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Are you looking to buy a gift for your food-obsessed friends or relatives?
Do you need help selecting that perfect gift for a special someone who is into fermentation?
Would you like to share your passion for making sauerkraut with family and friends by gifting them a few prized fermentation gadgets?
Or, perhaps you want to gift yourself that tool you have been coveting but have yet to purchase?
In this 2020 Fermentation Gift Guide [9 Creative Gift Ideas To Fit Any Budget], you will find great gift ideas for beginner fermenters and pros alike, from the budget-conscious to the splurge-worthy. Selections range from a beautiful sauerkraut recipe PDF file (a free gift from me to you for the last-minute gift-giver) to the Cadillac (Tesla?) of fermentation vessels as well as links so you can shop as you read.
I personally own and gratefully use just about every item recommended and discuss them each in even greater detail—with product review posts—on my Fermenting Supplies page.
Dive now into my 2020 Fermentation Gift Guide.
- 1. Personalized Gift Certificate For a Sauerkraut Making Lesson
- 2. Fermentation Gift Basket: Sauerkraut, Recipes and Fermentation Weights
- 3. Super-Slick Fermentation Kit for Care-Free Fermentation
- 4. Just The Essential Fermentation Tools: Scale + Salt
- 5. Gochugaru—Korean Red Pepper Powder—for Home Fermentation
- 6. Perhaps a Favorite Book? My Top 5 Picks
- 7. Take Fermentation to the Next Level with a Water-Sealed Fermentation Crock
- 8. And To Go Along with that Beautiful Fermentation Vessel…
- 9. Head to My Fermenting Supplies Page for More Gift Ideas
1. Personalized Gift Certificate For a Sauerkraut Making Lesson
FREE PDF Download
Use the button below to get your own copy of this Fermentation Gift Certificate. No opt-in required.
If you have already learned to make sauerkraut and would like to share your newly developed fermentation skills with a friend. Invite them to your home for a hands-on lesson on how to make delicious sauerkraut.
To make it extra easy for you, I put together a gift certificate. Just click the Download button above. The gift certificate will look best printed in the “Landscape” layout.
Fill in this gift certificate, put it in an envelope, and Voila! you’re done. Well, at least until it comes time to teach the time-honored skill of fermentation.
When you get ready to share your skills, pull together everything you need: the jars, weights, cabbage, and perhaps a bottle of wine and a few nibbles. You could even invite over a few extra friends and call it a party!
2. Fermentation Gift Basket: Sauerkraut, Recipes and Fermentation Weights
Here’s what you could put into a gift basket for that special person in your life:
- Pull together a few sample jars of some sauerkraut you have made. If your friend could just taste some of your homemade sauerkraut you know they would be hooked. It really does taste spectacular! The small 4-ounce (125 ml) jelly jar that I recommend as a weight for first-time fermenters works great for sharing sauerkraut. Pack a few jars with some sauerkraut you already have stashed in your refrigerator.
- Print out the FREE Book Sampler for my book Fermentation Made Easy! Mouthwatering Sauerkraut.
- Purchase my favorite fermentation “weight.” One of the key factors for successful fermentation is keeping everything below the brine. Over the past ten years, I’ve tried every weight on the market. The one I reach for each and every time I ferment something is a fermentation spring. It works like a charm exerting enough force to keep your ferment safely under the brine for weeks. Both of the recommended kits include airlock lids.
Use the opt-in form below, to download and share my FREE Book Sampler for Fermentation Made Easy! Mouthwatering Sauerkraut. You’ll have to opt-in to receive the PDF since it is too large to load on this page. It will be emailed to you.
Fermentation Springs: Fermentation “Weights” that REALLY Work
3. Super-Slick Fermentation Kit for Care-Free Fermentation
This selection of kits includes other options for the fermentation weight. Each kit includes a weight(s) and a lid(s) for use when fermenting in Mason jars. The weights are designed to hold the ferment below the brine. The lid allows gases to escape so that yeasts and molds won’t spoil a precious ferment.
Here are my four favorites with links below to extensive reviews on the Pickle Helix and MasonTops.
REVIEW: PickleHelix Fermentation Kit by Trellis Review [INNOVATIVE]
REVIEW: Pickle Pipe Pickle Pebble [MasonTops] REVIEW: Delightfully Simple
For my Canadian readers who get frustrated trying to find many of the items I’ve shared, please be aware that you can purchase some of the MasonTops products online and Ball Fermentation Springs at Walmart.
4. Just The Essential Fermentation Tools: Scale + Salt
The best sauerkraut is made when you can weigh your ingredients and add in just the right amount of salt. Required items?
A digital scale and some iodine-free salt.
Not everyone has a digital scale or that extra-special salt in their home. Help your friend get started on the right foot by gifting them a scale and some salt.
And, don’t forget to direct them to my teaching recipe: How to Make Sauerkraut in a Jar in 7 Simple Steps [Healthy, Flavorful, Easy]
Believe me, they will really, really appreciate this gem. It is the Cadillac of scales. I love that it doesn’t automatically shut off and is so versatile. I reviewed the MyWeigh KD8000 scale here.
- NEW FUNCTION: Baker's Math/Percentage weighing option
- CAPACITY: Up to 8,000 gram weighing capacity
- PRECISION: Precise readability from 1g to 0.05oz
I love the depth of flavor that a mineral-rich salt imparts to a batch of sauerkraut. This is the only salt I use in my home and is what was used for all my recipes on my website and in my book.
- 100% NATURAL PINK & CERTIFIED: Our Sherpa Pink Himalayan Salt is Kosher Certified, Non-GMO, and...
- FINE GRAIN: This Sherpa Himalayan pink salt is in our slightly larger than standard table salt...
- TASTES GREAT: Our 100% pure Himalayan Pink Salt is the perfect addition to any meal! Sherpa...
5. Gochugaru—Korean Red Pepper Powder—for Home Fermentation
If your gift recipient is into kimchi or spicy foods, consider buying them a stash of gochugaru, or Korean red pepper powder. This much coveted, flavor-enhancing pepper powder is traditionally used to flavor and add some heat to Kimchi as in my Kimchi-Style Sauerkraut Recipe [A SPICY DEPTH OF FLAVOR!] or Traditional Square-Cut Napa Cabbage Kimchi.
When I made my first batch of kimchi sauerkraut over 10 years ago, Korean Gochugaru red pepper powder wasn’t readily available, so I substituted red pepper flakes which worked fine, but now that gochugaru is available in Asian stores and on the internet, I’ve started using it instead of the red pepper flakes and, there is no going back.
Gochugaru is a coarsely ground red pepper with a texture between flakes and powder that disperses throughout your sauerkraut coloring it beautifully and adding a complex flavor not found with red pepper flakes. The highest quality Gochugaru is made from sun-dried chili peppers.
Store Gochugaru powder in your freezer to extend its shelf life. Don’t think that 1-pound (454 g) is too much to buy. Some recipes call for ¼ (30 g) cup.
Here are three popular, high-quality Gochugarus, or Korean red pepper powders. Supply for these peppers comes and goes on Amazon, so if the selections below aren’t currently available, search for “gochugaru flakes.”
- Top-quality Korean gochugaru red chile flakes made from premium peppers
- Essential for making the best-tasting homemade Korean food
- Moderate heat
- USDA certified organic 100% Sun-dried (Taeyangcho) Korean red hot chili pepper flakes
- New Harvest every year. Grown in Korea, Processed and packaged in Korea.
- Packaged in HACCP certified safe and clean manufacturing process
- Organic 100% Sun-dried (Taeyangcho) Korean Red Hot Chili Pepper Flakes
- Grown in Korea, Packaged in Korea New Harvest Every Year Best for All Types of Kimchi, Spicy...
6. Perhaps a Favorite Book? My Top 5 Picks
My book, Fermentation Made Easy! Mouthwatering Sauerkraut is a great gift for someone just starting out with fermentation or for someone who has never made sauerkraut.
Not only is it fun to learn how to make sauerkraut, but this probiotic-rich ferment tastes fantastic with any dish or meal, and there are endless ways in which you can vary the flavor.
- Howe, Holly (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 157 Pages - 04/01/2019 (Publication Date) - Library and Archives Canada (Publisher)
Fermented Vegetables by Kirsten & Christopher Shockey is the book I reach for when I get a question from a reader wanting to know if they can ferment beans, cauliflower, basil, okra, or whatnot. It is especially great for a gardener or that foodie who makes regular trips to the farmer’s market and wants to know how to ferment what is currently in season.
Their Fermenting Vegetables A to Z chapter comes in real handy. Just harvested a bunch of beets? After sharing their knowledge on beets, recipes for Simple Beet Kraut, Curtido Rojo, Curried Golden Beets, Beet Kvass and Golden Ginger Beet Kvass with Meyer Lemon follows. Endless inspiration with recipes that work for any vegetable under the sun. Review here.
- Fermented Vegetables Creative Recipes for Fermenting 64 Vegetables Herbs in Krauts Kimchis...
- Christopher Shockey (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
For the person who likes details, historical insights, and coverage of every ferment conceivable, The Art of Fermentation “encyclopedia”—500 pages—on anything and everything that can be fermented will be greatly appreciated.
Author Sandor Katz was instrumental in getting fermented foods on the map. Though his recipes are not often detailed, there is plenty of in-depth information to get you headed in the right direction.
- Ships from Vermont
- Hardcover Book
- Katz, Sandor Ellix (Author)
WECK Small-Batch Preserving by Stephanie Thurow covers preserving not only by fermentation but also by canning and pickling.
I love her set of fermentation recipes and just finished a lunch salad topped with Brussels Sprouts Kimchi. Delicious! And, would you believe this was the first time in my life that I’ve ever tasted brussels sprouts? I can’t wait to try her set of fruit-infused Kvass recipes.
In addition, I’m honored to have my recipe for fermented Thyme and Leeks Paste included in her book.
- Hardcover Book
- Thurow, Stephanie (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
Ferment Your Vegetables by Amanda Fifer has a wide range of flavorful and well-researched recipes. Sauerkraut Pickled Eggs? Japanese Tsukemono Pickles, Polish/Ukrainian Sauerkraut Steak (Fermented half or quarter heads of cabbage.)
- Hardcover Book
- Feifer, Amanda (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
7. Take Fermentation to the Next Level with a Water-Sealed Fermentation Crock
A water-sealed fermentation crock is a perfect gift for someone who has already learned to ferment. For thorough instructions on how to make the best use of their new fermentation crock, be sure to point them to my recipe, How to Make Sauerkraut In a Crock in 7 Simple Steps [Healthy, Flavorful, Easy]. Here are a few choices.
This Water-Sealed Ceramic Fermentation Crock direct from Stone Creek Trading is handcrafted with the rich, abundant clay by local artisans in the Boleslawiec region of Poland, this crock is crafted by those with 60 years of experience.
In addition, these crocks come with lead-free glass weights—heavier than any other weights I’ve seen—and recipes for pickles and sauerkraut. Impeccable customer service as evidenced in this message just in from one of my readers:
“Well, you were right about Stone Creek. They are the best people I’ve had the pleasure of crossing paths with in a long time. I sent Emily 2 photos of the salt line circling my crock and that was enough for her to send me out a new pot with no other questions asked. I can’t really say enough good things about them.“
Read my in-depth review here.
- 5 Liter (1.3 gal) Stoneware Fermenting Crock featuring a waterseal airlock
- Includes non-porous patented Luna Glass Crock Weights!
- Handcrafted in Poland, Lead-free and cadmium-free glaze
Available in three sizes and four colors, this Humble House crock is a good pick. A 5-liter crock can be packed with 10 pounds of cabbage to make 5 quart (liter) jars of sauerkraut.
- Ferment food the traditional way with our water channel crock jar, lid, weights, and wood...
- 10 in. wide and 12 in. tall; Makes up to 10 standard size mason jars per batch.
- Fill the gutter with water to seal food from foreign matter like dust and dirt.
8. And To Go Along with that Beautiful Fermentation Vessel…
My favorite tool to efficiently slice cabbage, especially when filling a crock. Talked about here.
- Benriner's Mandoline Slicer quickly and easily slices medium-sized fruits and veggies into...
- Made from handcrafted Japanese stainless steel blades and BPA-free plastic; large open handle...
- 4 interchangeable blades (straight edge, coarse, medium and fine tooth); make wide slices,...
And it doesn’t hurt to throw in a pair of protective gloves to ensure some extra safety when using a super-sharp slicing device, like the mandoline.
- Durability with the highest level of cut resistant material available on the market - 4 times...
- Superior grip with a snug fit for small and large hands - made for preparing food or working on...
- Lightweight and comfortable protection without the bulk - awarded with the highest, EN388 level...
9. Head to My Fermenting Supplies Page for More Gift Ideas
If you still don’t know what you want to gift, I have a comprehensive list of fermenting supplies which is complete with product reviews and shopping tips:
Fermenting Supplies for Sauerkraut & Vegetables [The Classics, The Latest, The Greatest]
That’s it for this Fermentation Gift Guide. Do you have a favorite to add?
Holly Howe, Fermentation Educator
Holly Howe has been learning about and perfecting the fine art of fermentation since 2002.
Her mission is dedicated to helping families welcome the powerful bacterial world into their homes in order to ferment delicious gut-healing foods.
She is the author of Fermentation Made Easy! Mouthwatering Sauerkraut, and creator of the online program Ferment Like a Pro!
Her recipes appear in the online magazine fermentation, WECK Small-Batch Preserving: Leek Flavoring Paste, and Cowichan Grown.
She is looking to share her message as a podcast guest, her most recent appearances being on the Waist Away Podcast and The ProBiotic Life.
Last update on 2021-02-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
