Try, try, again

Okay so it's time to give you an update on the ferments.

Lets say it wasn't a success. I think I know what I did to make such a mess of things, so I'm willing to try again and try not to make such a hash of it. 

I set up my jars and did a little tatse testing mid-way through the process. Things looked good, but I'd done too much reading that said I needed to wait for a week or more. Once a week had passed I put the jars in the fridge and waited till the weekend for the reveal.

First up zucchini pickles. They were soft, super mushy, and really pungent but not in a nice way. Definitely not rotted, but just too much for me to eat comfortaby. I think my first problem was the garlic. I used a commercially prepared bottled garlic (because we didn't have fresh on hand). Then I just left it too long. (I guess I was too "slo" on this one).

As I suspected the sour kraut was really salty. It definitely retained some crunchiness and surprisingly enough it was actually a little "squeaky".

Next on the list is another try at pickled vegetables, maybe something less "soft" than zucchini and I have my eye on an "American" kimchee recipe that uses sriracha and no fish sauce.

The definite success recently has been Switchel. It's an old country recipe for a thirst quencher using apple cider vinegar, swetener (molasses, sugar, &/or honey), and ginger. It's sounds kind of off-putting, but it's really quite yummy.

I'll write again soon, as ever,

Slowly,  D