The Perfect Pickler Project! - Coming This Summer!
Food preservation is a huge thing if your going to be a real homesteader. I mean what is the point of having the dirt if you're not going to grow something in it? Most of America has forgotten what actual food taste like. We are so used to eating processed foods all the time that our taste buds don't crave or even recognize real food when we smell or eat it.
In this world, you are never going to completely get rid of processed foods and even Jaimie and I enjoy eating out a few times a year. But I love eating food that I have grown. And because we live off grid, food preservation takes a bit of research to learn how the generations of the past used to eat their harvest. One of the most common ways that people of the past preserved their harvested crops for the upcoming winter was the act of fermentation. It's the simple act of beneficial bacteria breaking down carbohydrates to create an environment that will preserve the food product.
The farmers of the past used to perform this preservation in all types of clay pottery or wooden containers. But today, technology has given us improvements that speed up the process and allow the preservation to last even longer.
Introducing the Perfect Pickler!
We were recently contacted by this company and offered an opportunity to try and review their product.
I have seen these products before but we have ever tried them. Jaimie has been making sour kraut and some other fermented food items even before we moved off grid and we know of the beneficial health reasons for eating them. And we do like sour kraut in our home. But sour kraut is just the tip of the iceberg of food items you can prepare with kits like these.
So this kit is just to get our feet wet this summer so we can make some new things for the pantry.
The Challenge
If you have never fermented something like cabbage, pickles, carrots or anything else, give it a try this year. Even if you don't have a garden, this is a great way to understand the fermentation process and preservation science that has been practiced for thousands of years. If you don't have a garden yet, head to the produce section of your local grocer and pick up a few items to experiment on. Instructions are included with the kit and I can assure you that it will be a fun and entertaining project.
We will be doing the pickler project right along with you and posting about it during the summer. Let's see how many things we can put in the pantry this year.
The company is not paying me for reviewing or promoting their product. I will give an honest review and hope others who participate will report back their results as well
Here is the basic kit laid out from the package and includes everything you need to get a jar started. Well, except the veggies.
The seals on the lids are great for making sure it keeps out harmful bacteria and harmful molds.
So there we go, off to start another growing adventure this summer! There are always things growing on the homestead. Whether its a spring, summer or fall garden, sorghum sugar, mushroom logs in the back yard, or beneficial bacteria in the kitchen.
HAPPY GROWING!
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So those attachments are for speeding up the process? I’ve seen some videos on fermented carrots, that’s what I want to try first. And they just put this, this, and that together and leave it out on the counter. For me, the simpler, the more it appeals to me! But I also want to do it right.
I might try fermented lemonade too. Everyone is doing kombucha, but I don’t care for tea.
Hmm! I Might Have To Try That! I Hope You Have Success Next Year As Well!
That sounds like a neat gizmo...
Great idea! Looking forward to the series.
Heck: it might well be useful to someone who has no garden but shops the sales in the produce section.
We used to write for a fermentation website that sold a very similar product! At that size, it's nice that you could do small-scale or experimental fermentation. We have a huge, german-style fermentation crock for when we (hopefully)have lots of produce from our (eventual) garden, but until we get our land more established, it looks like we'll keep up with the small batches for now!
We love how fermentation is a totally natural method of preservation (how wonderfully designed!) and frankly, once you've made lacto-fermented pickles with tons of garlic, there's no going back to anything storebought. I'm curious how your achocha cucumbers would do!
The only thing I've "preserved" so far was dilly beans...delicious. I've been wanting to make kraut. Maybe I'll have to get the Perfect Pickler Kit and make a batch with and a batch without.
I will be following this with interest. I do cabbage for kraut and the family loves it. I want to do more such as berries. I think I am going to need to expand my pantry...lol