Re: Film on top of pickled beets

[Guest guest]

sharflin wrote:

> Hi, I've made pickled beets twice using the NT recipe. Both times I've

> had a white-ish film develop on top, usually starting by the second

> day of fermenting. It is not foamy, but a thin almost dry looking

> film. Mold comes to mind but I have no idea. The beets smell fine and

> I've just tossed out any with this film - it does not come back after

> that. Does anyone else have this problem? Any thoughts? Am I crazy to

> risk eating them?

I don't know about the safety of eating your beets, but I have had great

success with the Wild Fermentation style of pickled beets. i have

always steered clear of the NT recipe because it requires you to cook

the beets first. Somehow that just desn't seem right.

Ellen

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

http://food.oregonstate.edu/faq/faq_ferment.html

Yeasts require air to grow. Covering the fermentation container with a

brine-filled bag to enhance ananerobic conditions decreases the occurrence

of this. Yeasts use lactic acid for their metabolic processes-lactic is the

main acid in fermented foods- so they can potentially decrease the acidity

of the brine making the growth of human pathogens possible. Yeasts also have

enzymes that soften pickle tissue. The film should be removed daily.

*VanGarde, Shirley J. and Margy Woodburn. 1994. Food Preservation and

Safety. Principles and Practice. Iowa State Press, Ames Iowa.,, p. 72*

Updated: Friday, December 30, 2005.

Sharon, NH

[Guest guest]

My sourdough starter gets a film on top just like that. I tasted it

once and it was very sour. I think it's some kind of lactobacilli

or maybe leucostonoc bacteria, probably harmless. I stirred it back

into the starter and the bread tasted the same as always when I used

it.

>

> > Hi, I've made pickled beets twice using the NT recipe. Both

times I've

> > had a white-ish film develop on top, usually starting by the

second

> > day of fermenting. It is not foamy, but a thin almost dry looking

> > film. Mold comes to mind but I have no idea. The beets smell

fine and

> > I've just tossed out any with this film - it does not come back

after

> > that. Does anyone else have this problem? Any thoughts? Am I

crazy to

> > risk eating them?

>

> I don't know about the safety of eating your beets, but I have had

great

> success with the Wild Fermentation style of pickled beets. i

have

> always steered clear of the NT recipe because it requires you to

cook

> the beets first. Somehow that just desn't seem right.

>

> Ellen

>

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

> > > > Hi, I've made pickled beets twice using the NT recipe. Both

> times I've

> > > had a white-ish film develop on top, usually starting by the

> second

> > > day of fermenting. It is not foamy, but a thin almost dry looking

> > > film. Mold comes to mind but I have no idea. The beets smell

> fine and

> > > I've just tossed out any with this film - it does not come back

> after

> > > that. Does anyone else have this problem? Any thoughts? Am I

> crazy to

> > > risk eating them?

> >

I use the NT recipe as well. Coincidentally I just made some and I

get whitish specks on the top layer of beets that are exposed to air

when the water gets absorbed by the beets and recedes. I wonder if

the trick is to use enough water so that they stay covered throughout

the entire process.

[Guest guest]

-

>I wonder if

>the trick is to use enough water so that they stay covered throughout

>the entire process.

You tell the beets that if they don't stay underwater, you'll drown

all their relatives too.

-

[Guest guest]

ROTFLOL, yeah while holding a bunch of those little baby beets ;o)

On 1/18/06, Idol <paul_idol@...> wrote:

>

>

> You tell the beets that if they don't stay underwater, you'll drown

> all their relatives too.

>

>

>

>

> -

--

D. Siemens

WAPF Chapter Leader

http://www.freewebs.com/wapfontario/index.htm

Wife of Tim, Mother of Zack and Lydia, Child of God.

[Guest guest]

Looked up " lactic " and it said related to milk. Curious why

fermentations say lactic acid is the ingredient in fermentations.

On Jan 18, 2006, at 10:39 AM, Sharon son wrote:

> http://food.oregonstate.edu/faq/faq_ferment.html

> Yeasts require air to grow. Covering the fermentation container with a

> brine-filled bag to enhance ananerobic conditions decreases the

> occurrence

> of this. Yeasts use lactic acid for their metabolic processes-lactic

> is the

> main acid in fermented foods- so they can potentially decrease the

> acidity

> of the brine making the growth of human pathogens possible. Yeasts

> also have

> enzymes that soften pickle tissue. The film should be removed daily.

>

> *VanGarde, Shirley J. and Margy Woodburn. 1994. Food Preservation and

> Safety. Principles and Practice. Iowa State Press, Ames Iowa.,, p. 72*

>

> Updated: Friday, December 30, 2005.

>

> Sharon, NH

>

>

Parashis

artpages@...

zine:

artpagesonline.com

portfolio:

http://www.artpagesonline.com/EPportfolio/000portfolio.html

[Guest guest]

lactobacilli is the name of a whole group of commonly found bacteria,

many of which are helpful to human digestion. The kinds found in

fermented dairy, according to my understanding, are different than the

kinds found on cabbage or other ferments. They all seem to like an

acid environment. Maybe it got it's name from the common lactobacilli

that give us yogurt. If you look on the GEM Cultures website, they

claim you can use their starters on milk, soy milk, or other things

and get similar results, which I find odd.

>

> Looked up " lactic " and it said related to milk. Curious why

> fermentations say lactic acid is the ingredient in fermentations.

>

[Guest guest]

-Lactobacillus sp ferment lactose and are bacillary in form thus the

name, generally speaking. Dennis

-- In , " haecklers " <haecklers@y...>

wrote:

>

> lactobacilli is the name of a whole group of commonly found

bacteria,

> many of which are helpful to human digestion. The kinds found in

> fermented dairy, according to my understanding, are different than

the

> kinds found on cabbage or other ferments. They all seem to like

an

> acid environment. Maybe it got it's name from the common

lactobacilli

> that give us yogurt. If you look on the GEM Cultures website,

they

> claim you can use their starters on milk, soy milk, or other

things

> and get similar results, which I find odd.

>

>

> >

> > Looked up " lactic " and it said related to milk. Curious why

> > fermentations say lactic acid is the ingredient in fermentations.

> >

>