Lacto-fermented Tomatoes (juice or salsa)

Anyone tired of me going on and on about the beauty of lacto-ferementing veggies?  Wait, don't answer that.

Today I am fermenting tomatoes.  This could be one of my favorite and tastiest ferments.  It doesn't have the traditional "pickled" taste that most ferments possess.  When tomatoes are fermented it brings a depth of flavor that is similar to V-8 juice.  (Probiotic Bloody Mary anyone? :)  Taking a shot of fermented tomato juice could be a good option for those who want food probiotics but don't like the taste or texture of sauerkraut.

While I don't particularly enjoy V-8 juice as a drink, I LOVE using it in soups in the winter.  Doesn't heating ferments destroy their beneficial bacteria?  Yes, it does.  I ferment tomatoes because it is hands down the easiest way to preserve a handful of tomatoes.  No super-hot kitchens from boiling or special equipment needed for canning.

As I mentioned, I only had a handful of tomatoes that I wanted to preserve.  I chopped an onion and two not-hot jalapeños to bulk up the jar so that my jar wouldn't have too much extra air.

 Last week, I threw everything in my blender and that was faster than chopping.  As I chopped today, I wondered why I didn't just blend again...  The half-gallon jar on the right is lacto-fermented tomato juice from last week.  I threw it all in a blender because I'm lazy I didn't want to have to run it through a sieve to remove the littlest bits.

After stirring my jar, I realized I still had more head room than I wanted.  Half the jar was empty and I was out of tomatoes.  What's a girl to do?  I added about a cup of tomato juice from last week.  It acts as my starter (or whey or Bubbies juice) as well as take up space in the jar.  For each quart of tomatoes, I use 1 tablespoon of sea salt (non-iodized) and 4 tablespoons of whey or starter.  Recipe for fermented salsa here.  I let both tomato juice and salsa ferment 2 days on the counter then removed to cold storage.

 A word about the funky apparatus on the top called an air-lock...

You can lacto-ferment in any jar as long as your veggies are submerged in brine (salt water).  A fancy air-lock is not necessary.

So why do I use an air-lock?

'Cause I got one.  I also use mason jars, aplenty.  After reading about the benefits of using Pickl-It from other bloggers as well as on the Pickl-It website I was curious.  The air-lock on the top allows pressure out of the jar while preventing more air (or new microbes) inside.   Some say this system prevents common problems with mold and yeast.  Some say an anaerobic system makes more pleasant tasting ferments.

Just a few minutes away from placing my order for a Pickl-It jar,  a friend of mine said her husband could drill holes in Fido jars.  I happened to have a Fido jar that I could use for this purpose.  The air-lock is from Fermentables, the wine/beer making store in North Little Rock.  So for a fraction of the cost I am testing a homemade Pickl-It jar.

My friend's husband will drill holes for you for $5/lid but he wants a minimum of 4 lids per order to make it worth the effort of setting up the drill, etc.  Email me:: luvmyhub AT gmail.com and I'll send you contact info.  This will save you a ton of cash because shipping big glass jars costs a small fortune these days.  You can find the Fido jars at TJ Maxx or from Crate & Barrel.  You can also purchase parts from Primal Kitchen, who also sells a different silicone valve that is space saving.

-Julie

Disclaimer: I don't make any money from this blog.  Just tellin' my friends what works for me.