Fermenting Fruits
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Melissa in the Facebook group wants to know more about fruit ferments, and that seems like a pretty fun way to give y’all something to do, so I’ve pushed back the kimchi and honey origin stories so we can do all the things instead!
I really do not make a ton of fruit ferments. Most of mine are either honey fermented fruits, olives, or booze related. It’s weird that I make so many alcoholic beverages, when I myself drink maybe 3 ounces of whiskey each year. There’s definitely more stuff you can do with your spare fruits, though! What we’re going to do today is to cluster them based on the fermentation method. This works pretty well, and makes shopping lists simpler to write. We are (mostly) ignoring alcohol today, too!
In my experience, fruit ferments do not last as well as veg ferments do. Once they’re done fermenting, tuck them in the fridge and use within about two months. Some fruits will last longer than others, so definitely keep an eye and nose on them so they’re consumed before they go bad.
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Honey: It’s the Bees Knees
Honey really is, in my view, the easiest and most fun. My basic method is simple, where you put fruit in your container, cover with honey plus a bit, seal or close or whatever you do, and come back later. I like it when I can just come back later and eat the yums, but I like it even more that there are sweet snacks in the fridge the kid can get for herself that I’m not worried about her eating all willy nilly. If you are not using a fermenting jar or other devices that hermetically seal your container, you will need to weigh the fruit down and also burp your jar (probably daily). You totally can do this in an open vessel, but I personally do not because gnats and fruit flies seem to spontaneously appear out of nowhere! I feel like I am constantly talking to y’all about gnat and fruit fly prevention. Also, put a plate or similar under these, because if you didn’t give enough headspace (1-2”, on average, but not always!), you don’t want to work harder to clean up the mess when thinned down honey comes out of the jar and all over your shelves.
I almost always do honey with blueberries. I use either fresh or frozen berries. Mainly I use frozen if I’m in a hurry and want them in 3-5 days, fresh if I’m good with it taking longer (usually 1-2 weeks for fresh blueberries, 2-5 days for cut fruits and softer berries). Generally speaking, you’re looking for a flavor that’s somewhere in the range of “slightly tart” and “almost boozy.” If they taste properly boozy, you can absolutely still eat them, but they are quite fermented at this point. I made Child Tester strawberries recently, and she was unimpressed, telling me, “I don’t know why you wasted honey for strawberries that taste the same as in water kefir.” But then, she discovered a jar in the fridge a few days ago and nommed them all down in one shot. Well then; those are conflicting messages! I may try some cherries or raspberries next. I understand that raspberries can get a bit mushy, so I’ll expect to toss them in a smoothie if she thinks they’re gross. I also sometimes do citrus slices, though most of the time I drain and blot the slices and use them for upside down cakes. You can also cut them up and fold them into whipped cream/yogurt/whatever, use in smoothies (I wouldn't use much for this, because rind), eat them as is, good topping rice for a more dessert-y kind of rice (I'll eat almost anything w/ rice), cut up to put in porridge, cookies, all kinds of stuff! Citrus slices take 2-4 weeks to ferment.
At this point, if we’re being really honest here, I am pretty sure I’m only making these a lot right now because I am excited to use those short meads to make a larger mixed fruit base. Because, y’know… I totally have space for more stuff that takes a few years to age! For people who don’t like making mead, you can mix the fermented honey with club soda or similar for a refreshing, fermented soda (I do 1 part short mead to 2 parts soda), in salad dressings anywhere you’d otherwise put honey or fruit, make honey mustard with fruit flavors, use as an ice cream topping, thin down with water and make popsicles, put it in your tea or coffee (okay, I don’t put it in my coffee, but yes to tea), sauces for other desserts, glazes or sauces for savory dishes, boil it down into hard candy, and drizzled over cheese. I’m sure there’s other stuff to do with that leftover honey, so let me know what you use it for!
While doing research, I noted a different and fairly prevalent way of using honey, which does use quite a lot less honey. All of those recipes ask for about 2 tablespoons each of honey and whey/kefir/powdered culture/ginger bug/baker’s yeast/similar, a pinch or so of salt, and about 3 tablespoons of water for every 2 cups of fruit (I assume cut, if larger fruits). I can definitely see the appeal of this, because it allows for maceration style fermentation instead of submersion, and it also uses less of the most expensive ingredient: honey! Less waste if you tend to not keep brines/short meads/similar to use for other things, and also an excellent option if you really want honey in there but not crazy amounts, although your fruit should be letting go of enough juice to make for a brine anyway (will depend on the fruit, I expect). I assume that all of these recipes use backslop (the whey/kefir/similar) or powdered probiotics to speed fermentation up. If you’re not fussed about time, don’t have the kinds of backslop these recipes ask for (whey/kefir/bug), and/or don’t care about it from a flavor standpoint, I personally wouldn’t bother with it.
These are honey strawberries. I love that plate. My friend Farah sent it to me. I also love that spoon, which Ross whittled for Child Tester.
Worth its Weight in Salt
The only fruits I use salt to preserve are lemons and olives. People do a fair bit with salt and fruit, though!
For preserved lemons, I do two styles. I typed up this stupidly long explanation of how to make them, then decided Epicurious is less wordy and teaches you the same thing. To use them, get out what I need (I usually do 1/4 lemon per person), and rinse them off super well. They are ridiculously salty if you don’t, so make sure you do. Most people discard the pulp, but I usually leave it. It’s whatever you want to do, really. There’s a ton you can do with these lemons. A little goes a long way! My favorite applications are soups, stews, salads, and tagine, but people do lots of things with them.
The basic process for fruit without a brine, though, is that you simply mix your fruit with 2% (by weight) of salt. Pack it into your jars, add a weight if it’s not a fermentation jar and you aren’t using hermetically-sealing attachment (no weight if there is, unless you take the gasket off), lid, wait. For non-fermentation jars, you will want to burp them daily (you do this by loosening or removing the lid for a couple of seconds) if it doesn’t have a sealing attachment like pickle pipes. This Noma recipe for blueberries is really popular, per the video below. One thing to note is that the jar those guys were using is designed for fermenting and is self-burping. Leave the gasket on and save the bag for something else. But do make sure your gasket isn’t old. I forgot to do that recently and lost a batch of honey berries.
To do it with brine, it’s still a 2% brine but can be done exactly like you do with vegetable ferments. Or, do it like kvass! Kvass is a drink you can make out of lots of kinds of produce, but for today we’re just looking at fruit. Some recipes want backslop, others want honey or sugar, but because they all seem to want salt, I categorized this drink as a salt-fermented one. It was hard to decide.
There is No Substitute for Sugar
Sugar can be used a couple of different ways here, too. I am currently really interested in German rumtopf, which is basically where you cover fruit first in sugar, then in rum, and come back whenever you’ve got more fruit to use up. It’s done in layers throughout the harvest season. I have started one, and am excited to try it out this winter! Beyond that, every now and again I will cover some fruit completely in sugar, cover, and let it sit at room temp for 1-2 days, though most of the time I use sugar to preserve by making syrups, water kefir, and preserves/jams/jellies rather than fermentation.
There seems to be a large segment of people who publish on fermented fruits that really like to use canned fruit. I’m gonna try this at some point. They do all seem to want a packet of yeast, which I assume probably is needed since there’s no yeast left on that fruit! Many commenters and publishers skip adding more sugar and use the syrup instead. Beyond that, though, you really can make a simple syrup (or don’t even fuss with that and just add sugar and water), cool it, and let it ferment your fruits the same way as you would with honey, per this guide!
Also, lest I ignore the needs of my gardening brothers and sisters, you can also ferment your own fertilizer!
Backslop!
Backslop, as you’ve seen above, tends to be the most popular method of fermenting fruits. I have never done this for fruits, but will check it out since it seems the most popular method. This fermented chutney uses ginger bug to ferment, but I bet you could swap that out with kefir, whey, brine from a prior batch of something briny (cut the salt from the recipe if you do this), kombucha, or jun. Lot of options there for using up some of what you’ve already fermented! My guess also is that when asked to use a packet of yeast, you likely could toss in a bit of sourdough starter. I cannot personally imagine doing this, but doesn’t mean you can’t!
This apples recipe looks quite tasty, and calls for a probiotics capsule. I would personally not go buy those for this, but instead would either use some kind of backslop I had already or I would omit it entirely. As the Spruce Eats also points out, backslop is critical if you trying to ferment without salt or sugar. By making a brine out of another brine, you’re cutting down the extra salt you’d need to avoid using backslop. That is a great point!
CT couldn’t help herself, and had to do some crazy dancing to this song, which she overheard while I was wrapping up. Have a great week!
