Fermented Beets and Beet Kvass
By Sasha MarxPublished on March 31, 2017
Yield
Makes about 3 cups fermented beets and 2½ cups beet kvass
Ingredients
Before You Begin
To prevent spoilage and the growth of bad bacteria, cleanliness is key when working with fermented foods. Thoroughly wash your food, work surface, containers, and hands before embarking on a fermentation project to reduce the possibility of contamination. I recommend wearing disposable gloves if you have them. Yellow beets blackened quickly when sliced so we don’t recommend them for this application. You can you use Chioggia (also known as candy-stripe) beets, but they will lose their distinct rings of color during fermentation. Soft tap water (containing few minerals) or filtered tap water are preferable for pickling. Highly chlorinated tap water can produce off flavors in pickles and delay fermentation. If you have any concerns about your water, opt for a low mineral content bottled water. When making fermented pickles, it is important to use salt that is free of additives (iodine and anticaking agents), which can produce off-flavors and hazy brines and can inhibit the growth of good microbes. Diamond Crystal kosher salt contains only salt so it is perfect for this recipe. You can also seek out canning salt, which is specifically designed for pickle making and can be purchased in supermarkets. Canning salt can substituted for Diamond Crystal kosher salt 1 for 1 by mass (grams). If measuring by volume, use 50 percent as much Morton Canning & Pickling Salt (3 ¼ teaspoons for this recipe). You will need a container with a volume of at least 3 quarts so you have enough room for both the beets and the bag of brine that will sit on top. We found that a 9-day fermentation produced our favorite pickle. Serve these beets as an accompaniment to charcuterie and cheese, part of a pickle plate, a refreshing side to braised meat or roasts, or in our Roast Beef and Fermented Beet "Borscht" Sandwiches.
Instructions
- Using mandoline, slice beets 1/16-inch thick. Whisk water and salt in clean 3-quart (or larger) container until salt is dissolved. Transfer 2 cups brine to 1-quart zipper-lock bag; squeeze out air and seal bag well. (This bag of brine acts as a weight, keeping the beet slices submerged so that they ferment properly. You could just use water, but this way if the bag breaks, it’s just additional 2 percent brine flowing into the container.) Add beets to remaining brine in 3-quart container and press down to submerge. Cut piece of parchment paper to match surface area of beets; press parchment flush against surface of beets. Place bag of brine on top of parchment and gently press down. Cover container tightly with 3 layers of cheesecloth. Secure cheesecloth in place with rubber bands and place container in 50 to 70 degree F/10 to 21 degree C location away from direct sunlight.
- Let beets ferment for 7 days; check container daily, skimming residue from surface and pressing to keep beets submerged. (When fermenting pickles, a white mold-like substance can quickly accumulate on the surface of the brining liquid. This is not mold but a harmless accumulation called kahm yeast that needs to be removed.) After 7 days, taste beets daily until they have reached desired flavor. They should be sweet, sour, and crisp.
- Discard bag of brine and parchment and skim off any residue. Drain beets, reserving pickling liquid (kvass). Serve. (Leftover beets and kvass can be combined in clean airtight container and refrigerated for up to 1 month; once refrigerated, flavor of beets will continue to mature.)
Yield
Makes about 3 cups fermented beets and 2½ cups beet kvassIngredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
Most people associate pickled beets with the cloyingly sweet, soft, and syrupy product sold in grocery stores. In our minds, those descriptors don’t jibe with the things we value in a good pickle—crispiness, crunch, salt, acidity, and refreshment. I wanted to give beets a chance to redeem themselves, with the help of a preserving process called lacto-fermentation.
All pickled things rely on acidity to halt spoilage and impart flavor and texture. There are two basic categories of pickles: vinegar and fermented. Vinegar pickles (cornichons, for example) are soaked in a flavorful vinegar-based liquid to give them their trademark acidity and stave off harmful bacteria. Fermented pickles (such as sauerkraut and kimchi) spend days or weeks in a salt brine, which encourages fermentation and the growth of good bacteria. Submerged in brine, in the absence of oxygen, the vegetable’s natural beneficial bacteria, which include Lactobacillus, convert its sugars into the lactic acid that “pickles” the vegetable.
All of that jargon belies the simplicity of the process—cut up some vegetables, submerge them in salt brine (we like a 2 percent salt concentration for this application), store them at room temperature (we found 65 degrees F/18 degrees C to be the sweet spot, but anywhere between 50 degrees F/10 degrees C and 70 degrees F/21 degrees C works), and wait. The reward? Crispy, crunchy, sour pickles with almost zero work. Giving beets this treatment produced the sweet and sour crunchy pickle I was looking for.
As a bonus, the brine is imparted with sweetness from the sugar in the beets, making it a delicious product on its own, known in Eastern Europe as kvass. Two for the price of one! You can’t beet that . . .
Photography by Steve Klise
Before You Begin
To prevent spoilage and the growth of bad bacteria, cleanliness is key when working with fermented foods. Thoroughly wash your food, work surface, containers, and hands before embarking on a fermentation project to reduce the possibility of contamination. I recommend wearing disposable gloves if you have them. Yellow beets blackened quickly when sliced so we don’t recommend them for this application. You can you use Chioggia (also known as candy-stripe) beets, but they will lose their distinct rings of color during fermentation. Soft tap water (containing few minerals) or filtered tap water are preferable for pickling. Highly chlorinated tap water can produce off flavors in pickles and delay fermentation. If you have any concerns about your water, opt for a low mineral content bottled water. When making fermented pickles, it is important to use salt that is free of additives (iodine and anticaking agents), which can produce off-flavors and hazy brines and can inhibit the growth of good microbes. Diamond Crystal kosher salt contains only salt so it is perfect for this recipe. You can also seek out canning salt, which is specifically designed for pickle making and can be purchased in supermarkets. Canning salt can substituted for Diamond Crystal kosher salt 1 for 1 by mass (grams). If measuring by volume, use 50 percent as much Morton Canning & Pickling Salt (3 ¼ teaspoons for this recipe). You will need a container with a volume of at least 3 quarts so you have enough room for both the beets and the bag of brine that will sit on top. We found that a 9-day fermentation produced our favorite pickle. Serve these beets as an accompaniment to charcuterie and cheese, part of a pickle plate, a refreshing side to braised meat or roasts, or in our Roast Beef and Fermented Beet "Borscht" Sandwiches.
Instructions
- Using mandoline, slice beets 1/16-inch thick. Whisk water and salt in clean 3-quart (or larger) container until salt is dissolved. Transfer 2 cups brine to 1-quart zipper-lock bag; squeeze out air and seal bag well. (This bag of brine acts as a weight, keeping the beet slices submerged so that they ferment properly. You could just use water, but this way if the bag breaks, it’s just additional 2 percent brine flowing into the container.) Add beets to remaining brine in 3-quart container and press down to submerge. Cut piece of parchment paper to match surface area of beets; press parchment flush against surface of beets. Place bag of brine on top of parchment and gently press down. Cover container tightly with 3 layers of cheesecloth. Secure cheesecloth in place with rubber bands and place container in 50 to 70 degree F/10 to 21 degree C location away from direct sunlight.
- Let beets ferment for 7 days; check container daily, skimming residue from surface and pressing to keep beets submerged. (When fermenting pickles, a white mold-like substance can quickly accumulate on the surface of the brining liquid. This is not mold but a harmless accumulation called kahm yeast that needs to be removed.) After 7 days, taste beets daily until they have reached desired flavor. They should be sweet, sour, and crisp.
- Discard bag of brine and parchment and skim off any residue. Drain beets, reserving pickling liquid (kvass). Serve. (Leftover beets and kvass can be combined in clean airtight container and refrigerated for up to 1 month; once refrigerated, flavor of beets will continue to mature.)
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