FERMENTATION LENGTH: 7-14 daysSALT PERCENT: 2.5%Nutrition-packed fermented beets are a great addition to any meal. I love to julienne them for fermentation and then add them to my salads.
Course Condiment, Side Dish, Snack
Keyword Beet, Fermented, Vegetarian
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Author Holly Howe
Ingredients
2-3beets,medium-sized (baseball sized)
FLAVORINGChoose from ONE of the following:
1-2 tablespoons of peeled and grated horseradish root, and 1 teaspoon of dried dill (1 tablespoon fresh)or
1-2 slivered garlic cloves and 1 teaspoon caraway seedsor
1 teaspoons dried tarragon (1 tablespoon fresh), ½ teaspoon cardamom powder and ¼ teaspoon ground clovesor
½ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon coriander seeds and ½ teaspoon cumin seeds or
1 tablespoon roughly chopped, fresh rosemary or
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger and just a bit of orange zest in your jar, just a ¼ of the orange
PREP FLAVORING ITEM.Prep what you'll be using to flavor your beets.
PREP BEETS.Peel beets. Then, cut into shape desired: sliced, julienned, grated, cubed. Note: Do not cook beets as it kills off the bacteria necesary for fermentation.
WEIGH JAR.Use a digital scale to obtain the weight—tare—of your jar (471 grams, for example). Write this number down.
PACK JAR.Place what you'll be using to flavor your beets in the bottom of your jar then pack beets into the jar leaving one to two inches of head space.
TOP WITH WATER.Pour water over beets letting it percolate down.
CALCULATE & ADD 2.5% SALT.Weigh your packed jar. The number on the scale is the weight of the jar, plus the weight of the vegetables and the water (1322 grams, for example).Subtract the jar weight from the total weight (1322 – 471 = 851, for example).Multiply the weight of the contents in your jar by 0.025 (851 x. 0.025 = 21, for example).Tare a small dish and weigh the correct grams of salt (21 grams, for example).Add this salt to your jar of beets.
DISSOLVE SALT.Screw on a standard canning jar lid and rim and tightly secure. Shake the jar for a couple of minutes to dissolve the salt.Remove lid.
SUBMERGE & SEAL.Add a fermentation weight to keep the vegetables submerged under the brine. Close the jar either with an airlock or with a lid left loose enough to allow CO2 to escape.
FERMENT.Label with recipe name, date, and salt concentration. Place in a shallow bowl on your kitchen counter, out of direct sunlight to ferment until active bubbling stops, usually, 7-14 days depending upon the temperature of your room.Feel free to taste them along the way. The beets are ready when bubbles have stopped rising to the surface, there is a slightly sour aroma and the beets taste tangy.
STORE.Add the fermentation length to your label and put in the refrigerator. Your fermented beets may be eaten immediately, but will increase in flavor with time and will keep for up to a year, though they lose color as the months go on.
ENJOY!Now for the best part. Use your fermented beets to top a salad, add to your cheese and cracker platter, alongside a meal, or straight from the jar. Don't forget to drink the brine. I sip a bit each time I use my fermented beets.
Notes
Fresh beets with their tops still on are best.
Use a food processor, mandoline, or spiralizer to prepare your beets. The use of these handy gadgets results in finer cuts, making for a tender finished product.
My favorite salt for fermentation is Himalayan Pink. I talk about the best salt for fermentation here, here. In short, use non-iodized salt.
Use a 2.5% salt concentration.
For worry-free fermentation, it is best to use some sort of weight to hold the beets below the brine. This will help reduce browning, a common occurrence with beets.
Airlocks allow excess gases to escape. If you don’t have an airlock and want to be super safe, burp your jar once daily during the first 3 days.
When you pop the lid to check and taste your jar of fermenting beets, you might see brown scum on the surface. It is perfectly normal and comes from the oxidized colors of the beets. Just remove what you can.
Beets have the highest sugar content of any vegetable so don’t be surprised if the brine of your ferment is thick and syrupy. Feel free to cut the sugar levels of your ferment by adding in turnips, radishes, or jicama.
Ideal fermentation temperature is 65-70°F (18-21°C) is ideal. If it is super hot, shorten; cold, lengthen.
DO drink leftover fermented brine, or use it to make salad dressings.