list , as didCooked , by Michael Pollan , who devoted a whole one-quarter of the Christian Bible to the process . In some ways , we ’ve just get down to see the potential drop for these food , but in another way , we ’ll probably never fare close to chance upon all that these midget organism can do for us , for our meal and for the bounty .
