Lacto-Fermented Pumpkin Pickles

Thought I would share this and see where it goes (How about a pickling sub-category?? It's called fermenting. :cross: )

I have been interested in lacto pickles for some time now and just getting started. I saw other threads about pickling (vinegar and brine) so it is great this could be an extension of homebrewing.

I've googled this to death but could not find a recipe for pumpkin pickles. I had all the ingredients so I figured "Why not!". I modified a few recipes that I found so hopefully this will work out well. If not, try again.

It's amazing how many people are going to back to the old ways of canning or pickling.

So what would it take/cost to create a category or subcategory for brine/vinegar pickling. Would this fit into Wild Brewing or Fermentation, or Cooking?? lol

Lacto-fermented Pumpkin Pickles

Small pumpkin peeled and sliced into long pickles
2 T sea salt
1 T spices

• Ground nutmeg
• Whole cinnamon
• vanilla bean
• Dash of McCormicks Pumpkin Spice

2 Pieces of pumpkin rind for lacto innoculant

1 gal glass pickle jar
Aluminum foiled to the top

Modification:
Many recipes call for a grape leaf or two to help with crispness. This introduces tannins for stability. I decided to add 1.5 T American Oak Chips! Plenty of tannins and good for flavors I hope. Brine pickles used to come in barrels anyway so this could be fun. I would like to experiment more with oak chips in pickles. Ex: Okra on medium toast French oak, cukes on light toast American oak, etc. The options are not bound to oak. How about toasted Mesquite, or hickory, or pecan, ....

I may try adding some brown sugar when i put these pickles in the fridge. Maybe a residual sweetness will add some good flavor.

I have messed around a little bit with lacto fermentation, (salsas, jalapenos, hot sauces) and found that there really isn't a whole lot of info out there. Every search I did went to websites that kept referencing Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. This cookbook champions the idea of cooking the way our grandparents did in a time where there were less food related health issues yet healthy eating wasn't a way of life. There is a chapter on fermenting fruits and vegetables. Using lacto to create an environment not suitable for unhealthy bugs, but also helping "predigest" food so that our body can absorb more nutrients and vitamins. The easiest way I have found is to throw an active culture plain yogurt into cheese cloth, let it drain in the fridge over night and use the whey to inoculate. The left over yogurt makes a nice spread on toast or a bagel. Plus eating lacto fermented food is suppose to help rebug (healthy bugs) your digestive system (think ativia yogurt commercials).

You might look around the web some more. I have been finding several great sites for Lacto-fermented veggies.

Example:

Lacto-Fermented Vinegar-Free Cucumber Pickles (gluten-free, vegan, raw, ACD) - Affairs of Living - gluten-free, allergy-friendly, and whole foods recipes, resources, and tips

Fermented Foods for Families: Lacto-Fermented Vegetables

I have noticed several references to the health benefits as well. It will be interesting to see how this turns out. Thankfully it's easy to dump free stuff if it doesn't work out.

I am going to try cuke pickles next with the oak addition. this is a fun project that seems to intrigue the DIY side of people like homebrewers.

Note: I read an old thread on here that someone posted a Pickled Fish Recipe and a responded did Pickled Shrimp. Definitely a unique idea. lol

a lot of the info i have was from searches earlier this year. because catering is slow for us after the new year, i get about 4-5 months off from the big kitchen. of course i still have class (career change). so that is when i have fun in the more "intimate" kitchen at home. right now i just have no time at home to mess around, just warming up stuff from work. will definitely check out those sites.

i have done a pickled pork (vinegar based) before, cant have red beans and rice without it anymore.

really curious about pickled hop shoots. just need to find someone around denver that is growing hops, and might have some extra shoots, or other parts of the plant.

Well I decided to dump this batch as it didn't look as tasty as i thought. Instead I cleaned the jar out and went with pickling cukes.

This is close to my recipe only multiplied up for my jar: http://www.nourishingdays.com/2009/07/the-benefits-of-fermented-food-lacto-fermented-vegetables/

I added to this 3 cloves of garlic sliced. The biggest difference is that I add about 2 tbl oak chips to boiling hot water to steep and added that in. The chips take the place of the tannin source of leaves.

These pickles are DELICIOUS! I am hooked on this now. Next will be either pickled jalapenos or i might try traditional sauerkraut. They are very crunchy which is supposed to be from the tannins. My source of whey is from my acid cheeses from the past. I just froze the whey and thawed what I needed.

Next is convincing my wife to try one. She's worried about intestinal bugs, but I'm fine after 3 days of them. We really need a lacto-Fermentation section.

I am also thinking of brining cubed fresh cheese to see what i get. I think i will add a garlic clove or two to the cheese batch.

Brew-Happy said:

Thought I would share this and see where it goes (How about a pickling sub-category?? It's called fermenting. )

I have been interested in lacto pickles for some time now and just getting started. I saw other threads about pickling (vinegar and brine) so it is great this could be an extension of homebrewing.

I've googled this to death but could not find a recipe for pumpkin pickles. I had all the ingredients so I figured "Why not!". I modified a few recipes that I found so hopefully this will work out well. If not, try again.

It's amazing how many people are going to back to the old ways of canning or pickling.

So what would it take/cost to create a category or subcategory for brine/vinegar pickling. Would this fit into Wild Brewing or Fermentation, or Cooking?? lol

Lacto-fermented Pumpkin Pickles

Small pumpkin peeled and sliced into long pickles
2 T sea salt
1 T spices

• Ground nutmeg
• Whole cinnamon
• vanilla bean
• Dash of McCormicks Pumpkin Spice

2 Pieces of pumpkin rind for lacto innoculant

1 gal glass pickle jar
Aluminum foiled to the top

Modification:
Many recipes call for a grape leaf or two to help with crispness. This introduces tannins for stability. I decided to add 1.5 T American Oak Chips! Plenty of tannins and good for flavors I hope. Brine pickles used to come in barrels anyway so this could be fun. I would like to experiment more with oak chips in pickles. Ex: Okra on medium toast French oak, cukes on light toast American oak, etc. The options are not bound to oak. How about toasted Mesquite, or hickory, or pecan, ....

I may try adding some brown sugar when i put these pickles in the fridge. Maybe a residual sweetness will add some good flavor.

Click to expand...

How did this turn out? I I want to put oak in with pickles too. Im thinking peppers with oak.
This popped up in my search. Thank you. Steve
[email protected]

Sounded interesting. I love "natural barrel" pickles.
And pumpkin pickles sounds ok ... but I wonder if Watermelon Pickles wouldn't work better.
https://culturesforhealth.com/blogs...ecipe-lacto-fermented-watermelon-rind-pickles
Never tried it myself but when I was a kid I liked the famous poetry anthology "Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle" ............ always wondered about it ever since.