We love fermenting food. It's this truly old world, primitive way of preserving food. Fermentation is the earliest method we know of for preserving food and it is one that spans across continents and cultures.
Fermentation is the easiest way to preserve food that I know of. It also has the added bonus of unlocking and supercharging the heath benefits of the food being fermented. No other method of food preservation does this!
Honey + Garlic + Fermentation = Supercharged Health Benefits
Fermented garlic offers more health benefits than raw garlic. Studies show that the fermentation of fresh garlic raises its health promoting properties and its bio-availability. This means that the nutrients in fermented garlic are easier for the body to digest and absorb.
Why We Love It!
I am working on a care package for my son's birthday and it always includes our organic, home grown garlic. We've taught him that when healing and boosting our immunity - natural is best! He lives somewhere that is very cold and winters get very dark. There are weeks of winter where day seems like night and it really pounds on your wellness after a while. This leads to people being indoors a LOT which means that they are constantly sharing germs and getting colds and flu's. We like to send him things to ward off illness and boost his immunity and he loves garlic.
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Research shows that fermented garlic has much higher antioxidant activities than that of fresh garlic.
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Garlic contains a sulfur volatile active component that has antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant biological properties
These are just a few reasons for the many benefits of fermented garlic. But there are many more!
My cousin sent me two jars of this beautiful alfalfa clover raw honey from a farm in Alberta - so beautiful! It has solidified a bit after being in the pantry for a long while so I needed to heat it very gently applying the least amount of heat possible. Heat can kill nutrients so you never want to boil honey. I usually work with a honey that is free pouring and runny for recipes like this one, but warming it gently seems to have done the trick.
How To Ferment Garlic In Honey
This recipe is so easy. The result is a tangy and slightly sweet, easy to digest product. Even kids are willing to eat this garlic.
Ingredients/supplies
Wide mouth glass jar with lid or airlock Organic garlic Pure unpasteurized honey
Directions
- Sterilize your jar with boiling water and dry it before use. Fill the jar with peeled garlic cloves leaving 2 inches of head space.
- Cover the garlic with honey. You'll need to let the garlic flow through the garlic and settle between the cracks for a few minutes. Once that's done top up the honey so that it covers the garlic. You don't want any garlic exposed to air!
- affix your airlock or lid to the jar. If using as lid you will need to burp the jar daily. This means opening the jar to allow any build up of gasses (carbon dioxide) to escape. We use these handy silicone pickle pipes (Amazon Link) made by Masontops for our ferments - I like these best of all the fermenting gadgets I've tried, mostly because there aren't multiple pieces to worry about losing!
- Try to keep the jar around 60 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit, and store out of direct sunlight (a dark cupboard is ideal).
For the best results we like to wait at least three weeks before we start eating this garlic. It improves even more with age. At about three months old it is AMAZING!
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