veggie "health tonic"

[marthastuff]

Hi there, everybody. I was hoping to get advice about possibly improving a recipe that I’ve got. You basically to shred roughly equal parts of garlic, onion, turmeric, ginger, hot pepper, and horseradish root, then cover it all with apple cider vinegar and let it sit out for about two weeks, shaking periodically. After that you’re supposed to strain it, discard/compost the veggies, and drink a teaspoon of the liquid every day as a health tonic.

What I’m wondering is, with all of that vinegar will any fermentation actually happen? I know that a lot of healthy goodness from the produce will be infused into the vinegar, but what about forming probiotics? I’m tempted to just use water instead of the vinegar for that reason, or maybe a mix of both? I'd like to make this stuff as healthful as possible.

I’ve made it once before and didn’t bother to strain it, just ate about a tablespoon of the veggies each day (potent stuff!) because I’d rather not have anything go to waste.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer!

[JohnDulleck]

I think making this into a fermented probiotic would be a great idea, and no, I do not think that any actual fermentation will take place with all that vinegar.

If you decide to make a fermented tonic though,don't add plain water. You need to have salt added as well to provide a probiotic friendly environment so that the good bacteria can setup housekeeping before any bad ones can begin to grow.

I would suggest creating a brine of non-chlorinated water and sea salt. One Tablespoon. of salt per cup of water is a good ratio, and then add the brine until the shredded veggies are covered.

[jdinid]

Yours is a pickling recipe, not a fermenting one. There are a number of health benefits in the ingredients, including apple cider vinegar. I don't know enough if a fermented version will provide you more benefits, or just different ones.

Try a batch of each and let us know what you think!

[Tibor]

For the best probiotic benefit I would take all your ingredients and cover with a 3.6% brine .That's 2 TBS salt to a quart of water. Add enough brine to get a good cover, mildly weigh down the veggies and cover with a cloth. You don't need to stir it and leave it for at least 4 weeks or longer. Skim off any floaters that may appear as you go. It will make it's own vinegar and when you are happy with the taste, throw it in a blender or processor to get the consistency you want and you will have a great tonic. If you will want a real thin tonic add enough brine up front so that when you blend the veggies you will have enough brine to add back to get that. At the end if you want you could add a real vinegar like Bragg's which is unfiltered, organic and raw. That wouldn't hurt a thing and simply adds more benefit to your tonic.

[marthastuff]

Thanks for sharing your wisdom on this, everyone. I've got everything fermenting away right now and am curious how different it will be this time around.