Safety issues when it comes to fermenting comes down to 2 basic issues: the ratio and type of salt to the weight/volume of the solid foods (meets the minimum brine percentage) and the time recommended for minimal fermentation to occur. Containers used and other methodology are of secondary importance.

You can eliminate all these concerns by using recipes only from approved and tested sources and blogs are not usually recognized as such.

The minimum safe brine ratio is 1 1/2 T (0.88 oz) salt per quart for a concentration of 2.57%. This recipe uses less. And then it dilutes it even more by having you add more water to top off the jar. This recipe also calls for Himalayan or sea salt which measure very differently from other forms of salts and no grain texture is specified so you have no way of knowing exactly how much to use unless you buy the specific salt listed and use it by weight. The recipe does not specify a weight.

This recipe also calls for only 3 days initial fermentation before tasting. With a higher brine concentration that might be enough. With a lower brine concentration it can't be. Approx. 5-7 days would be needed.

As for other methodology - tightly capped jars is just asking for a possible explosion - reputable recipes always stipulate loosely capped or lightly cover or use a water lock so the air can escape. "Room temperature" can mean many things as opposed to the ideal fermentation temp range of 70-75 degrees.

This is a do-at-your-own-risk recipe. If you wish to get actively involved in fermentation then get a copy of the Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich or a copy of the Ball Complete Book of Home Food Preservation and review the basic fermentation guidelines at NCHFP.

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can6a_ferment.html

Hope this helps some.

Dave

Thank you Dave, for taking the time to type all of that out and educate me. The section in the Ball Complete Book is rather limited which is why I seemed to have not noticed it at first.

True. The NCHFP info is better but Ball tends to take a more specific-recipe oriented approach to fermentation than most do. Not sure why but it has always been that way. Perhaps because the only things most people are interested in fermenting are kraut and dill pickles.

And fermenting, IMO, isn't a recipe-oriented process for most. It is more simple than most recipes usually are and too often the specific recipes create more problems than they solve (as in the one above). All she had to say was to fill the quart jar with your vegetables and them mix 1 1/2 T canning salt or fine ground sea salt with enough water to fill the jar, loosely cap the jar, set it in a bowl to catch the overflow, and set it out of the sun in a corner where the temp is about 70-75 degrees somewhere for a week. Then taste it. If you like it, fine, put it in the fridge. If not, let it go for another week. Skim off any scum that may form on top in the meantime. Simple.

Fermenting is just a mix of vegetables of your choice mixed with a salted water brine in a container and allowed to brew around 70 degrees for a week or more and then stored in the fridge or jarred and processed. And when you think about it once one understands how to make kraut or dill pickles then those same basic instructions apply to all other things to.

As long as the ratio of salt to vegetables is enough and enough time is allowed to pass before eating then that is really all there is to it.

Dave

I hope you will try fermenting. I bought a Perfect Pickler gadget at the farm and feed store last year and have had fun trying recipes for small batch ferments. There are some recipes on their website and there are also other similar gadgets. I like the idea of having a technique that keeps everything below the brine and a gadget that lets gases out but does not allow new air to get in. The gadget fits on any wide mouth canning jar. I got a single half gallon canning jar at a craft store.

i use 1T per qt of water. i've done this with okra, cukes, summer squash. works good. i did it last year and this year with no harmful effects.

after reading dave's post below i realize that it should be 2T per qt, which still may not be optimal but better then 1.

That is your choice Randy as long as you understand that it is considered a too low-salt brine and is not recommended for safety reasons. Doubly so with foods with a high water content (like cukes) that dilute it even further. It not only slows the fermentation process but testing shows it usually results in higher counts of pathogenic bacteria and lower counts of beneficial bacteria. Over time that pathogenic count continues to rise.

The ratio of salt to volume and weight is the single most important aspect of safe fermentation.

Dave