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[PaleoGardener]

Hey all, I have been doing a lot of experiments with fermentation lately, namely water kefir (very successful), sourdough (awesome), and ginger beer (remains to be seen). I was wondering if anyone had experience with fermenting wild foods? I'd love to try acorn sourdough 

[NerfHerderPA]

I haven't tried anything wild yet, but I made some awesome sourdough and milk/water kefir last winter when I was living on a farm. I have some sour beets and turnips, kimchi, sauerkraut, and hard cider in my fridge now that I'm excited to try soon.

A kimchi made with wild vegetables would be awesome. Sourdough starters are tricky - it might take a couple of tries before you could get a good acorn starter, but it would definitely be worth it!

[PaleoGardener]

Yeah, I was able to make whole wheat starter from scratch, so I'm excited to try acorn. I'm going gathering this weekend, so I'll post how it turns out.

[oakcorn]

I've done wild mustard greens sourkraut that tasted too strong for most people I got to try it. A few months ago, my wild grape vine produced enough grapes to make a cup of wild wine. While it was a bit too sour for my taste, it was certainly at least 5-8 percent alcohol and took just over three weeks to get that way. I will definitely try this again.

[PaleoGardener]

So, I've been doing some more fermenting lately. I made sourdough cookies today (Fabulous Phytate-Free Sourdough Cookies! haha), which turned out well. Also, I am trying out some salt-free sauerkraut. To do this, I blended up some water kefir grains and poured them into the kraut. This inoculation of lactic acid bacteria should allow it to get going quickly. If it doesn't seem to be doing anything tomorrow I'll add some more.

[bereal]

Re. inoculation with lactic acid bacteria, Sally Fallon (Nourishing Traditions) recommends using a tablespoon of whey per jar of fermented vegetables.  It allows half the salt to be used, and in her opinion, produces better tasting results.

So far, all I've fermented is carrots (Sally Fallon's ginger carrots recipe).  I used a ton of ginger so it was spicy-strong, but I liked it much better than sauerkraut. 

I'm really excited to make kimchi with kale (doesn't need anything added except the kale, because of its natural yeasts!), like Miles posted awhile back on his blog goingferal.wordpress.com.

[PaleoGardener]

So, here's an update: the sauerkraut is doing great so far! When I used salt (in my previous batch), it took several days to start bubbling, but it is now doing that on day two! It keeps making little sounds. Fermentation is such fun!

[bereal]

So, did you not use salt at all in this batch of sauerkraut? 

[PaleoGardener]

No salt so far, but I may add some in just for flavoring when I move it from the crock into smaller containers. It is still doing well, smells great, should be ready in a few days.

[PaleoGardener]

Since the oaks in my area produce very acidic acorns (so far as I have seen), I have decided to try fermenting acorn flour to enhance tannin removal. I am trying to create an acorn-based sourdough starter. Has anyone else tried something like this?