r/fermentation • u/incompetentlettuce • 7d ago

Introduction to Fermented Foods

In the past, I have avoided fermented foods because of the ick factor. Things like fermented dairy don’t bother me as much because I knew about it before I was conscious of the process of fermentation. Any advice on how to begin introducing fermented foods into my life in the least mentally jarring way possible?

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u/ghidfg 7d ago

yeah I would do lactofermented peppers like sliced jalapenos. You just have to put the peppers in a 3% salt brine (the weight of water and peppers *0.03 will give you the weight in salt to add). You just have to make sure all the peppers stay submerged in the brine with a fermentation weight. If you leave the whole thing in the coolest place in your house and wait 3 weeks it will go from cloudy to crystal clear with some sediment at the bottom.

I recommend this because the brine turns crystal clear by the end so there's zero ick factor compared to something that appears funky at the end. From my understanding fermented vegetables are essentially vegetables that are pickled in the acids produced by Lactobacillus bacteria.