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[MadPlanter]

Recent years has had me on a quest to health. I'm fairly young but not overly however found myself experiencing health related difficulties. Being a nature guy I followed the call I had within me and ran headfirst into natural cures. On this path fermented food grabbed my attention.

Health starts in the gut! You must feed your living gut with living beneficial organisms to lessen the load our systems experience from daily life most namely eating! Just as we cultivate plants for our overall mental health...we must cultivate a good and clean microbiome. Its like a rainforest inside you with living beings carrying out life functions around the "trees" aka villi. They must be healthy for you to be healthy!

Now eating shit foods and taking antibiotics is like napalming the rainforests of earth limiting the environment to the types of organisms present there. Bad foods allow the growth of the not so probiotic more parasitic types such as Candida. Antibiotics often thought of as "good" are indiscriminate atom bombs in your bodies and blow away everything in their paths often leaving you more exposed to reinfection down the road even more. They do work and are miracle life savers yes...but only should be used in life threatening situations.

Its all about healthy prebiotic and fermented probiotic foods.

So any of y'all already do this?

[BubbleCat]

How could I not be all about Sauerkraut ? 



I do enjoy fermenting foods for several reasons. First of all: Shelf life, your cabbages, peppers and vegetables might only be available a few months in a year. You could freeze some but fermentation wont require energy or fridges.
The taste improves in many instances.
The digestability improves.
Its an exiting skill to learn.
Sauerkraut !
Commercial products arent fermented the old way anymore, it would consume too much time and authorities would very likely claim it lacked in hygiene.
Its simple and cheap. You could pasteurize food, but that would require energy and tightly sealed storage containers. Also the procedure has to be flawless. Also fermented food will not spoil when exposed to ambient air, as pasteurized food would, once you opened a jar.
You can infuse your vegies with spices in the process.
The only thing putting me off: Salt. I wonder if it should be fine to keep brine that is full of lactobacillus and just add new veggies to old brine, not having to add so much salt (once colonized the acidity will keep fungi amd bacteria at bay, not the salt).

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[MadPlanter]

Love saurcraut! Also yes the stuff at the stores is not at all the same as real made stuff. Its a shame and I too believe that conventional society would point the finger saying its potentially dangerous which may be true perhaps but that's why this should be a grassroots thing that people just start doing. Becoming the artisans our everyday ancestors were. Screw what they say and give it a go and find yourself more healthful than you can imagine beforehand!

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[Kamadeva]

Kombucha is now one of the daily staples for me, and kimchi is so freakin good on sandwiches!! The benefits from taking probiotics have significantly improved my sense of well being and overall health, especially kombucha. Fermentation is one of mother nature's many miraculous processes that i for one am grateful for 

Speaking of which, i've been brewing for many years, and the beverage is slowly but surely becoming my source of income. If anyone has any questions about brewing 'buch, or if you'd like a SCOBY, let me know!

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[Psylocke]

I bought this a while back for making sauerkraut and such. I've only used it a couple of times. I'm pretty sure my first batch was contaminated with nasty. The second one was better. One of these days I'm gonna get another batch going.

[BubbleCat]

Kombucha ... given that its partially a fungus and not illegal in any way I assume we could trade the slimey-slimey, just sending it to someone in a small batch of kombucha. Altho I never did so and I wonder what you think (wether this would be possible or maybe you cand screw it tight because of pressurization or something ?).

Uh edit: I now see a 'SCOBY' was even offered ! Awesome. Could need one, I'd like to experiment.

[Mangrove]

Kombucha and more concentrated, properly-made ethanol solutions (especially home-brewed apple cider mixed with wild honey===more concentrated ethanol from more sugars) made via natural fermentation processes , browning bananas are good, as well as properly-aged steaks.

[Ian Morris]

RE: BC's question on salt

I routinely reuse brine, just add veggies to old brine and rest.  I know not all of the fermentation takes place but for one day pickles it cannot be beat.

Shredded carrots, cabbage, onions and sliced cucumbers only need about a day or to to get the familiar "tang". 

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[Kamadeva]

BC: You only require a small piece to get started, which can easily be mailed in a sealed container like a small jar with some starter liquid, tightly sealed. The commercial SCOBY farms package their little guys in heat sealed bags with a little bit of starter liquid in them, but the jar will work just fine! Send me a PM and ill send you some culture if you'd like

ON a side note, has anyone used kombucha to ferment kelp, comfrey, nettles, etc. for making your own organic fertilizer? I've become increasingly interested in the process of using LAB to ferment plant matter for fertilizer, but I'm wondering if using kombucha vinegar (highly fermented kombucha tea) would be a beneficial shortcut?

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[Auxin]

...I wonder if it should be fine to keep brine that is full of lactobacillus and just add new veggies to old brine, not having to add so much salt (once colonized the acidity will keep fungi amd bacteria at bay, not the salt).

Even stored at 4° C, live fermented foods are still alive and fermenting. Salt slows down fermentation at any temperature.
That being said, your right salt can be reduced in many instances. It just speeds up fermentation.
I've reused brine, used brine as an inoculant in low salt brines with just a splash of vinegar added [pH 4 is good], I've wilted cut cabbage in 5% brine then washed the salt out and fermented it like that [it ferments like a hand grenade but will keep for a month at 4° C], and I've never gotten sick from my ferments.

Net salt intake is associated with a slight rise in blood pressure in some people, and a somewhat reduced vascular endothelial function in all [?] people but its instantaneous salt concentration that causes things like stomach cancer. So I avoid the super salty asian dry pickles and just keep my overall salt intake limited to healthy salted foods. Things like junk food, canned food, and chicken have loads of salt for no good reason.

...I too believe that conventional society would point the finger saying its potentially dangerous

Canned foods were invented as emergency rations. People got lazy around that time and adopted horrifically bad diets, so they latched on to canned emergency rations as staple foods. The canned and junk food market has resultantly exploded into a trillion dollar industry and controls most of the world media as well as most governments. Thats why we are all trained to be suspicious of the foods we spent half a million years evolving on.
As a kid I was perceptive enough to notice that part of every year in school was devoted to un-learning the garbage they taught us the year before. I wish every kid noticed that so theyd be prepared to question nonsense like 'milk does a body good' or that the only safe foods come in a can or plastic wrapper.

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[bosqueberg]

fermented food and drinks, along with probiotic supplements, has helped me a lot. kombucha, yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchee, and lots of fresh fruits and veggies out of the garden is the way to go

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[dirt__bag]

I'm 29 and ended learning about fermented foods and natural ways to take care of yourself after a bad appendectomy. I make kimchi, fermented salsas, water and milk kefir and other fermented foods and am always trying to expand my knowledge.

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[BubbleCat]

...I wonder if it should be fine to keep brine that is full of lactobacillus and just add new veggies to old brine, not having to add so much salt (once colonized the acidity will keep fungi amd bacteria at bay, not the salt).

Even stored at 4° C, live fermented foods are still alive and fermenting. Salt slows down fermentation at any temperature.

I guess you didnt get my point here. When you put carbonhydrates (veggies) in water you create a nice medium for mainly two groups of microorganisms: Yeast and Lactobacillus, both are also found on the fruit. Both compete, yeast produces alcohol that keeps the lactobacillus down and is collonizes quickly, the lactobacillus creates an acdic environment that keeps the yeast down. So to promote lactobacillus and keep the yeast down we add salt to give it a headstart. Once it had the headstart, collonized the brine and made it accidic there is no chance for yeast and many other fungi. So IMO the brine will not need salt as it is collonized and acidic. So I could top it up slightly and add new veggie, the brine will kill all yeast on it and the carbonhydrates feed the lactobacillus.

[Hummingbird]

I make kefir with grains, from the day I got them it's the only stuff I drink besides water and tea. Great taste and not even comparable to store-bought. Before I drank lots of yogurt. Yogurt can from my experience be stored for weeks in room temperature. I keep my kefir in the fridge, but people used to store it for months in leather bags hanging outdoors. If it weren't for fermenting skills, I'm sure the world population would be much more scarse during those times, without electricity to store anything for winter. Would love kombucha, all the other fermented stuff too!

[ONandONandON]

i just chopped up a giant kombucha mother, had to use scissors because butcher knife couldn't cut, it was violent massacre.
Anyways i made seven smaller jars, and a big jar. i have lots of extra if anyone wants some, and willing to pay the shipping.

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