Fermentation of vegetables is it safe to eat them (Botulism)?

Can we get Botulism from fermented foods and is it relatively safe to experiment with fermentation?

Lately, I've been doing quite a bit of research into fermentation because I've always been interested in the natural and age old practice of preserving food (or creating great tasting food) through the fermentation process.

There's plenty of good evidence showing how the consumption of fermented foods is good for us. Good bacteria such as Lactobacillus are prevalent in fermented food such as cold prepared pickled cucumbers and sauerkraut.

There are a million and one things a person can ferment to make just as many different types of food products such as beer, mead, yogurt, pickled vegetables, olives, cheese, etc and many of these great foods can be made at home without any hi-tech pasteurization, heat treating equipment, or nasty preservatives or other chemicals.

I believe we were meant to eat food which has been naturally fermented - it's natures way of preserving food and keeping it's nutritional qualities whereas heat treating food such as vegetables and fruit destroys most of (if not all) the good nutrition normally found in these foods.

I'm not suddenly going to become a complete raw convert or vegetarian but I do think I should personally do more to protect the nutritional qualities in the vegetables I grow and eat and that's why I have been exploring fermentation as a way to preserve my produce.

But how safe really is it to ferment vegetables? The video below explains this question better than I could and is made by Sandor Katz who is an advocate for fermentation and a well-known lecturer/author in the USA. He has become a subject matter expert in the art of fermentation.

There are a million and one things a person can ferment to make just as many different types of food products such as beer, mead, yogurt, pickled vegetables, olives, cheese, etc and many of these great foods can be made at home without any hi-tech pasteurization, heat treating equipment, or nasty preservatives or other chemicals.
I believe we were meant to eat food which has been naturally fermented - it's natures way of preserving food and keeping it's nutritional qualities whereas heat treating food such as vegetables and fruit destroys most of (if not all) the good nutrition normally found in these foods.

Mark I totally agree with all of the above.
I believe that societies move to eat more processed foods has robbed us of our natural ability to fight some diseases and infections.
By over processing foods we remove a lot of antioxidants that strengthen the bodies immune system.
Plus there is nothing more satisfying than eating or drinking your own home grown prepared or preserved produce.

regards john

Yes agree John, and unfortunately I've been guilty of eating way too much processed food myself in the past They might taste good however the nutritional value is low in many cases.

I have been dabbling a bit in fermentation (I make a fermented chili sauce similar to Tobasco), I've cold preserved cucumbers in the past, and I have a test jar of olives I'm fermenting in brine ATM, but I'm going to get more radical and adventurous from now on...

Here's a book from Sandor Katz called The Art of Fermentation which I have ordered. I actually emailed Sandor and asked him if his book had example recipes on how to make certain fermented foods and he says his book does have practical steps "how-to" on fermentation and isn't just a history or ethical read.

http://www.booktopia.com.au/the-art...z/prod9781603582865.html#customer-reviews-tab

I had some fun with making my own wines, and hard apple cider, I really believe this has been working for thousands of years, These worries of food poisoning are blow out of proportion. I even heard something about eggs a while back. Don't eat runny eggs because of food poisoning. I have been eating most of this stuff my whole life, and near got sick, on the other hand, I remember my mother went out for Kentucky fried chicken and got food poisoning. Now I hear the cooking oil is unsafe and not good for us to consume. They now say animal fats are better for us to eat as they are more stable. So it seems to me the old way is better and safer than the new way.

My copy of the book arrived the other day and the author started with the same sentiment as you (and John above).

The great thing i'm finding as I read more about fermentation is how uncomplicated it mostly is to do! I'm really looking forward to experimenting with fermenting my own produce and documenting the results in our food recipes section.

And samples Mark don't forget the free samples

Botulism is the worry. Apparently even beer can have this, if animal fat is present. I.e. unwashed, bottles that were swigged on at a BBQ. Then left exposed to the air, However a soup containing meat/fat can be preserved, like canned soup is. My old Mum jarred some soup today for the cupboard.

I had a go at making fermented beetroot from some of our home grown beets. I modified a large glass jar by drilling a hole in the top of the lid and inserting a plastic airlock which I got for $3.50 from the local brew shop. I grated up about 10 beets and then shoved it into the glass jar with a sprinkle of natural sea salt about every 3 inches and then I continued to mush it with my fist until the shredded beetroot was covered by its own liquid - it was quite therapeutic!

I left the mix to ferment on the kitchen bench covered by a towel for about 6 days and then tasted it but unfortunately it lacked that "pickled" flavour. Not that the taste was bad it just wasn't wow so I ended up using the fermented beetroot as a chutney by adding some sultanas, onion, sugar, vinegar, pepper, nutmeg, cooked it off and it turned out pretty good.

I'm thinking the reason why the fermentation process wasn't a great success was the lack of fermenting and I probably needed to leave it longer or add a culture to get it started. Anyway... I'm I lacto-fermentation learner