Thank you to everyone who attended my fermentation workshop this past weekend. What a fun group! My good friend Daniela took lots of fantastic pics.
Everyone enjoyed tasting the goodies pictured above: sauerkraut, kombucha, scrap vinegar and buttermilk.
We started off with fresh, organic ingredients…
I then put everyone to work chopping, grating and mixing.
The grated beets (above) went into a spicy kraut. Carol (below) mixed and crushed them along with cabbage and ginger before we added the jalapeños. Avoid handling hot peppers with your bare hands!
Uma (below) massaging a kraut mix of cabbage, carrots and bell peppers.
At the end of the workshop, everyone left with a sample of sauerkraut to ferment at home, and we now have nine large jars of kraut for the community kitchen where I live.
Here’s an outline of the workshop. Next class, we’ll make kombucha.
I’ve just started experimenting with water kefir and hope to branch out to kombucha. Much fun!
I haven’t tried making kefir yet. I have some kefir grains in my fridge that my neighbor gave me but I have so many ferments going already. What kind of water kefir are you making? How often do you have to make a new batch?
I’ve literally only just started so am not a fount of information (yet!) but it takes 24-48 hours for the initial fermentation then you strain out the grains and flavour it however you want. You can just drop in sliced lemon and ginger or something and drink it straight away or add other fruits and leave it to ferment again to get nice and fizzy.
My first batch had lemon juice and diced strawberries. We drank some straight away and it was OK, but it was REALLY nice after another 24 hours once the flavours really combined. The next batch I’m going to turn some into ginger lemonade and drop blueberries into the rest. 🙂
Thank you for the info 🙂 It sounds really similar to kombucha. I’ll brew some with these grains. They might be too old, but it will be fun to try. I love the sounds of all your flavor combos. Yum!
Anne Marie,
Glad that the workshop was a success! I am so bummed that I didn’t make it – woke up with a really bad migraine that lasted all day. I’ll keep an eye out for your next workshop. Still would really like to come.
Cheers,
Ron
On Wed, Dec 3, 2014 at 7:42 PM, The Zero-Waste Chef wrote:
> The Zero-Waste Chef posted: “Thank you to everyone who attended my > fermentation workshop this past weekend. What a fun group! My good friend > Daniela took lots of fantastic pics.Everyone enjoyed tasting the > goodies pictured above: sauerkraut, kombucha (post coming soon), scrap > vinegar”
Hi Ron,
I’m sorry you weren’t feeling well and couldn’t make it. My daughter had an all-day migraine on Friday. It was the worst one yet. I wondered if the weather had anything to do with it.
I’ll post something about my next workshop on Facebook and I’ll try to remember to email you too.
Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂
Anne Marie
Awesome!! I wish we lived near you, I soo wanted to gooo 🙁
Thanks 🙂 Someone suggested I do a webinar. Or a Google Hangout…
Looks like a great workshop! Fermenting is getting big– even the box stores are carrying supplies. So good to see awareness about food sources. My last batch was cabbage, kale, carrots and garlic. I haven’t tasted it yet.
Thanks, we had so much fun. People are really eager to learn how to do this. I would like to check out those fermentation supplies. Do you use an air lock? I’ll have to try adding a bit of kale. That sounds really healthy. Happy fermenting!
I don’t use an air lock. That would be a good item for my Christmas list though! I wish I liked beets, they are so healthy
Thanks for reminding me that you have a smaller recipe for sauerkraut! I have a bunch of small jars I want to use and those large crocks are soooooo heavy to carry once they’re filled!
Oh yeah, you can make as little or as much as you want. I’m learning there is no right or wrong with fermentation. Just chop the veggies, salt them and pack them—big jar, small jar, Goldilocks-side jar…but preferably, choose a jar that doesn’t leave a ton of air at the top of the sauerkraut.
Great! I just found my project for when snow sets in! 🙂
This looks like such a fun day 🙂
Thank you. It was! I’m planning more of these workshops. Everyone was so enthusiastic to learn about fermenting.
Great to see you in action! We held a stall at my local market over the weekend to educate people in the community on how they can reduce waste. We gave away organic fertilizer, DIY compost bins, home made skin balm, home made washing powder and deodorant- I used your recipe! People loved all we had to offer and I think there is a workshop in the making -who would’ve thought!
Thank you. It was fun 🙂
That’s wonderful about your stall! What a great idea! Thanks for letting me know. I hope you do the workshop (and blog about it). I’m glad people liked the deodorant. How did you make the compost bins? Our compost bins are just open chicken wire (like cylinders of chicken wire) but some people want an enclosed bin.
Who would’ve thought is right! I never imagined myself teaching people how to make sauerkraut, nor would I have thought it would be so much fun.
We made the bokashi compost style bin. Its basically one plastic bin with a lid that has holes drilled at he bottom and it sits inside another bin. You just add layers of food scraps sprinkle the sawdust mix on top. Once filled leave to ferment for about 10 days then it can be dug in to your garden. Really easy to use and the bokashi ‘juice’ can be used as a fertilizer as well as other uses around the home.
Thanks! That sounds easy and quick too at 10 days. People must have been thrilled to get all of your goodies at the market.
Reblogged this on Travels with Mary and commented:
Love this post!
Ah, more bubbly. 🙂 What a fantastic post. Thank you for sharing
Glad you liked it. Thank you for the reblog 🙂
You are very welcome