This Week in Fermented Foods (moving into hot weather ferments)

Fermentation, like so many other things, feels harder when it’s hot. Temperature control is non-existent and so everything goes from food to fermented food in a matter of hours to a day.

But it doesn’t last forever. Sure, I’m not baking up sourdough bread at the moment, at least not until that solar oven goes to the top of the project list. Though I do need to start up a new rye sourdough starter soon, as we finish with the milk kefir series at the CFH blog.

And you can follow along here with the whole process – from start(er) to pancakes to bread as I’ll be sharing the process here every week. Besides, sourdough pancakes and tortillas are all the bread product we really need when it’s 100 degrees.

Before we get to the highlights of this week I’d like to invite you to join the Weekly Cultured Gathering…

Maybe you eat cultured food because of the health benefits. Maybe you make it for the art and science involved. Maybe you believe that this age-old practice of souring dough, culturing dairy, brewing beverages, and fermenting vegetables is wonderfully sustainable. Maybe you feed them to your family because of all of the above.

Whatever draws you to the art of fermentation, The Weekly Cultured Gathering is a place where you can find others working towards the same goals as you are. It is a community.

You can join us every Saturday with links to your own cultured food blog posts or, if you don’t have a blog, let us know in the comments what you’re culturing this week.

Fascinating & Tasty Fermented Foods This Week

Ancestral Fermentation: Making Bread Kvass Without Commercial Yeast – I suspected that bread-based kvass had to have been made without commercial yeast, despite many recipes that argue to the contrary. Here we discuss the various ways to make it without store-bought ingredients.

Sourdough Pizza Bread – Take your favorite sourdough bread and add tomato sauce, oregano, parmesan cheese, and pepperoni. So good. Oh, and there’s a long-rise option for those of us who prefer it.

Milk Kefir: Removing the Grains from Your Finished Kefir – This is probably the only challenging part of making kefir, if you can call it that, and I share my three methods for fishing out those grains.

Now it’s your turn!

Come on over to the CFH blog and join the weekly cultured food gathering. Share your recipes, tips, or what’s culturing on your counter either through a blog link or a note in the comments.

See you there!