Probiotics: The importance of fermented foods | Arthritis Information

 

I got The Perfect Pickler newsletter today, and it has a pretty good article about fermented foods and their important contribution to our health and diet.

Pickling and the Lazarus Effect—
http://perfectpickler.com/U-Pick-Ledger-3_08.pdfmaybe it's me or my PC, Gimpy but I can't get it to open.  :(It opened for me and looks fascinating.

I couldn't open it either

Do you have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer?  The file listed in the hyperlink is a "pdf" file which means you need to have Adobe or you can't open it.

kweenb2008-04-08 05:22:21Hey Punkie - The Perfect Pickler is a good piece of equipment to have because it's easy and quick, but you don't really need it to make fermented brine pickles or sauerkraut. You can just make them in a jar, a ceramic crock, or a white food grade plastic bucket. Probiotic pickled food is always made with unrefined celtic sea salt (table salt will NOT WORK) available at hippie and health food stores near you, or order some online. A bag lasts about forever.

Here's an easy brined pickle recipe:

Large glass or ceramic jar
Carrots to fill the jar, scrubbed and chopped into sticks or chunks
1 whole chile, or some chile flakes
1 stick fresh horse radish (1/4 to 1/2" coin) optional---keeps veggies crunchy

Stick all that in the jar

Take some FILTERED or DISTILLED water (chlorine kills the probiotics you want to encourage) and add 1 tablespoons celtic sea salt per 2 cups of water. Stir until salt is dissolved.

Pour water over carrots until there is enough to completely submerge them. Find a clean plate or lid that fits inside the jar and put it on top of the carrots. Weigh it down with a rock or a jar of water or something. This is to keep the veggies immersed in the brine. Put a piece of cloth over top to keep dust and flies out. Store the pickles at room temperature.

Check the pickles every day and skim of any scum or mould that appears on top. Little bubbles should start forming on the carrots (that's your bacteria friends!) and the water should appear cloudy. When skimming the pickles, try one. It should take anywhere from 4 days to 2 weeks before the pickles are fermented to your liking, depending on the temperature of where they are placed and the size you cut the chunks. When they are to your liking, store in the fridge and serve as a side dish.Ok, pickles or carrots? No it's carrots. I'm so far gone down the road of fermented foods when I say "pickles" to me it is any vegetable that has been fermented, so a "pickle" could be a carrot or a bean or an asparagus or a beet. I forgot to most people "pickle" means a pickled cucumber.

To be probiotic, vegetables must be pickled in celtic sea salt only. Vegetables pickled in vinegar are not probiotic. Nor is sauerkraut which has been pasteurised (that's the kind you get at the supermarket in a jar, unless it is sold from the refrigerator as "live culture sauerkraut". Whole Foods probably sells that).

If you like pickles in vinegar, you can ferment them in salt and then add some apple cider vinegar before you put them in the fridge. Then they have that vinegar taste but are still probiotic. The best of both worlds.
Copyright ArthritisInsight.com