When asking friends what they do with an abundance of green beans, one mentioned lacto-fermented green beans. I'd not had those before so started a batch last night. Directions from here. I didn't put anything except beans and brine in the jar; I'd used some pickling spices in a batch of cucumbers and I really didn't like the taste of something in there; plus, the fermentation gives a nice flavor all on its own (like with sauerkraut, which I've never seasoned). So, we'll see. I'm clocking it for 10 days and we'll see.
Ingredients
- 2 lb of green beans (or as many as you need to fill your jar), ends removed
- spices, which may include:
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed but not pealed
- pepper corns, pickling spices, etc.
- 1 teaspoon of non-iodized salt (Kosher, sea, or pickling salt) per one cup of non-chlorinated water (make as much brine as you need to fill your jars)
Instructions
- Wash your jar well. Add spices to the jar.
- Start packing the green beans.
- When the jar is packed half way, add the crushed garlic.
- Keep adding beans and packing the jar. Make sure to leave two inches of headspace.
- Dissolve 1 teaspoon of salt in one cup of water and add to the jar. Keep dissolving salt in water and add to the jar until the beans are covered.
- Place a fermentation weight on the beans to make sure they are all submerged in the brine.
- Close the jar with its lid finger tight.
- Place the jar on a plate (to catch the brine that might spill out during the fermentation process) and set on the kitchen counter at room temperature to ferment. It takes half a gallon jar about 10 days to ferment.
- During the fermentation process, the brine will become foggy and you'll notice some bubble action. This is the gas that forms during fermentation. We need to let this gas out, or in other words "burp the jar". Once a day, twist the lid open, wait a few seconds and then twist it back to close the jar (there is no need to open the jar completely). Once the brine is "clear" again, the fermentation process is done (it will never be as clear as it was when you first added it but it will be clearer than what it was during fermentation).
- Store your jar in the fridge or in a root cellar. It should last a few months.
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