Fermentation: how to figure brine %
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- Опубліковано 4 лип 2024
- #fermentation #ferments #pickle #pickles
when one begins fermeting it can be difficult to figure out how much salt to add into the brine....in this video we look at making Fermented Kosher Dill Pickles and How we figure out the % of salt to produce/spice/water inorder to have a proper ferment. I don't like to rely on tsp or tablespoon measurements as different salts have different volumes and weights. I like to use the recommended salt and weigh out the produce/spice and water then do some math! it's not that hard and I've attached a calculator for you to use: myfermentedfoods.com/tools/br...
Finally, someone making vidios gets it. Amazon sells cheap and accurate scales for $20. I use mine to measure morning coffee (it's perfect every time), making bread, fermenting vegis, etc. Any other method is not accurate. Thanks for the vid.
I'm a numbers nerd and like science...sounds like you do too! accurate is best. :)
Yu guys are such amazing people we enjoy watching yur videos out friend God bless yah
thanks! hope this was helpful
@@OldSchoolPrepper it was our friend God bless
great explenation on this.
thanks! i'm eating them now and they are awesome!
Good information. Thank you
You are welcome
This is why i tell people to use weight over volume in bread baking. I've always hovered around 2.5%. Good to know I can go higher.
you'll get an initally saltier taste but it mellows out. I'veg tried 2.5% and they just don't ever seem to pickle (to me at least)
I like this video. It gets straight to the point. For others I might add some additional color.
Don't worry too much about the salt. Your bigger worry should be the pH. It is the pH that kills the bad guys not the salt.
Remember, all you're trying to do is grow lactobacteria because it lowers pH to a point (under 4.6) where the stuff that wants to kill you dies off. Get a pH meter and make sure you get it under 4.6 in 4-5 days. You know, before bad guys have a chance to rot your food.
The price of a good pH meter these days is under $20 bucks. If you are watching this video because you don't want to die, spend $20 bucks and be certain you don't die. At least from fermentation mistakes. Anything else... watch another video. I think it's a good investment in preventing death, don't you?
Watch... lactobacteria can handle high salinity. The bad guys really can't. Bad guys wither in high salt. High salt to bad guys is like a hot, steamy day to you. Lacto-B? No problem. Lacto-B doesn't care about salt. Lacto-B just keeps growing... and making acid. And it's the acid that burns out the bad guys. Pop that acid, man. In 4-5 days.
So, the salt slows down the bad guys that want to kill you (and rot your food) while the Lacto-B grows. The Lacto-B lowers the pH that kills the bad guys. That's why you want to test the pH.
I know you don't believe me. Read this www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234703/ It kind of gets to the point in a round-about way and is an authoritative-ish source.
Good job, old school prepper!
I will definetly read your article...I actually have a few pH meters for canning and for soil (and for brewing but that's a different video). I've never thought about checking pH of ferments. I'll check out the info. Thanks, OSP
@@OldSchoolPrepper Hi! It's funny, I came to your video because I was worried about salt level until just when I wrote my reply.
We've fermented other things before; we've both done beer, I've done sourdough bread. You probably have, too. And it's always the same thing, we don't necessarily want the bacteria - we want what the bacteria DOES for us.
Brewer's yeast turns sugar into carbonization and other things that I've long forgotten. In breadmaking, the yeast creates those holes that make the bread rise. In that endeavor, salt is about 2% - for taste.
Here, salt helps to inhibit the growth of the bad guys while the lacto-b get established. The salt is also for flavor. You want some salt but you don't want too much
Our food isn't going to rot in a mere 3-4 days. The thing we're most concerned about is the botulism spores, et al. The low pH will kill all that kind of stuff - like boiling water will.
I'm going with 2% of the weight of the water and the ingredients together. It'll be great. (Oh, I added some spice that floated to the top. It would get moldy, I'm sure. I rinsed all that off and will add it all once the ferment is done and in the refrigerator.)
I hope all of this is helpful to others who are scared to death of their first couple of ferments - like I was. Thank you for your kind reply, your video, and patience with me. That article from the government should also help out. Be flavorful! -Murph
This reminds me of my old chemistry course in the 1970s. Weight of solute in solution. No teaspoon gibberish but weighed down to milligrams
more exact and repeatable....agreed!
Good video , have a great day , God bless !
Thanks!
Canning isn't my thing, but this is something I would dare try.
fermentation is a great way to keep most veggies long term. Pickles, green beans and asparagus are super easy to start with.
I love this straight forward video and I love using weights instead of measuring spoons! How long do you leave them on the counter and how do you know when to put them in the fridge?
hi Alicia. You leave them on the counter until the cucumbers taste as sour as you want them...that's the fun part, testing! the higher the temp the faster fermentation occurs..so fast in the summer, longer in the winter. I start tasting after about 5 days but I have those really big cukes (that you saw in the video) still on my counter after 2 weeks and they are perfect! I'll so a sauerkraut refresher in the next couple week...you don't have to add liquid to that so it makes it even easier.
@@OldSchoolPrepper thanks! I’ve tried this a couple times before and was not happy with the taste. I gave up but your video gave me hope again. We love sauerkraut kraut too so I look forward to your next video on it 😍
@@aliciaspadaccino5338 when you are ready, here is last years...I even grew the cabbage...feel free to fast forward to the actual recipie
@@aliciaspadaccino5338 when you are ready here is a step by step "how to make Sauerkraut in a canning jar" I did several years ago ... I did another last year but did it in a big crock, this older one I did in some canning jars...ua-cam.com/video/5Bboq19GJJU/v-deo.html
lol creative with the matter.
what matters is creativity....ha ha
It seems to me that your salt % listed will be around 8.5 percent, not 4.25%
You had roughly 2 liters of water to which you added 156 grams of salt.
If you were trying to account for the osmosis of the vegetable water content itself, what for formula should be used to account for fiber/water weight contained within the vegetable?
Most recipes available make no mention of accounting for an unknown amount of vegetable water. Therefore, I was curious about your results as far as food salinity,
Thanks
Hi Billy. Thanks for the message. When measuring the salt we include any of the items which will be in the brine. I included the cucumbers, peppercorns, garlic, bay leaf and what ever else is in there....therefore we don't just measure the water, we must include the produce weight..
That should cover any water, fibre or other variations MOST of the time. But you bring up a great question of excess water. I recently had someone ask why they were having no success fermenting Burpless Cucumbers...after a bunch of research I discovered that their water content is twice that of a regular pickling cucumber. I don't know how the food scientists came up with fermentation percentages, but the do include the produce to be pickled and water levels in them...maybe I should look into that more. I hope that answers your question. Let me know if I missed something and I'll give it another go.
I was thinking the same thing as you Billy. 156 grams of salt divided by 1840 grams of water equals 8.5% salinity
If it were a dry salt brine ferment like sauerkraut, from what I’ve researched you would weigh the cabbage in grams and then multiply that by the salinity %. If it’s a wet salt brine, and you need 2 litres (2000 grams) of water to cover the pickles for example, it’s 2000 grams multiplied by the salinity %.
I feel other people say to just account for the water itself, yours would add up to double in salt.
Hi David, I encourage you to seek advice from people who know how to ferment...we MUST account for the veg (or fruit) because they contain water / fluid too. just going with the water isn't ok....look at sauerkraut, one only uses cabbage, no water is added...so would you add zero salt? I feel you are just dipping your toe into fermenting...I encourage you to look into Sandor Katz, the God Father of Fermenting.
@@OldSchoolPrepper yes I’m just dipping toes and I think your right about accounting for the food and water weight. Thanks 🙏
What about other veggies??? ex. califlower
you measure the brine % for any thing you want to ferment the same way, include the produce and the water. The brine % may change with whatever you are fermenting...the harder the veg often the higher the salt %...I like this website to figure out my percentages: myfermentedfoods.com/tools/brine-calculator/
I like bae too
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