Four Days of Fermentation & The Taste Test!

It is four days since I bottled my first batch of fermentation. I wanted to let you see how the contents have changed.  One of the interesting things that has occurred is the red - pink color from the red cabbage leaves I placed on the top to hold the rest of the vegetables under the brine.  I believe I'll be doing a taste test a little later today.  I will report back if they are edible or not.

Ok, this is the look after four days of fermentation.

This again is right after I added the vegetable.

 Four days in to fermentation.

And this was what it looked like right after being capped.

There was a lot of bubbling the second day.  This is the CO² that the fermentation process develops while the lactic acid is being generated.  It is the lactic acid that give the pickled products their tangy taste.  I sure hope these taste as good as they look.

I couldn’t wait any longer.  The jar with the screw top was the first I tasted.  When opening the lid there is a smell of cabbage or sauerkraut.  This is normal from what I have read.  It diminished quickly.  I really could not smell much of anything after that.  The top of the container is clean and clear, none of the scum or mold that some folks get.  Even if there were, this doesn’t mean you have a bad end product from what I read.  If you should have mold or scum they tell you to spoon it off and any dark or discolored products. I’m glad I didn’t have this issue.

The first thing I did was to remove and discard the red cabbage leaves. Below was a red/pink color of the cauliflower.  The cauliflower took on a slight translucent appearance too.

Ok, the moment I’ve been wait for! The taste test! I put a piece of the cauliflower in my mouth.  It has a slight salty flavor followed by a tangy zing.  Interesting!  Not the best pickled cauliflower I’ve ever had, but it is in no way bad.  In fact, on a scale of say 1 to 10, 10 being excellent, 1 being bad, I’d give it a solid 8.  I’m a little surprised, primarily because I had a fairly hot jalapeño in the jar, that didn't flavor the cauliflower at all. I didn’t cut the jalapeño up, I kept it whole.  This may have not been the right thing to do.  The second larger container I sliced the jalapeño up. It will be interesting to see if this one has more heat.  I decided to let it ferment one more day and I’ll give it a taste test sometime tomorrow. More to come tomorrow!  

Thanks for taking a look at my blog!!