/ck/ - Food & Cooking

Not fermenting but I saw curing in the keywords.

Do cured eggs belong here?

>>9853008

I don't see why not. It's not fermenting but it is a transformative technique not often done in home kitchens. I'll try to find some good curing links for the next thread. Good looking egg, super glossy finish like an egg gummy bear.

>>9852878
Op is a pretty alright person

>>9853008
I want to try this. Do you add spices when you cure them? Also what are they good for? I think I've seen cured egg yolk grated on top of dishes before. But what is the best thing to do with it?

>>9853698

You can definitely add spices or herbs to the salt. In fact, I highly recommend it. This was purely for presentation so I didn't go crazy, but if you wanted to incorporate it into the dish seasoning it would definitely be the way to go. This was a 3 day cure covered in salt and set in the fridge with loose (and I emphasize LOOSE) plastic wrap. You want it loose because you don't want moisture building up inside; you want it to release so the salt stays dry. Although it won't be completely dry since the moisture from the egg will saturate it, but the more dry the better.

Frankly the best thing to do with it is grate it over a dish that might benefit from a little egg flavor and go to town. Salad, maybe some soup... any dish that has a good accompaniment with egg.

bump

Thinking of blending tomorrow. Just short of two weeks, but since fermentation is complete I really want to dig in.

So, what's the right amount of salt, already?

>>9856586
Fermenting is science but so is breathing or taking a shit. Humans have been doing all three for thousands of years, just put some in there and find out. If it turns out then it worked. I know the thread is for sharing information and such, but reinforcing the fact that home-fermentation is a trial and error matter is an essential piece of info.

>>9856586

Really comes down to preference.

I like 3% for soft skinned vegetables, and 5% for hard skinned. The amount of salt will depend on the mount of water you mix it with, by total weight... depending on how you intend to create it.

For others, it's just X number of table spoons of salt, where X is how you're feeling that day or how much your horoscope told you to add.

Anyone here try fermenting ground meat? And by fermenting I mean fermenting.

>>9856586
I use a 3% brine for pickles and a 5% brine for hot sauces. For sauerkraut I use a 2% by weight of veg salt rub.

>>9856699
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7QPAeOdXqA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cy9axYOYpw

>>9856278
how do you like those silicone fermentation lids?

Anyone here home brew? Was thinking of buying a 5 gallon juggy and trying an Apfelwein as a way to ease into it.

Also interested to see if there are any shroomers on /ck/ and if that belongs in this thread.

>>9857974
I homebrew. Mead, mostly, but I do cider and am experiementing with a cheap wine now.

There is almost always a homebrew thread over on /diy/. Lots of very... passionate... people...

>>9857565

Pretty damn well actually. They're a simple alternative to the air locks where you need to fill and junk. Easy to clean; no fuss no muss. They do retain a little odor from whatever you're fermenting but that's whatever. Any non-glass product will do that.

Definitely a recommended buy, whether you're an advanced fermenter or just starting to get into it.

>>9858102

I want to start brewing mead. Any tips?

>>9857974
>shroomers

Explain.

>>9858149
The Compleat Meadmaker by Ken Schramm is a terrific book. If you just want to jump right in, it has a list of equipment you need, ingredients, and a procedure.

It also has advanced techniques, history, and a great sense of humor. Well worth the investment.

From personal experience, don't waste money on a bucket style fermenter unless you can find one cheap. It's plenty easy to make one yourself, if you can find a bucket with a crimp-on lid the right size.

Search through marketplace websites for carboys. People sell the things cheap all the time.

Start stockpiling bottles now and clean them well before storing. If you want to make carbonated mead (my jam) avoid low quality bottles without the indentation on the bottom. They can and will explode.

Corking machines are not as intimidating or expensive as I was lead to believe, and I prefer corking large bottles to capping smaller ones. Obviously, this is a matter of prefference, but it means less cleaning small bottles. A drop or two of glycerin on the corks makes inserting them a breeze.

Keep notes, and have fun with it. As long as you keep things clean and sterile as possible, you really can't fuck up.

>>9858318
how do you feel about swing top bottles.
I use em for my cider, but ive been looking into mead, and i wanna know if i should get new bottles.
Also where do you get your honey. I know there are so local honey farmers in my area that will sell to me, but like can you just buy the 100% pure honey from like costco?

It's late, I'm drunk. Just dug into my pickles. Little tortilla, some sliced smoked turkey, sliced pickles, cheese, franks... good to go.

>>9858318
based meadanon

>>9856969
Thank you

>>9858419
I love grolsch/swing top bottles. They're expensive, though, especially when you can get other bottles for free. And I never get them back after giving a bottle as a gift either. No reason why they wouldn't work for mead I can think of...

If there were a place to buy them locally, I'd probably like them more, but it's just not worth it for me to order them online.

Better ingredients means better mead. Local beekeepers are your friends and farmer's markets are the place to be, both for honey and for fruits if you want to make a melomel.

(That said, I'm going the supermarket honey route at the moment because money is tight right now and it's the middle of winter. I don't expect it to be /as/ good, but it will still be ok.)

>>9858846
Go forth in the name of Bacchus, Thor, or a drunken party diety of your choice!

>>9858592
Those look freaking delicious.

>>9852878
Vinegar is used to make a non-fermented pickle. Ferments need only salt and water.

OP, if you are female, I find that touching my cooch before I work with the vegetables is sufficient to get a lacto starter culture going. Otherwise you may have to backslop, though it's not recommended to do too often.

Also if you're using water from a chlorinated tap, then dispense the water and let it sit for a while. The chlorine will evaporate out, leaving a more hospitable climate for your little microbiotes.

>>9859059
>my greens won't ferment

>>9858251
People who grow their own mushrooms. Figured there would be at least one freak on here using the PF Tek method to grow their own musht.

>>9858318
>The Compleat Meadmaker by Ken Schramm
I have this book. It is good.

>>9858133
anyone had any mold problems while using these? a lot of the negative reviews I read mentioned mold, but that could be user error.

I'm fermenting some cider right now using molasses as the sugar source, but it seems to be slow going. Should i add some sugar table for a boost?

How do I into kvass

>>9860312

I've had mold before, but it wasn't due to these airlocks but just bad ingredients. Definitely user error.

>>9861737
not that anon but I tried to make sauerkraut twice and I got mold both times. I was careful with hygiene and salt quantity but I still ruined it. Any tips to avoid it?

>>9862087

More salt. Mold only produced because it's an environment that it can grown in. Adding more salt hinders that environment, allowing for proper fermentation to build. The lactobacillus can handle heavy salt environments, do don't worry about over salting. Also, make sure your shit is air tight, but can still release gasses. You want to make sure it's a completely oxygen depleted environment.

Fuck Calm yeest

>>9862147
>Also, make sure your shit is air tight, but can still release gasses. You want to make sure it's a completely oxygen depleted environment.
Better look into this than salt if you have problems with mold.

>>9859177
Ok, I downloaded all the images in this thread because I thought this might be an instructional infographic. Now I think I may have to backslop.

So will the colder weather fuck things up if I have a go at it?

>>9864145
from what I understand, the cold might slow down the process but it should still work.

>>9863188
>oxygen depleted environment
is there a way to do this? even sealing something 'air-tight' will leave some oxygen inside. do you need to use a pump to create a vacuum or something? maybe i'm just not understanding...

>>9864189
Fermentation produces carbon dioxide, which will push all of the oxygen out. Airlocks let gas out, but not in. Personally I just use mason jars with the lids not tightened all the way and don't have any mold problems. Even if you do get mold remember that it can't live in the brine, so just skimming it off is generally fine. If it's black it's probably bad, but I usually have a little white (mold or yeast) on my pickles or kraut that I have to skim.

Anyone else who encountered brettanomyces off-taste?

>>9864219
>Even if you do get mold remember that it can't live in the brine
Actually ... it can. If you see mold on fermented stuff it will already have spread its spores within the product.

The best course of action is to prevent mold in the first place by ensuring that no piece of food is above the water level.

>>9864390
how can you tell the difference between legit mold and the harmless 'scum' that forms?

>>9856686
sometimes I mix with clean hands and go by roughness to tell when its salty enough

>>9863309
Might have to burn your computer, senpai. Sorry.

>>9853749
Do they need extra-drying in the oven or is salt-cure sufficient? If so what temperature (in celsius)?

>>9864869
Microscope? Or put it into a sterile petridish on sterile nutrient solution?

>>9866042
so, what... if I see anything growing in there I should toss the whole thing?

>>9866151
No. Fermentation happens with bacteria too, doesn't it?

Just work clean, sterilize your glasware and lids (get new lids!) use gas locks and stuff to weigh down the food under the brine-waterline.

>>9866181
alright, cool. thanks.

>>9852878
I want to try making my own ginger beer. a lot of people say to just reuse plastic bottles online. I want to have a nice presentation in glass "grolsch" style flip top bottles. can i brew for a couple days in plastic and then switch out to flip tops and throw them in the fridge to slow/stop fermenation? I am worried they will explode.

Also.. different recipes call for different yeast. or a ginger bug, does anyone have any experience with this and can you suggest what is best? I am thinking about starting a ginger bug. any idea how this will impact CO2 production and carbonation and possible glass explosions?

So just a dumb question.
After moving things to the fridge, do I still need to worry about burping as much? The fermentation should slow down, but I don't want a fridge bomb.
Also do I have to keep worrying about keeping things below the brine after fridging? I've packed things in tight, but I figure once I eat them that'll probably stop working.

>>9867992

Maybe once a week. The pressure won't be huge, but there will still be gradual buildup.

Is it possible to make garlic honey with creamed honey and cheap Chinese garlic?

>>9857974
god he used to be handsome

>>9868005
You can make cheap Chinese garlic and creamed honey.

>>9865081

You could dry it on very low temperature to ensure its properly hardened off I guess. The only reason mine is so glossy is because I took a moist towel to it to rid the excess salt. If you took a sry towel to it, it wouldnt look as moist.

bump

So how exactly do you tell the difference between kahm and mold?

>>9869216

Kham yeast is often white and silky.
Mold is often colorful and fuzzy.

Also, smell. Yeasty vs Moldy.

>>9852878
Just made this, should I cover the cabbage with fluid all the way to the top or? I tried to press but it always floats to the top

>>9869534
If it's an issue with stuff floating, there's not enough in your jar. Push it down and slightly overfill it so putting on the lid will cover as much as possible with liquids.

>>9869542
Thanks I just pressed it hard and managed to fit all the contents in only two jars

Is curing salt necessarily pink? Here where I live there is no regulation for curing salts, so there is no #1/#2 label with precise percentages to work with, and yesterday when I was looking for it in a local store, I found a curing salt that looked pretty much just like regular salt but chunkier.

Also, if I end up using that salt and it isn't actual curing salt, am I going to die if I eat the meat? How hard is it to tell if it worked?

>>9869558
My boy! If you can help yourself, let it sit for a while before you start dishing out, too. Given some time and the way it's packed in there, dishing out servings after it sits won't cause too much of it to start floating because it's been compressed.

>>9869739
>Is curing salt necessarily pink?
No, but many (most?) are dyed to avoid confusion.

>am I going to die if I eat the meat?
Uhhh... depends on how sensitive your system is, how long it's been sitting, and the type of bacteria that grow. Sodium nitrite (added to curing salt) specifically inhibits bacterial growth. While salt curing has been around for centuries, not getting the right ingredients now makes it a riskier proposition.

When in doubt, buy online to avoid any confusion or possible issues down the road.

>>9869773
Thank you. I'm going to let it sit for 2~3 days. Eh, close enough, might as well do it. Will report back in a few days if I die.

completely unrelated question, i'm just a cooking noob, but how do you guys store your garlic?
my garlic only lasts a few weeks before it starts sprouting out of the bulb, is this normal or am i doing something wrong?

>>9869835
I'm not an expert by any means, but do you remove the skin before storing it? I store my bulbs on some random plastic bowl, never had a problem, except once when I decided to remove the skin because why not.

>>9869808
good luck, anon

>>9853698
You can use them to thicken up sauces/dressings. Mayonnaise would normally take raw eggs, oil and vinegar but you can achieve similar (or even better) results with the cured yolk.

>>9870188
I think cooked yolk would work too.

Mayonnaise can also be made with milk, provided you have a mixer.

>>9859253

That's a whole other ballpark from fermenting food items. You'd be better off taking a vroomery to the [REDACTED].

>>9859253
>People who grow their own mushrooms.
If you bring up magic mushrooms I will figuratively murder you.

I once went into a lecture about Hydroponics. It was about weed. Dumb fucker.

>>9866151
Just skim off the top.

Because of the high acidity of the brine, you can actually stir it in and the mold will be neutralized. But I think that's gross so I just skim it off.

>>9869976
no i don't
how long does garlic last for you?
when it starts sprouting out of the bulb that means its bad right?

>>9870343
I meant that I wanted to grow some mushrooms to cook.

I don't use drugs.

>>9870864
Sorry.

So... I think the /ck/- or /sci/-archive has some information about growing mushrooms yourself.

>>9869835
>only lasts a few weeks
that seems normal? garlic doesn't last forever. use it or buy some more - it's cheap.

>>9872186
what threw me off is those hugeass bags of garlic they have at the store bro
how the fuck do people use all that garlic in a couple weeks

>>9872194
dunno, man, maybe they're making this over and over http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/40-cloves-and-a-chicken-recipe-191066
I usually buy individual bulbs and avoid the large bags. the bagged bulbs are usually smaller, anyway

>brewing
So like, if I wanted to add yeast to some fruit juice to make like a fruit beer, how would I do it? We were talking about this with some friends but haven't actually tried it yet.

>>9872194
It may be because we grow it ourselves but we generally harvest 150-200 bulbs in June, wash them, let dry a few days and keep in a refrig veg crisper and they stay firm and full of flavor. This is what's left from june harvest (we use a lot of garlic).

>>9873347
if your just looking to turn store bough into alcohol just get juice with no preservatives in it malic and absorbic acid are okay.

Blend day tomorrow. Stay tuned.

I'm going to make sauerkraut for the first time soon. What spices should I add in?

Are there any other easy beginner things that would be good to try?

I'd like to use store bought natto to make my own natto from soybeans. Don't really know what else I'd do though.

>>9873347
Fermenting fruit juice is called making wine.

>>9874531
Fruit beer and wine are two different things you mong.

My first batch of kvass just got finished. This is some good shit. Might make a bunch more and serve it to my friends on New Year's.

>>9861676
just go on youtube to start

>>9875075

Post if you do. Trial and error begins where lurkers end.

>>9873538
why does the back half of that pile of garlic look so gross
and what's a veg crisper
I wanna store my garlic for months too

>>9873538
Are you warding off blood suckers or something?

>>9873538
gross, wash out your drawer

>>9859177

I think a big problem with people not being able to ferment fruits/vegetables is that they don't use organic produce. A lot of conventional produce is power washed to shit and some of it even undergoes radiation to kill off bacteria and yeast which extends it's shelf life.

Rubbing your cooch before handling produce is likely going to result in fermentation, but not the fermentation you'd like. If your cooch is the only source of bacteria pre-fermentation, then there's no way you supplied enough for a healthy and complete fermentation, and anyways your vag bacteria has learned to thrive in a vag, which is genetically different from bacteria that's learned to thrive on a cabbage or cucumber.

>>9870343

Shroomery is an amazing resource on growing culinary/gourmet mushrooms, and a hydroponics lecture would be an amazing resource on growing vegetables indoors.

Maybe if you got past the stigma of LOL DRUGS XDDDD you'd actually be able to apply some of it to your own personal needs. I don't use drugs but people like you are 10x more annoying than people who do.

>>9876917
How easy/hard is it to grow king oyster mushrooms indoors?

>>9853749
I had it over a carbonara in a restaurant once, it seemed a little overboard since there was already a poached egg on it, but it was pretty nice for presentation

>>9876052
>He doesn't use fresh garlic every time he cooks
Sad!

>>9859253
I bought a bag of italian oyster spores once and tossed em in some chopped straw that I'd soaked in hydrated lime for a bit. Worked way better than expected, forgot to record my yield, but for the very little effort I put in it was worth it. But yeah, /diy/ or /out/ might have something, nothing here. I'm just happy to see actual cooking related threads like this one pop up more frequently like the old tea generals

>>9867587
I made ginger beer using a ginger bug about a year ago. I think the trick with any recipe with a starter like that is to remember that your first batch will be weak until the bug really gets going. It was a little flat, but was also my first time fermenting at all. I'd definitely recommend the bug from what I remember reading, the yeast is gonna make it taste dry and have a much higher explosion rate. Unless you want an alcoholic ginger beer, then yeast is obviously the way to go, specifically brewers yeast. A bug won't produce enough, it'll just make carbonation

>>9875020
Fermented fruit juice isn't beer you fucking moron.

>>9874504
None, just try it plain. Good enough in my opinion
Something like a half sour pickle, or any fermented vegetable should be easy since they don't require a mother or starter.
My ferment of choice is kombucha, but it can be a pain to start without a scoby or a decent bit of luck with making your own

>>9876942
I hear they're one of the more temperamental oysters

>>9867587
I'd suggest some ale or cider yeast to be honest. The thing about spontaneous fermentation is that you never know what you're going to get. For consistent results and non-exploding bottles I also suggest that you brew it like a beer. That is to say, let all of it ferment until there's no more sugar left. A week is ususlly enough if you don't go for high ABV. Prime your bottles with 8 grams of sugar per liter, bottle with 10-15 mm of air left to spare to the top. Ferment the primed bottles for 1-2 weeks and you're done.

Bottling day. Last image was taken moments ago.

>>9877339

Check back in an hour or two. Need to clean and sterilize my bottles before the blend.

Okay you guys got me interrested. I am wondering about iodized salt, does it matter? Some recipes mention non iodized salt some don't

>>9876902
Will garden herbs introduce the right bacteria. Some rosemary or fresh bay leaves wouldn't hurt in any way

>>9876967
Can't wait to move out of my appartment and grow various mushshrooms on a haybale behind the shed

>>9876917
There are enough books written without LOL DRUGS XDDDD that actually care about the plants / mushrooms I'm interested in.

Maybe even written by those LOL DRUGS XDDDD guys, I wouldn't know.

But at least it appears like those appear to know or have worked with the plants / mushrooms I'm interested in.

A good course on Hydroponics or Mushrooms should prepare you anyway to adapt the knowledge you gained to most plants.

>>9877531
If you are familiar with the taste it might not matter.

Try making a small batch with both salts?

>>9877581
Dunno. Avoid getting earth into it.

>>9877653
Some sprigs, to introduce a wild/unsterilized bacteria culture to super clean supermarket stuff, not a whole plant

>>9877698
>Some sprigs
I know. The point still stands. Though that probably wouldn't have been a problem.

Prepare for a journey my friends, and ignore the messy counter top.

Left: Guero, Serrano, Garlic, Black Peppercorn
Center: Jalapeno, Serrano, Garlic Black Peppercorn
Right: Sweet peppers, Guero, Jalapeno, Serrano, Garlic, Black Peppercorn

Development of kham yeast was minimal. I added some granulated sugar (first time) with this round so I'm wondering if the extra sugar helped prevent the bloom. You can still see some white-ish stuff on the bottom however. That's the kham. Perfectly safe.

First up is the Jalapeno, Serrano, Garlic, Peppercorn.

Visual: No growth on rim; no fuzzies.
Smells: Fantastic. No funky sour, no gagging.

It's good.

Weight stone out. You can see additional kham yeast on it. Again, safe.

Now I didn't take exact measurements, but if I had to guess it was a quarter cup white vinegar, quarter cup brine. You can go heavier or lighter on either one. Start with just a little bit of each and keep taste testing as you add more of one or the other until you get something you like.

First blend. Thickish pulp.
This is where I adjusted the vinegar/brine quantities.

Final blend. Smooth hot sauce.
Vinegar/Brine blend to my liking.

You could go smoother, or add more brine to loosen it up a bit. I like a thick viscosity though.

>>9877854

Bottled and ready to enjoy. Should last more than a year in the fridge. I'll be done with it within a few weeks easily.

Next up is the Guero, Serrano, Garlic, Black Peppercorn.

First blend. Tasted a little sweet. Added some additional salt, brine and vinegar.

>>9877868

Blend blend blend.

Final blend. Consistency is good.
Still a sweeter type pepper. Not bad at all.

Bottled, and on to the next.

Final sauce is the Sweet peppers, Guero, Jalapeno, Serrano, Garlic, Black Peppercorn.

In a way, I'm both disappointed and happy this one turned out bad, because it provides and excellent example of what you need to watch out for. So play close attention to the below images.

It smelled great up until a few days ago.

Visual: Green growth on the air lock (typically a bad sign that some baddies got in there).
Smells: Sour, unpleasant, induces gag reflex.

Result: It's bad.

Only one thing to do at this point. Strain it, and bin it. Always check for unfamiliar growth and putrid smells. Very clear indicator fermentation went wrong somewhere. As to what happened, I can't really say. Sometimes you win them, other times not so much.

And the final products are 6 bottles of ready to eat lacto fermented hot sauce.

I'll be doing another batch in a few weeks. Maybe a first attempt at Kvass too.

The four batches of wild pickles I made are coming along nicely. Crushed garlic is giving the other batch much more flavor. No molding yet and over a week, though I can still taste a little more cucumber than I want.

Made some pickled Jalapeños today as well. About 4 pounds, would of been 5 but the bottom of one of my Ball jars broke in the boiling pot. Fortunately I scooped em up fast and tossed em in a veggie cockpot I was making. Tried a few. I think they are going to be fucking awesome.

>>9878920

Pics?

You posted almost a week ago that you were pickling these, so they should be done in another week-ish?

I want to try this but I'm wondering about what to expect. For example carrot sticks, will they be salty and sour after this?

>>9879914

Not so much sour, but probably a little salty. It all depends on how much your brine is concentrated. It also depends on how you want to eat your carrots... do you want to eat them raw, or do you want to cook with them after the ferment is done?

There's some differences between how you eat your fermented food, and the benefits they have.

Uncooked lacto fermented food will have a strong benefit general gut health.

Cooked lacto fermented food works as an anti-inflammatory and aides on stopping bloating.

In the end it's up to you anon. Won't hurt to try new things. Get to fermenting and post some pics.

>>9879917
Yeah i'll give it a try after Christmas, some carrots with ginger and lemongrass, or onions with mustard seed, rosemary and some juniper berries seems like a fun experiment

so where/how do you source your ingredients. As i understand it the fermentation uses the natural bacteria & yeast on the vegetables to ferment so do store bought work since they're usually waxed?

>>9880595
Not OP, but I've only used homegrown organic peppers, carrots, garlic, cucumbers and cabbage for the stuff I've done just for that reason. I assume pesticides could easily impact the growth of the bacteria too.

>>9880626
too bad its winter and all the vegetable stands and farmers markets are closed where i live. I guess i'll start lacto-fermenting in the spring

>>9880658

Most grocery stores have an organic section.

>>9880699
Mehhh that shit always looks like shit and is twice as expensive

>>9880658
>>9880699

I think winter produce due to how long it will have been warehoused and shipped even if organic wouldn't be high enough quality to want to ferment. It's my understanding you want very fresh ingredients.

>>9880941
I'm looking into this whole fermentation stuff for tasty snacks but I find loads of hippie shit about probiotics and what not. Why are you guys doing this for tasty food or for the totally unproven health stuff?

>>9852878
does anyone else enjoy fermented pigs feet?

>>9880952

Why can't it be both? Fermented foods not only taste amazing but are good for you.

>>9880952
There are some studies that have indicated probiotics can be beneficial. There have been some that indicate they can be harmful to people with compromised immune systems as well. Sure, more studies need to be done but I wouldn't look for much in the near future given the facts of the current political climate and the fact that the medico/pharma industries aren't interested in funding research that won't lead to profitting from synthetic, patented drugs.

https://nccih.nih.gov/health/probiotics/introduction.htm

I ferment sauerkraut and pickles for the superior flavor. I ferment my own hot sauces to experiment with different flavors and because 1 or 2 pepper trees produces a large amount of peppers. If I get health benefits from it (and legitimate studies have demonstrated this to be so just not in a large enough quantity to where it can be stated unequivocally by authorities), great, but that's not my primary reason.

As far as it being "hippie," I don't generally classify food with labels like that so I have no idea.

You'd be surprised how much healthcare uses lactobacillus for its probiotic benefits. I work pharmacy informatics and have access to all kinda of fun statistics. At my hospital, in the last 30 days, 219 capsules, and 50 granulated packs of lactobacillus were dispensed.

Doctors love the stuff.

>>9881075
>What the Science Says About the Effectiveness of Probiotics
Why aren't these liberals asking what the bible says?

Those bacteria die in the stomach, capsules might work because there are some designed to transport acid sensitive drugs through the stomach

>>9881172

>die in the stomach

Straight up bs. Go fact check it.

>>9881243
Apparently they do.

IMHO people are too obsessed with their food. I'm surrounded by so many idiots swearing that vegetables/fruit are not as good as they used to be (lol wtf it was never so easy to get good quality as it is now), a new fad diet every week, spamming their Facebook feed with these stupid pills that they take and sell, adding fruit to water and claiming how super healthy it is (eat the damn fruit !!!), stupid smoothies, detox drinks and friging enemas that I'm immediately repulsed even by the word "organic". I may be getting too old and cranky

Reporting back, I'm >>9869808/>>9869739
I guess it really was curing salt. Left it for 2.5 days, 2kg piece of meat with 2:1 proportions for brine (following this http://thesaltcuredpig.com/brine-cured-ham-101/).). Also added crushed black pepper, powdered black pepper and thyme.
left it in water for 15mins after the 2.5days, then another 15mins rest after getting it out of the water. Patted it dry with some paper towels to get a better crust.
I kinda expected it to be salty, or to taste like it hadn't had any salt added to it because of the water bath, but it worked out just fine. It also looks exactly like how I'd expect a homemade ham to look.
Will do it again soon.

>>9867587
>>9867587
Ginger bug is essentially finely sliced or grated ginger allowed to grow its own wild yeasts. yeast is self explanatory. traditionally, ginger beer is made with ginger beer plant, a combination of a specific yeast and strain of bacteria and can be found at gingerbeerplant(do0)net or yeemoos(d0t)com. ginger bug is inconsistent, yeast yields a sharper more sour taste i've found and ginger beer plant gives a consistent fermentation and doesn't have that slightly sour taste you get from yeast based recipes. both sites have excellent guides for getting started and yeemoos also sells basic gear to get started though it can get pricey. i love using swing tops for bottling but if giving as a gift, you wont get them back and they are expensive. the only time ive had one explode on me is when a roommate unplugged the mini fridge it was stored in and forgot to re plug it and it was left like that for a month before i heard it go off. the earliest ive had a regular bottle explode is a month after making and im pretty sure it was just me not sterilizing very well so saving regular beer bottles and investing in a bunch of caps and a capper is fine if you dont intend for it to last longer than a couple weeks