Some people think they’re healthier (different probiotics, I believe.) Some people like the flavor better.
Both. Pickling is intended more for longer-term storage, and fermented foods need to be eaten pretty quickly or they will spoil. “Pretty quickly” is, of course, a term that can vary from days to months, depending on how it’s done.
I have played with vegetable fermentation for a few years (and beer fermentation for a few decades).
First, you will save yourself a lot of headache if you buy this Ball ferementation kit. The lid is a kind of air lock, so you don’t have to “burp” it. The spring keeps things submerged. It has a simple guide to several different recipes.
Mason Jars has something similar (more expensive and fancier), and here is a link to their recipe book.
Check out this video. He has a lot more but this covers 4 basics.
Pickles are fine and covered up thread. A couple more favorites:
- Honey fermented garlic. Hint: crush the garlic and can enjoy this in a few weeks instead of whole cloves that takes a few months.
- Jalapeno or other peppers. Sliced. Then use as garnish. De-seed if you want these milder. You can also then blend these into your homemade hot sauce. Ferment a week or two and into the fridge
- sliced sweet or red onions. These are great on sandwiches.Ferment a week or two and then into the fridge
- Napa cabbage sauerkraut. Just a random link. These are all about the same. In addition to napa cabbage, a couple cloves of garlic, sliced peppers of choice, and anything else you feel like. Ferment a week or two. Although my German boss says a few months is what they do back home. Also good on sandwiches, as a side, in place of cole slaw, etc.
The above are the ones that I do on a regular basis and to me are the biggest bang for the buck.
In my book, giardiniera is pretty much a guaranteed success, but I think I “misposted” there, because it’s not fermented, is it?
Off topic a bit, but my cousin’s husband had made some wondrous fermented summer sausage in the past. I’d not dare to try that at home, but he’s a professional sausage maker.
The couple of times I tried fermented pickles it failed pretty boringly. (A spectacular failure is it blows up, getting brine all over the kitchen. A boring fail is it just doesn’t come out right, so you throw it away.)
I make fermented sauerkraut, and that always has come out great. There are lots of recipes online. All you really need to know is the right amount of salt to add to the cabbage.
If you are going to try this, just buy some kind of fermenting lid. They’re cheap, easy to get, and work, so there’s no point in MacGyvering something pre-apocalypse.
You can buy food grade lactic acid. Albeit not in any grocery I’ve visited. I wonder if one could make quick pickles that way. I’ve never done a lactic/acetic side by side while holding all other variables.
You can certainly ferment it. I can’t remember which company’s process I was reading about, but they mentioned fermenting it and that adding the oil at the end to the fermented vegetables (this is for Chicago-style giardiniera, which is a bit different than the regular Italian style of pickled vegetables.)
That’s why I think the sandwich bag filled with water will work out. My grandmother made these in an open crock. We had that crock for a long time, pretty sure my mother got rid of it first chance she got.
Never had any kind of pickle soup. I have to try that, don’t know what to expect.
Other vegetables interest me, especially peppers. I’d like to skin peppers and ferment them to see how they hold up like that. I usually have a jar of roasted red peppers on hand to use in recipes, and often for garnish too. Honey fermented garlic looks like a winner.
Fermented meats sound appealing, that will be on my list of stuff to learn about.
I’ve known a couple politicians too. Don’t want them anywhere near my home either.
I want to give it a try. There are recipes online. It will taste different than when pickled in vinegar, possibly better.
I’ll probably try these airlocks. Looks like extra cleaning to me.
To be clear, the Chicago-style giardiniera always has oil in it – that’s what defines it, and that’s what makes it so delicious, IMHO. There is a regular pickled giardiniera, most common brands are Mezzetta and Cento, which are sold nationally, while Chicago brands (like Vienna, Marconi, Ditka’s, That Pickle Guy, Bari), I believe are much more difficult to find outside the general Chicago area. Plus the local delis may make their own, as well. The larger commercial versions are made with soybean and/or canola oil. I would recommend using a light olive oil instead. And I would definitely recommend making it with serrano peppers, and it is usually spicy around here, though mild versions exist. As I mention above, they pickle the vegetables (or ferment) them first, then strain them and cover them in oil (and sometimes a bit of water and vinegar) to mingle for a couple of days before using.
But that’s if you want to do the Chicago style version (which I think is far better for sandwiches.)
^^^ Listen to this man. 
Some of the ingredients aren’t available in my area, so I use a few drops of Tabasco instead of hot peppers, anis seeds instead of fennel seeds and no celery salt, and the results have been outstanding so far.
I enjoy cooking and feel pleased with myself when something comes out just right, but the pleasure I got from my first attempt at giardiniera was on another level, like I’d discovered a small treasure or something.
I suspect that requires refrigeration. Vegetables in oil generally do – botulism risk. I don’t know whether the pickling process makes the whole thing too acidic for that to be an issue.
I suspect you are correct with that. I’ve never tried to store oil-based items long-term at room temperature. (Oil and garlic are particularly known not to get along long-term.) The commercial stuff is sold at room temp, shelf-stable until opened, but they contain preservatives like potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, and sodium bisulfite. I don’t know the exact food science behind this, so I wouldn’t can it in that state without researching further. The times I’ve made my own giardiniera, it went straight into the fridge. I would think you can also just can it in the pickling solution and then, when you need it, finish it off in oil and put it in the fridge.
I’m used to Italian style giardiniera which has never included oil that I’ve seen. This product is an example, large pieces of vegetables ready to serve in an antipasto.
Right, Wikipedia makes that distinction (oil in Chicago version). I’ve only made it with good olive oil, and I don’t think I’d like it as much without it.
It should be refrigerated. My version draws on several recipes, all of which involve cold brining the vegetables overnight, dumping that and pouring a boiling brine over all the jarred ingredients, topping off with oil, sealing the jar and leaving it in the fridge for five or six days before eating. Keeps for a couple of weeks (refrigerated).
How does the oil affect the contents if it’s floating on top of the brine?