Some thoughts after the fermenting workshop

1. Don't use unfiltered tap water. The chlorine kills the bacteria growth. You don't have to use distilled or bottled if you have a good filter. 2. Don't use iodized salt. The iodine kills the bacteria growth. Avoid salt with anti-caking ingredients. You can buy it in bulk at places like Sprouts 3. Adding vinegar == canning/pickling, not fermenting. Very different. Vinegar for shelf life, otherwise it kills the bacteria growth. This was a surprise to me 4. You don't need to use sterile jars apparently. It's something the guy leading the workshop said a few times. It's a very forgiving process and the fermentation kills most things. 5. Mold or yeast forming on the top is super common. If you get it, scrape it off and then mix it all together. I bought a valve attachment for releasing CO2 and not allowing new air in which is supposed to prevent that build up, but it's totally fine to just put a cheese cloth over your jar and scrape occasionally. The fermentation kills most things and the yeast build up only happens on the top for a reason. 6. Fermented green beans are freaking amazing. I never tried one before the workshop, fantastic. 6. The default water/salt mixture for the brine should be 5%, but you can safely drop it to 3%. You can easily measure this by volume if you have a digital kitchen scale I should provably stop now. This was a great workshop!