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Happy Monday! Welcome this week’s Bad A** Bacteria post!
As you can see, I haven’t been doing a very good job with this series recently. The reasons why are many, most of which are because life has just gotten too busy and hectic and sometimes I just don’t have the energy to start another ferment and write another post. Plus, last week, I was out of town visiting family back East, so I couldn’t prepare anything.
However, a main underlying reason that I have not created any new ferments recently, is this whole “what is the right way to ferment?” drama. I know that my personality is one to over-analyze and shy away from things that make me uncertain. There is a lot of information still floating around the webosphere about this topic and I continue to read conflicting information. Many of you saw my post from a few weeks ago about being so confused with the recent series that KerryAnn from Cooking Traditional Foods had put together. Her information was exciting, but also overwhelming. So, I’ve kind of shied away from fermenting since then.
What’s a Girl to Do?
Late last week, I finally made the decision that I was going to invest in some Pickl-It jars. I want to ferment and truly believe the nutritional value in doing so. I had a little unexpected money arrive out of the blue (a rare occurrence!) and I set aside some cash for them. I was all gung-ho and was planning on placing my order this weekend ….
Until …
… Enter the Fido.
(Plus, the money I had set aside got spent on groceries, gardening supplies, including some gorgeous tomatoes and pepper plants. Oh well. Such is life.)
After chatting about it on Facebook, my friend Lea, over at Nourishing Treasures, recommended the Fido-style canning jars. These types of jars are made from high-quality glass and designed to withstand pressure. Plus, Lea has several of them and really likes them, and I value her recommendation. On a side note, if you haven’t heard about it already, Lea is doing an AMAZING experiment and I cannot wait to see the results. She is going to be testing 18 different fermenting set-ups and then looking at samples for bacteria, yeasts, molds, etc. I don’t know how she’s keeping this all straight, but I’m glad she is. Part of me doesn’t want to ferment again until I see her results and have a better idea of what types of nasties can be in home ferments, depending on the method used.
Anyways … Back to Fido.
The Fido-style jars are going to be more air-tight than your standard Mason jar, but they are a little easier on the pocketbook than the Pickl-Its. The main thing about these jars is that they won’t have the airlock like the Pickl-Its, so you’ll need to be cautious to burp them regularly. Lea suggested that if I had a glass drilling company in my area, I could ask them about drilling a hole in the lids. I am going to have to do more research on that. And, honestly, I’m not going to invest in any more supplies until I see the results of Lea’s tests. Then I will have a much better idea of what works and what doesn’t, and hopefully will have a better understanding of the fermenting tools that I should invest in.
So, after a bunch of research, I discovered that the prices for the Fido jars at SurLaTable.com were cheaper than Amazon.com! There are several brands of these style jars on the market. The two that SurLaTable.com carries are:
- Bormioli Rocco Fido Canning Jars (Italian)
- Le Parfait Canning Jars (French)
The ones I purchased are the Bormioli Rocco brand, but I am sure the Le Parfait brand is great too. They’re really the same jar, just one is Italian and one is French. Both received excellent reviews as I read about them on various websites.
So, I now have a couple Bormioli Rocco Fido jars and the first ferment I’m going to make is dilly carrots (I started them last night!). I’ve never had dilly carrots, but I see people talk about them all the time. Plus, I have some gorgeous fresh dill growing in my garden that will be perfect for that! I’m looking forward to seeing the results of my ferment using the Fido jar instead of my traditional Mason jar method.
So, that’s where I’m at. I know a lot of you probably think that I’m silly for being so conflicted and overwhelmed about fermented veggies. In the grand scheme of things, there are probably lots of other things I could be worrying about. Or, hey! How about not worrying at all? Now, there’s a concept! 😉 heh heh
For me, it all comes down to this — Even though I don’t have any specific gut issues that I’m trying to heal, I am concerned that there is the potential for long-term damage to the gut if bad molds, yeasts, and bacteria are continuously introduced to the body through contaminated fermented foods. So, I’d rather know what the risks are and then make a decision as to the methods I will employ to ferment.
Want to learn more? Here’s some posts for you to peruse. And, I’d love to hear your feedback! Leave me a comment below! 🙂
- Fermenting Methods: We’ve Had it All Wrong
- Cooking Traditions Foods’ Lactofermentation Series
- The Science Behind Sauerkraut Fermentation
- Sauerkraut Survivor – getting ready
- What is the step-by-step process of microbial lacto-fermentation?
- Image Credit
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Thanks for the mention 🙂
I the Bormioli Rocco Fido’s because I thought they looked classier than the Le Parfait – which are more rounded. Plus the white seals are pretty (at least until they get brine stains LOL).
Sur la Table is a GREAT website! I am so glad you mentioned them. I was able to get twenty Fido’s for $100 ($116 shipped) and I can’t WAIT until they arrive 🙂
Awesome deal!! Thanks for stopping by Lea!
You’re certainly not alone in this. I had cabbage to make sauerkraut, but didn’t, because of my uncertainty. I have decided to just stick to Kefir and Kombucha (KombuCafé – fermented coffee, too), until we see how Lea’s experiment turns out. It certainly has the potential to clarify everything once and for all, or, I suppose, it could even further confuse – I get confused easily. . . . 😉
Another source for the Fido jars is The Container Store, but if you type Fido in the search box you will only get results for dogs. Ha ha! They list them as Hermetic Storage Jars, but I know they’re Bermioli Fido jars from Italy, because I bought one from their local store. Currently, a 1 liter jar (just over 1 qt.) costs $4.49 online. You can see all their sizes here:
http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10011037&N=&Ntt=glass+jars. I bought it because I liked its rustic charm, but don’t like washing it because of that floppy lid – I’m afraid I’ll break it. I also wish they had a wider mouth, because I have big hands. They also have French Hermetic Glass Terrines – which do have wide mouths – but the price on those is much higher. A 1 liter terrine (jar) currently costs $9.99 online.
Thanks, Jessica.
http://www.containerstore.com/shop?productId=10005560&N=&Ntt=glass+jars
Hi Brenda – thanks for stopping by! So far, I’ve been quite pleased with the Fido jars. I am excited to see how this ferment turns out, as well as see results from Lea’s experiment. I really want to ferment regularly, but I have had to work through the mess of information I have been presented with and I need to find my comfort level again! 🙂
I had that same fear about the Fido jars, until I realized that the lids on the Fido jars do come off! That made washing A LOT easier!!! 🙂
I wish I had the extra money for any sort of jars right now, but I don’t. So I will be continuing with the standard mason jar process. I have seen results in my health for those and they have been positive, so I shall continue until I can get some pickl-it. And I wonder if those should be what I use for milk kefir.
I hear ya about the cost. Pickl-Its are out of the question for now. The money I had reserved for them is gone, however, I am very pleased with how things are going with the Fido jars and they’re only $5.00. I’m excited to see how the dilly carrots turn out. They’ve got a few more days to go. If they turn out well, then I’ll be hooked. Once I see the results of Lea’s experiment, I’ll know what avenue I want to pursue. Honestly, so far, I’m kind of sold on the Fidos.
The pickl-it site offers just the lids for the Fido jars if you decide to convert later.
I did buy a couple pickl-it jars and I have had a lot more success than with mason jars. But I also have a wildly fluctuating environment at home so that probably plays a big part in mold development.
Hi Abbey – thanks for leaving a comment. I did not realize you could buy just the lids, so that’s great to know! I will have to look into that. The fluctuating environment must be tricky! So far, my dilly carrots are looking good. I’m really excited to taste them and see how they compare to vegetable ferments that I’ve made in Mason jars. 🙂
Hi, Abbey, where do you see that the lids + airlock are available? I do not see this on their site, and that would be perfect for me . . . I already have some Fido jars on hand, and would feel silly buying more of the same since all I *really* need is the lid.
Pickl-It sells the lids with the airlocks to current customers. I, at some point, want to order a few of those lids (I think you have to order a jar first), so that I can switch them out with completed ferments: http://www.pickl-it.com/products/parts/. Would love to know if there were other options.
Jessica, I discovered on a recent Fido jar ferment that the jar will burp itself before the pressure builds up enough to explode the jar. It was the morning of the batch’s second day, and I had picked up the jar and agitated it a bit to see if the brine was bubbling. The jar let off a short “pffft” of gas. I then lifted the bale wire and vented off more pressure. I still think it’s a good idea to vent the jars several times a day at first because it more quickly purges the jars of oxygen. But, it’s comforting to know that they’ll vent themselves long before the pressure can break the glass.
Hi Alex! Thanks for stopping by again! It’s interesting that you bring that up, because I started my dilly carrots on Sunday afternoon and completely forgot about them until Tuesday afternoon. I was afraid I was going to blow the jar up! I burped them and there was a big “whoosh”, but it wasn’t as scary as I expected! I will have to do better about remembering to burp them in the future, but I agree, it was a relief knowing that I might not need to worry as much about blowing them up! 🙂 Thanks for the feedback!
I’d like to chime in on the Fido jars here. I own some Fido jars and some Le Parfait jars. I was using them for storage, not for fermenting. My usual method is to make large batches of sauerkraut in an Ohio Stoneware crock, and smaller batches of kimchi, kvass, or kefir in mason jars. A little over a week ago I decided to try making my kimchi in a Fido jar. This was kimchi made with a daikon radish instead of napa cabbage. Usually it would take 2-4 days to ferment in a mason jar on the counter, and the liquid would rise not quite to the top of the vegetables. In the Fido jar, it fermented in about 15 hours and created so much liquid that it oozed out of the Fido jar and made a puddle on the counter. (I did overfill the jar a bit, but there was definitely more juice.) When I opened the jar there was quite a bit of spray. That was an interesting result! Since then, I’ve started storing my sourdough in a Fido (in the fridge) and it is lighter, foamier, and more active than before. I agree with Lea’s hypothesis that the Fido itself is likely sufficient for an anaerobic environment. However, I’m not sure I want to have to babysit my ferments, so an airlock could be useful if you’re busy. Buying the Pickl-it lids alone is pricey, but I think you could buy a couple of Pickl-its and swap out the lids with your Fido jars when a ferment is done. I’m not certain Le Parfait would work. When I contacted Pickl-it about ordering just the lids, they said that Le Parfait come in different sizes and won’t fit.
Thanks for sharing your feedback Sarah! You know, I started my dilly carrots on Sunday afternoon and completely forgot about them until Tuesday afternoon. I burped them and there was a big “whoosh”, but it wasn’t as scary as I expected! I was afraid I was going to blow the jar up! The brine is super bubbly and the ferment seems really happy. So far, so good. I honestly think this brine is more fizzy than my water kefir! 🙂 I’m going to keep experimenting! Good idea about swapping out the lids. I’ll have to look into that, as I can’t find any place locally that drills glass. Thanks for stopping by!
In reading the experiment from start to finish.And this is quite sometime after this particular post.So I’m sure you’ve made some decisions of your own.But having read your original posts up until the one where you said we have it all wrong.I’d gone out and bought a TON of organic veggies.Then I started to hesitate…this is what kills me about the internet.It takes perfectly formed opinions and distorts them.Now I’m so impressed that pickl-it managed to invent a problem that really doesn’t exist.But that’s really my same argument with half the shit in our cabinets.Do we really need this crap?Ok…my rant is over sorry.But I’m going to stick with the mason jars and if someone one gives me any of the fancy goodies I will use them to do my own experiments.But I’m not buying another product that makes me doubt my self.I don’t know who said it but it absolutely fits those of us that are normally sure of everything we do. “If we don’t stand for anything we’ll fall for everything”. I’m absolutely impressed with Sandor Katz.He’s my HERO! I’m sure he’s eaten ferments that would scare the crap out of all of us and he still says fermenting anyway is good and trust your own judgement.If it smells bad or looks bad toss it out.It’s just veggies…life won’t end and if you put them in the compost then their lives were not for nothing. Circle of life so to speak. And according to the sauerkraut survivor experiment you don’t have to burp your fido jars.The gasket does it for you.Again I can’t say this enough.Believe in yourself because if you don’t no one else will.Have a wonderful life and keep up the awesome work.I love your blog!
Hi Lana – Thanks for your nice words! It’s up to each of us to evaluate the information we are presented with and then make the best decision we can. There’s nothing wrong with that. Speaking from personal experience, the Pickl-It jars are the only way I ferment anymore. The flavors, textures, and quality of the ferments are far better than anything I was able to produce using other methods. Yes, they are a bit pricey, however, I consider them right up there with necessary kitchen appliances, like my stand mixer, food processor, a dehydrator, etc., all of which cost way more than a PI jar. Since I have had many months of experience using them now, I am sold, simply based on the quality of my ferments. That, coupled with the fact that I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease this summer, which means I am spending A LOT of time working on healing my leaky gut with properly prepared fermented foods. I didn’t even realize I had leaky gut and digestion issues until my autoimmune diagnosis. Hope that helps — again, all my personal opinion, but I wanted to share! 🙂 Thank you for your support of my site!
Hi, Jessica. I’ve been reading through your 52-weeks posts and I’m really enjoying them. I was wondering though, have you tried Weck jars (weckjars.com). I’ve used their 1 liter tulip jar, which is their wide-mouth jar, with a medium-mouth jar glass lid as my weight. I made curtida (a south-American saurekraut, very yummy) in it and it’s very easy. The smaller glass lid keeps the vegetables under the brine very well.
Hi Deborah – So glad you stopped by! I have never tried the Weck jars. I will look into those. 🙂
Leaving a comment here because comments are disabled for the “Fermenting Methods: We’ve had it All Wrong, week 18” post. While it is true that an anaerobic environment is the best way to ferment, it is important to know that LABS put off Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Dioxide is heavier than Oxygen. This would mean that as the Co2 is the Oxygen is pushed up and out of any vessel being used this creates a protective barrier, thus an anaerobic environment is created. All this is assuming the layer isn’t disturbed by people or air flow. So I would say mason jars are great to use except that you run the risk of disturbing the protective layer each time you break the seal to allow off gassing, not to mention the attention that it requires. An anaerobic fermenter helps to ensure that this protective layer is not disturbed and also keeps out any other items, aka dust and bugs, from getting in. This is why a fermenting crock with a water seal or air tight jars with a water air lock work best. If these are cost prohibitive, don’t worry, those mason jars will get the job done just as well with a little care to detail.
I also wanted to mention that this is a great series.
Thank you!!! 🙂
Thanks for sharing Sam!! 🙂