Fermentools -- my REVIEW

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

I am a canner. Many years ago I learned (from library books!) how to can foods to preserve them for enjoying later in the year. I've canned sweet stuff (jam, applesauce, etc), sour stuff (pickles, dilly beans), spicy stuff (cowboy candy, hot and sweet peppers), veggies, prepared foods (soups, meatballs), and lots and lots of meats. I have always heard about the health benefits enjoyed by those who ferment, but had not ventured into that arena of food preservation...until now! :) I was excited to hear that I had the opportunity to review a fermentation starter kit by Fermentools .

I haven't really known people who ferment, so I haven't been able to ask for advice about fermenting, and that might have held me up from trying previously. This easy Fermenting Starter Kit looked pretty easy to use, and with a website to teach me what to do I was raring to go!

I received my kit, which contained a bag of finely ground salt (Himalayan sea salt), a glass weight, a stainless steel top with a hole in the middle, a rubber gasket for the steel top, two stoppers (one with a hole in the center and one without), and an air lock.  These tools are made to use with a regular wide mouth canning jar, which I have many of, so I could get started right away!There was a mini instruction guide as well, and a little bag which held all the tools.

Our semi-lockdown from the corona virus had just begun when I got my tool kit, but I was glad to see that I had a cabbage in the fridge so I could go ahead and begin with sauerkraut. There is a recipe on the instruction guide which came with the kit, but you can also find the directions on the Fermentools website, fermentools.com. 

I got my cabbage out (it had been in the fridge since who knows how long, so was kind of oldish...) and jumped right in! Thankfully I have a food processor so I could cut up the cabbage very easily, just as if I were making coleslaw or something. Then I added the salt to the cabbage and the next instruction was to pound it and/or squeeze it until the juices were released and there were enough to cover the cabbage. Well, I had to figure out how to do that...

Here was my solution, to use a glass and a wooden spoon for the first part. It felt like a long time to be mashing the cabbage without much liquid...but I kept at it. Eventulally I began to see liquid and then I moved to squeezing the cabbage interspersed with pounding it...till I had enough liquid out.

Next I packed it tightly into a wide mouth quart jar and thankfully there was enough liquid in it to cover the shredded cabbage. I added the glass weight (which fit perfectly into the wide mouth jar and held the cabbage down under the liquid). 

This was covered with the gasket followed by the stainless steel lid.

I put the stopper with a hole into the center of the lid and fitted the airlock (with water in it according to the instructions) and tightened it with a jar ring.

The instructions said to let it ferment in a dark cool area, so I found it a place in my cupboard and left it there for ten days!

After ten days I took it out of the cupboard, removed the lid and seal and it actually smelled like (mild) sauerkraut! Yay!! :) Now it can be stored in the fridge and eaten. 

As easy as that it was finished! Before I tried this system I had been kind of afraid of two things. One was the trying to keep the vegetables submerged in the brine. Years ago I had tried sauerkraut and had used a bag of water to submerge it and it kept escaping. The glass weight fits so nicely into the wide mouth jar that it is easy to keep the veggies submerged. The other "fear" I  had was the exploding, haha ;) The airlock in this system helps to avoid that. Basically the airlock is halfway filled with water and allows carbon dioxide which is produced in the fermentation process to escape while not allowing atmospheric oxygen to enter the jar. I think that mine "burped" some brine too (see the 2nd to last pic...you can see salt crystals ... I'm guessing some of the brine came up and out as well and evaporated) but it doesn't let oxygen into the jar.

I have only tried the sauerkraut to this point, but I am looking forward to trying lots more ferments. Looking on the Fermentools website is very inspiring and makes me want to try so many other fermented products! The beets look enticing...and I definitely want to try fermented pickles...and my family wants fermented mixed veggies...so many options! I cannot wait for garden season--I think I will probably purchase a few more kits so that I can have several things fermenting at once.

I definitely recommend trying this product! It definitely took away my apprehension about home fermenting! It is very reasonably priced, as well--and from now through June 30, 2020 you can get 15% off your order with the coupon code CREW2020 which will make the cost even more reasonable!

To read about how more reviewers used this product, please click the link below: