YAY Beets and Turnips!

Today I decided to open and see how my Fermentation Project turned out. It was after Roy's suggestion to open the jars at home first, before bringing them to the class tomorrow;-) Otherwise I'd probably wait till tomorrow;-)
Here are my jars:

Regular-mouth jars to the left are from my first attempt.
Couple jars to the right - wide-mouth, from my second attempt.

As a reminder - my first try took place on the 12th of February, the send time I tried on February 27th.

As I was looking over the jars I have noticed a bit of a sediment at their bottoms. That made me think that maybe the vegetables have rotten inside so I was curious what was going to happen after opening. 

Anyway, I have actually recorded and narrated my today's "adventure":                                                      

Here is the link to my youtube videos:

FIRST JAR:

http://youtu.be/UXpeXfcEGOg

Still the first one:

 http://youtu.be/oensU5AN7i8

After the first jar was opened I have tasted the beets and turnips - which by the way were hard to differentiate between as the vegetables look all the same - pinkish in color, and similar texture - crunchy. 

Here are short videos from opening the second jar:

 http://youtu.be/Q6lxCmug2Kg

 http://youtu.be/wvrePaEfeQs

I think this all summarizes my adventure with pickling. In the beginning I wasn't very happy about this project. For someone who cooks - well, it could be better - to challenge me with pickling - that's a LOT! 

But in the end - it was fun and exciting to wait and see how the vegetables turned out:-)

And I think they turned out just fine...

I guess this might be the last post here. Thanks to anyone who visited!

Marzena

Updates...

Yes, I know - it's been two weeks since my last post about my second try. A little long...

My beets have been out into cooler room after three days of being in a warm environment. Honestly nothing much was going on - just a few bubbles here and there:

Barely visible bubbles toward the top
(unfortunately, not a very good picture)

I was very excited in the beginning that my jars haven't leaked, however ...they DID:-( of which I have learned today...


And the tops are bent as well:

I am guessing my microbes are working hard inside;-)

VERY HARD working microbes pushing my tops off

I guess the happiness of maybe succeeding was premature... Or who knows, maybe that's how it was supposed to be? I am actually dreading the thought of opening them - well, a little bit - as I am thinking they may smell up my kitchen again:-)

I wonder, what's your take on that? Should I open the jars or leave them closed? 
Thanks for checking in!

Second time is a charm, right???

Well, I guess the saying it that the third time is a charm, but second will do as well...
There it is - my second try:

Wide-mouth jars this time

I did my second batch on Thursday, Feb. 27th ! 

Just a little late with the update...

Like the under-picture caption says, I used the wide-mouth jars this time, as it was implied they might be better. I followed the recipe again and for another day these jars will be kept at temp. approx. 70 degrees. 

I have seen some bubbles, but not as many as I have expected - maybe it is the way it should. Tomorrow, Sunday, March 2nd - after work I will put them in a cooler place and see what happens. One difference that I have already noticed - I did NOT have any leakage even though the tops seem really hard  - sign of a microbial activity going on inside. Let's hope all that good process of Lactobacilli's proliferation has already began and will be done BEFORE I put the jars in a cold environment! 

I am guessing... FIASCO???

So, my beets and turnips have been in a cool, dark place as the recipe called for for quite some time now. I figured I can brave and open one jar, just you know - to check it out whether they are actually edible!
Well, I am adding couple of pictures as I think they tell more than words actually can:

All that "action" took place yesterday,
Tuesday, the 25th of February!

 

There was A LOT of foam!!!

You can see an onion, beets and turnips still in quite a bit of foam!

Good thing I was close to the kitchen sink! Anyway, there was REALLY plenty of foam coming out of the jar as I opened it. The smell - kind of sauer-ry but it didn't smell up the house for too long, went away after couple of hours, so not too too bad! 

There is a picture of how the veggies looked inside:

Closer look

Anyway, this is what came out of my project. 

OBSERVATIONS/IDEAS:

1. As much as I wish those veggies tasted better - well, they do not, HOWEVER my husband has tried them and said "not too bad", but that was BEFORE I showed him pictures, he wouldn't eat any more of them after that, haha!

2. During my fermentation time - some of the juice came out and (with the help) I secured the jars better; no more leakage!

3. Color of the fluid content has become red (beautiful red color - one thing that's beautiful about my jars) thanks to beets inside 

4. Also the turnips have become red as beets (basically hard to differentiate between these two veggies)

5. There were SOME bubbles (microbial activity) however I was sure there should be more

6. Reason for not much luck: 

- possibly too much space between veggies and top of jar

- messing up with the salt/water proportions

- author of the recipe also mentioned she had a better luck while using wide mouth jars (of course I HAD TO get the regular mouth ones!)

So what now?

I am going to try again - no not today, possibly tomorrow or Saturday and see what happens this time. 

Will keep you posted!

Thanks!

Updates...

Just like I said in one of my previous posts - I have put my beets in a cooler and darker place last Saturday, the 15th. I have checked on them couple of times since then and they "seemed fine" - no new leakage, but, also not much of bubble seeing either. Any ideas as of what does that mean would be great!
Still considering trying the recipe again... 

Updates...

Sorry I have missed couple of days and didn't post anything, but here come the updates:

THURSDAY, Feb. 13th...

One happy day - yeah! in the morning my jars looked perfect, nice red-dish color, veggies looked happy. The jars spent their first night in a nice warm room where my lovely microbes began their work. I have seen bubbles - small, tiny ones. It seemed like maybe it won't be a disaster after all.
Anyway, in the evening I have noticed that three out of five of my jars leaked - don't really know what to make of it, the tops seemed like they are gonna pop any time! I haven't opened any of the jars and decided to take a wait and see approach. Whether it was a wise choice - I don't really know. Will find out in the near future, right?


Here are couple of pictures from Thursday:

"Bubbles" clearly can be seen as well as residue after the fluid content leaking

"Bubbles" and residue on another jar

 Bubbles are a clear sign of microbial activity.
The Lacto-Fermentation is achieved thanks to 
Lactobacillus Bacteria - the good guys that survive a salty environment and begin converting lactose and other sugars present in beets/turnips and veggies in general into lactic acid.
The acidic environment that's present in the jars right now preserves vegetables and should give them a tangy flavor.

Now, whether that is the case with my little pickling experiment - we shall wait and find out. 

Bent top on one of the jars...

As you can see the pressure inside the jar must be very high. At least high enough to bend the top of a jar. I'd like to think that whatever activities are going inside that jar - are the desired ones. 

FRIDAY, Feb. 14th

Happy Valentines Day!

Yes, I know that's not actually project-related but - after all it is a blog, right? 

Not really much has happened on Friday as far as observation as I have worked the entire day. Came home after 8PM and saw that there isn't any new leakage that happened that day! 

I would like to think of it as a good sign at least in relevance to two of my jars that have never leaked!

Fiday/Saturday night was the last night my little jars have spent in a warm, friendly environment. Today, Saturday, the 15th I will put them in a cooler place just like the recipe suggests and see how they do. 

But for that I will create another entry....

Thanks again for checking out my blog! And reading it, too!

Marzena

First try - Check!

I decided to give it a shot and try today! Got my beets and turnips and - just to be adventurous - I have also bought couple of small onions and added them to my project! Of course - got the water as well! 

Just brought from the store - Turnips...

...And Beets!

After washing my veggies, I peeled their skin off and sliced them! I also prepared the onion, but - I think due to its size (very small) - I totally forgot to picture that moment;-) Hope I can be forgiven for that! As I am pretty sure it won't be the ONLY time i will be doing this, I will make up for it the next time!

Sliced Turnips

Sliced Beets

Finally Mixed Together! 

After combining both vegetables, I have put them into Mason Jars:

In Jars!

Now I have mixed the water with Sea Salt. Since my jars are smaller than the size from the recipe, I have adjusted the math, and mixed 3 cups of Water with 3 tablespoons of Salt. Then, I have poured the water - 1 cup into each jar and topped it off with the rest of pure H2O (the recipe called for quart sized jars and - unfortunately - I have bought pint sized ones). 

Final result looks like that:

Beets & Turnips inside! Two of the jars have onions in - just to give it a try!

Now I have put them in a warm room with temperature above 72 degrees F. They should stay there for the next three days and the whole FERMENTATION process should begin! Will keep you updated on how is it going!

Thanks for checking my blog!

Marzena