Benefits of Fermented Garlic![]() Lately I have been on a fermenting kick. I have fermented everything from chicken feed to pickles and beets, and whatever in between! It's just so much fun to add veggies and salt to a jar and in a week have a totally new flavor, packed with added nutrition. I have posted fermented recipes in the past and I explain many of the health benefits to eating fermented foods. Some of these benefits include adding good bacteria to our digestive system, which in turn boosts our immune systems(1) and help us digest food more efficiently. Garlic is a well known natural germ buster! It is good to eat garlic in some broth when youre feeling under the weather. It is even better to eat garlic raw and it is best to eat fermented garlic! Researchers have found that fermented garlic contains more antioxidants than its fresh counterpart.(2) Fermented garlic has also showed several other advantages over fresh garlic including its anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects.(2) How to use Fermented Garlic![]() The fermentation process dramatically changes the tast of garlic. It is much less sharp and spicy and can even take on a sweet or roasted flavor. Eating a clove of raw garlic can give me a serious tummy ache but the kids and I have been known to chomp a clove or two of the fermented stuff with no problems. When using fermeneted garlic it is important to remember not to heat it. The probiotics will die during the cooking process. If you want to retain those benefits then I suggest using the fermented garlic in raw dishes or at the end of the cooking process when the food has cooled some. I like to use mine in homemade mayo or salad dressing. We eat them out of the jar if our immune systems need an extra boost. They can be easily incorporated in guacamole or salsa too! Fermented Garlic Recipe
Place all the peeled garlic in the jar. Top with the water and salt mixture. I like to use a fermentation weight to keep the garlic submerged in the water, although it is not necessary. The weights in the video have a groove on top that helps you lift them in and out of the jar. Sounds unimportant but trust me on this, it can be tricky to get your fingers around a weight that fits perfectly into a wide-mouth jar. I also have had great success with the pickle pipes shown in the video. They are a very simple way to let the ferment "burp" and doesnt require a complex air lock. Now the hard part....waiting! We love fermented garlic so much. I try to ferment for a minimum of three weeks but sometimes it gets eaten sooner than that. The longer you can wait the more beneficial microbes will populate. How do you plan on using your fermented garlic? Sources: 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22260639 2.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1021949816301727
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorFrancesca, wife and mother of three, eagerly shares day-to-day life on her ten acre farm in northern Colorado. Categories
All
Archives
March 2023
|