Ferment Your Vegetables: A Fun and Flavorful Guide to Making Your Own Pickles, Kimchi, Kraut, and More Hardcover – October 15, 2015

This is an excellent book and a must have for both new and veteran fermenters! The "Getting Started With Fermentation" chapter provides detailed instructions that will make anyone feel comfortable taking on a first time fermenting project. The author demystifies concerns that people may have with fermenting at home and does an excellent job explaining what equipment is necessary. The book strikes a terrific balance of technical and fun to read. It’s clear that she is well researched and has spent a significant amount of time honing her recipes and best practices.As someone who has fermented vegetables for quite some time, I didn’t think that I needed a new how-to guide, but I am a huge fan of the author’s blog, so I decided to buy the book. It delves into advanced fermentation techniques and provides many amazing recipes. I can’t stop looking at the pictures and have already tried several new recipes, despite only owning the book for a week. My only disappointment is that I don’t have enough time or refrigerator space to try all of these recipes immediately.

I've been using the website phickle.com for some time and it has always been my go-to for recipes and troubleshooting. I've been bitten hard by the fermentation bug and love experimenting with new things. I have this book along with fermented vegetables and the art of fermentation. I would recommend this book (ferment your vegetables) over the three, especially for beginners. Though there are comparatively fewer recipes than fermented vegetables, these recipes are totally dialed; you can be confident that what you produce will be balanced and delicious. I feel this book represents a distilled greatest hits of fermentation recipes, which is ultimately what most people will want to produce anyway. Though the art of fermentation is great as a source of information, this book is superior if what you want is something cookbook style with clear instructions. Buy this book if you're starting out and make the ginger beet kraut. Then watch with curiosity, contentment, and mild horror as your mason jar collection swells and people start asking you what science fair project is consuming your counter space.

Great book. I immediately started trying out recipes and everyone that I followed the instructions for has come out great and tasty. I especially love her creative choices with krauts that include peanut butter and other nuts. I admit that I too was skeptical but it came out great and is one of my favorites. Can't wait to try the brussell sprouts with hazelnuts and I already have another batch with the herbs de provence in it (ok lavender wasn't in her recipe but since it's in season on my deck I added it). The kavas' came out great too and I feel that when I drink them I no longer need or want any other supplements. It's like this kind of food allows your body to absorb nutrients better from all the food that you it. I feel better too! Bon apetit!

Amanda Feifer's 2015 book on vegetable ferments offers a helpful combination of practical advice and recipes. It tilts toward spartan techniques, strong seasonings and coarse chopping. Discussion of traditional crock fermentation waits until p. 157 out of 198 pages of text and photos. On p. 28, the book snipes at airlocks, saying they "do not make fermentation safer." Maybe, but they discourage yeast and mold growth. "Professional" advice for making kvass on p. 145 strongly advocates airlocks. No discussion was found about pluses and minuses of using residual brine from a successful ferment to start a new one.The book is not technical and lacks some ordinary and useful information--claiming on p. 17, for example, that chlorine and chloramines found in most tap water cannot be removed. Actually, removal is not difficult: boiling gently about a half hour or sparging about 24 hours with an air stone. Most household water filters do not help much. Expensive bottled spring water might be nice to use, but it is not necessary. Also neglected: topping off a ferment batch with hot, boiled brine helps to discourage yeast and mold, notably when using a water-sealed crock or a jar with an airlock.The many interesting recipes often need to be adapted to sizes of fermentation vessels. It would not have taken much trouble to make this easy by presenting all the ingredient lists in some common unit of weight: probably ounces or grams. The recipe for tatouille on p. 54 reads that way, but some other recipes lack parts of the information. Such an approach would also have made salt concentrations clearer. Weighing produce and water is common in commercial settings but might need explanation for beginners.Inconsistency with proportions slides toward an often coarse and neglectful approach to vegetable chopping--a respected skill in both commercial and traditional kitchens. It also colors a causal approach to hot peppers that may bedevil a reader who does not know they vary in hotness by a span of at least a thousand. On p. 133, the recipe for "hot sauce" can be especially treacherous.The publication is handsome, with beautiful and telling illustrations. The severe, sans-serif typeface used for running text is too small and too faint. One needs very bright light to read the book.

I bought this book with slight trepidation as I've never fermented anything before. But my fears were quickly dispelled as soon as I cracked the spine. The author explains every step of the fermentation process with a warm authority. The recipes are easy to follow, creative, and appetizing. She not only explained the science behind what's happening in the jars, but also did a fabulous job weaving personal stories throughout so by the end of the book, I felt like we could be friends. I'd recommend this book both for anyone curious about the fermentation process and anyone who knows their way around a pickling jar and is looking for some inspired takes on old favorites.

I am still new with fermentation of vegetables, being inspired by a friend. I have already started with a couple of easy recipes to start with (Red Beets, Carrots) and also common Kimchi. So far so good but still need a lot of practice to perfect my skills and to make fermenting of vegetables to become more natural like cooking a dish. The instructions are easy to follow, coupled with good tips as well as flexibility. The recipes are variety and enticing. Thank you!

I ordered 4 different fermenting books and returned all of them. I was about to give up on finding a good fermenting book, and then I ordered this book, and it is fantastic!! Several different fermenting techniques explained simply, and lovely pictures to inspire.

I have really enjoyed this book. I've made 5 recipes from it and each have been great. One of which I've already made a second batch of - I didn't want to run out!There's still lots more recipes I am keen to try - the pages are already full of markers for my next project. I've also been sharing the book and my jars of ferments with my family, each of which have been well received.Wether you already love making your own pickles or sauerkraut or if you're completely new to traditional fermenting, this book will give you the fermenting bug! (Pun intended!)It's full of inspired and simple recipes which are clear and easy to follow. There is also a section outlining the science, history and health benefits of eating fermented foods and to put your mind at ease on the safety of the practice. Amanda's sensible and flexible approach will fill you with confidence in your ability.The book is written for an American audience and some ingredients are called different names to British English, but a quick online search of the word can translate for you.Overall I love this book, it's barely left my kitchen counter since I bought it!

Yes. You want to ferment? This book is a must have resource. Everything I made has turned out well.

Some interesting recipies making your fermenting more varied