Pickling basil | The Savory Society

Yoris
Peach

Posts: 586

Pickling basil Aug 1, 2018 20:19:40 GMT -7

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Post by Yoris on Aug 1, 2018 20:19:40 GMT -7

Edit: I do not recommend this pickled basil recipe (although it does smell nice for a super long time; I just threw it out on 26 April 2019—and it smelled and looked the same as when I made it).

I harvested all our basil, today (we have a lot of it, and a number of kinds), and I decided that I wanted to pickle/ferment it.

I added 2 tablespoons of pickling/canning salt, 1.5 cups of distilled white vinegar, a whole bunch of basil, some spring water, and a couple chewable probiotic tablets. I put them all in a half gallon jar with a stainless steel lid with a silicone seal (which I intend to burp if necessary, although I hypothsize that it won't need burping much, if at all, based on my experience with chile sauce fermented with vinegar).

Here is a picture:

I've been wanting to lacto-ferment herbs for a long time, now. I'm curious what herbal properties they can have, and what the taste/smell will be like. Plus, I'm curious if it'll be good on hotdogs.

[HASH]vinegar [HASH]herbalism [HASH]recipe [HASH]lactofermentation [HASH]probiotic [HASH]herb

Last Edit: Apr 27, 2019 1:13:28 GMT -7 by Yoris

Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet
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Yoris
Peach

Posts: 586

Pickling basil Aug 8, 2018 15:14:33 GMT -7

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Post by Yoris on Aug 8, 2018 15:14:33 GMT -7

It's been over a week and I haven't had to burp the jar. I haven't opened it, either. So, this contributes more to my hypothesis that adding vinegar makes it so you don't need to burp the jar as much, if at all (although it may need slightly more burping after opening for the first time), and my hypothesis that acetic acid bacteria are in vinegar without obvious mother, too (and that they use up the oxygen and maybe other gases in the jar to create a vaccum). The distilled white vinegar I used this time was fresh from the store.

The basil looks slightly darker, but otherwise the same. There's no mold. There has been some C02 bubble production, but not a terrible lot.

I need to remember to stir it every time I open it, when I do open it.

The big difference between this and my chile sauce recipe is that I didn't blend it up and cook it before fermentation. Plus, the basil was fresh from the garden.

I should note that we saved some basil for cuttings (so, all the basil harvested didn't go into this).

The basil is growing back.

Last Edit: Aug 8, 2018 15:32:21 GMT -7 by Yoris

Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet
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Yoris
Peach

Posts: 586

Pickling basil Aug 17, 2018 22:33:28 GMT -7

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Post by Yoris on Aug 17, 2018 22:33:28 GMT -7

I fermented the basil for two weeks before opening it (I didn't burp it at all during that time, and it didn't need burping when I opened it).

It definitely tasted pickled at that point, and it was quite good. I let it ferment a couple more days (tasting it each day). The flavor was best (unlike the chile sauce) the first time I opened it, in my opinion.

So, then I blended up what I could, strained out the fibrous stuff (some of the basil was kind of old to be harvesting), tried it on some hotdogs, and put it back in the refrigerator. I froze the fibrous stuff in case I want to eat it in the future (I don't like wasting food).

It was good on the hotdogs (fermented stuff seems to be good on hotdogs a lot of the time). It definitely improved the flavor. I do prefer lacto-fermented radishes on hotdogs, however.

Anyway, after refrigerating it for a day, it needed to be burped! That's the opposite of what usually happens. Usually, you need to burp the jar when it's not being refrigerated. I guess I'll need to keep an eye on it.

When the blended basil sediment settles, the liquid is reddish, but it's another color if you stir it up. I wonder if that's because of the Purple Ruffles basil in it.

I'd like to try this in pizza sauce to see how good it is. Also, in tomato soup, chile, stew and such.

I did notice that healthy fermented feeling if I ate more of the basil foliage than I was prone to wanting to eat. I didn't notice particular herbal qualities to it, though (in the short-term).

Last Edit: Aug 17, 2018 22:34:07 GMT -7 by Yoris

Location: SW Idaho, USA
Climate: BSk
USDA hardiness zone: 6
Elevation: 2,260 feet
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