Fermentation 101
Many people are curious about how to ferment vegetables, and the basic process is actually pretty simple. First off, what does it mean to ferment? Fermentation is an easy and simple way to preserve food with just salt and water. An additional bonus is that fermented food is incredibly rich in probiotics, which is great for the gut biome!
What you will need:
vegetables/food you want to ferment (sliced and/or chopped)
salt
water
glass jar with tight-fitting lid, like a mason jar
a weight like this one
kitchen food scale
The steps:
Put your empty jar on a kitchen scale and tare it to zero.
Next, put vegetables in a jar and make sure they are submerged in water (but make sure there is space between the water and the top of the jar). Make note of how much the vegetables and water weighs on the scale.
Add salt to make the salt brine.
There is one short formula to memorize: the vegetables should be covered in a 2-5% salt brine (aka salt water) solution. This means that 2-5% of the weight of both the chopped vegetables AND any additional water you pour into the jar to cover the vegetables is how much salt you should add.
For example: if you have 150 grams of vegetables and 50 grams of additional water, you should pour in anywhere from 4-10 grams of salt into the jar with the vegetables and water.
Optional: From here you can add other spices if you want, like mustard seed, dill seed, and other seasonings. Throwing in a bay leaf adds extra tannins to the solution, which can help the vegetables stay nice and crunchy for a longer period of time.
Put a glass weight in the jar to ensure all vegetable parts are submerged under the salt brine. Food not submerged in the salt brine can mold!
Now cover the jar with a lid, and “burp” it about once a day to release the build-up of air pressure. The fermentation usually takes about a week, give or take a few days. Taste-test it every few days until it tastes to your liking, then store in a cool place like a refrigerator or a cellar for up to a year!
I found this video is also a pretty good primer on fermentation, including which kinds of foods ferment better with more or less salt, for more or less time.