Three Lactofermented Pickle Recipes - Homestead Honey (2024)

FAQs

Can you use honey when pickling? ›

Add the vinegars, honey, salt, garlic, mustard seeds, peppercorns, turmeric, chile flakes and bay leaves to a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the honey and the salt. Carefully pour the brine over the pickles, stopping 1/2 inch from the top. Let cool completely, then cover with a lid and refrigerate.

They both produce a sour flavor, but pickles are sour because they are soaked in an acidic, vinegar-based brine, while fermented foods are sour because of a chemical reaction between naturally present sugars and bacteria known as lacto-fermentation.

Keep Fermentation Short

The longer the fermentation process, the softer the vegetables become. To limit this effect, only leave your pickles to ferment for a few days at room temperature, then refrigerate.

What is the salt-to-water ratio needed for fermentation? The salt-to-water ratio is commonly between 2-5%. Somewhat depends on taste. Most recipes will call for about 2 tablespoons of salt per quart of water.

If honey starts to ferment in the hive, the honeycomb cells are filled with bubbles and an odor of yeast can be smelled. Sometimes foam oozes out and collects under the frames. In a controlled circ*mstance fermentation of honey can be purposefully utilized to produce an alcoholic drink known as mead.

PICKLING. Honey can be substituted in pickling recipes as well. Remember honey is much sweeter so adjust your recipe. 3/4 cup honey = 1 cup sugar.

It may be a normal reaction during fermentation caused by bacteria. If the pickles are soft, they are spoiled from the yeast fermentation. Don't use them. Using too weak a salt brine or vinegar solution may cause soft or slippery pickles, as can using moldy garlic or storing the pickles at too warm a temperature.

Fermented foods occupy a fascinating middle ground between shelf stable goods and items that must stay refrigerated. So it makes sense to ask if fermented foods should be stored in refrigeration. The answer is yes, your ferments are happiest in the fridge.

White deposits at the bottom of the jar are normal – they're partly yeast and leftovers from fermentation (salt, sugar, etc.).

Lime is a source of calcium. Calcium improves pickle firmness. Food-grade lime may be used as a lime-water solution for soaking fresh cucumbers 12 to 24 hours before pickling them. Excess lime absorbed by the cucumbers must be removed to make safe pickles.

What does bay leaf do in pickles? ›

Fresh bay leaves contain higher levels of essential oils and tannins, which impart a more robust flavor and better preservation properties to the pickles. Aim to use two to four fresh bay leaves per quart of pickles, adjusting the quantity based on your personal preference and the size of your batch.

YES, you can reuse the brine from cultured vegetables

However, the longer you wait to use the brine, the fewer probiotics you will have since bacteria need food to stay alive. It's best to use the brine within a couple of weeks to make more vegetables and this will ensure you have lots of probiotics in your vegetables.

One of the best types of salt to ferment with is sea salt. Sea salt contains several nutrients, including trace amounts of magnesium, potassium and calcium. Picking salt and Kosher salt are also good to use. The type of salt you should avoid in fermentation is Iodized salt.

The exact fermentation time is hard to predict, but generally it takes about 3 weeks to reach the half-sour stage and 6 weeks to reach the full-sour stage. When your pickles reach your desired sourness level, transfer to the refrigerator. The finished pickles can be refrigerated for up to 2 months.

In The Refrigerator

I did lose a few jars to mold or rot. However, the very large majority – probably at least 90% – kept for 6-7 months in a refrigerator. Using this method of cold storage, I recommend allowing the vegetables to fully ferment before transferring to the refrigerator.

Produce must be fresh when pickled. Avoid using waxed supermarket produce. Select the most uniform, unspoiled produce.

Place the vinegar and honey into a large pan and gently heat just to dissolve the honey into the vinegar, but do not boil. Pack the onions into clean, sterilized jars. Pour over the hot vinegar mixture to fill the jars, and check there are no air pockets. Seal the jars and leave to cool.

Honey can be substituted for sugar in canned and frozen fruits. The flavor of honey is sweeter than that of granulated sugar so it is advisable to use less honey than the amount of sugar specified in the recipe.

Sugar or sweetener – Many pickling recipes call for sugar, but again it's up to you if you want your veggies to taste slightly sweet or not. You could substitute traditional white sugar for organic cane sugar, honey, or agave syrup to achieve the same effect.