In my experience (albeit limited) don't be afraid to try whatever strikes your fancy. If it's bad, start again.

Quoted from Victoria

What method do you all use to cover your container while the vegetables are sitting at room temperature?

I stuff my vegetables into an old pickle jar, cover it with the lid and leave it alone for 3 days. Nothing fancy....no special technique.

Honestly, this is the easiest process ever.  Any vegetable, shredded or chopped, thrown into
a bowl, sprinkled with salt...a tsp or more.....use your hands to squish vegetables pretty
well for a few minutes until they give up their own natural juices....stuff everything into any old jar...push solids way down to the bottom of the jar so the liquid stays on top of all the vegetables.

And that's it...you're done.  Leave it out...wait a few days and taste it...If it needs more time,
wait another day or two.

Ideas:  cabbage, cauliflower (in small pieces), onions, garlic, ginger, red peppers, leeks, bits of seaweed (instead of the salt) -- I soak the seaweed first if I think it's too salty and dump the water and just use the seaweed)...carrots, daikon radish, beets, parsnips.  Grated or sliced..but better if all pieces wind up being the same size. I often use the shredding blade of my food processor and mix a lot of different vegetables together..

I seal once my veggies are fermented and I stick them in the fridge, not before

Great thread & good advice...
But for me... I'm afraid it reminds me too much of too many tubs of uneaten coleslaw b4 they were thrown out & my unemptied compost...

Yeah, I use the mason jars.  Or canning jars.  You have to relieve the pressure periodically.  Sometimes once a day with certain mixes.  Other ones can go longer.  But the pressure will build up.  I would just crack them open once a day.  I like to smell them and see how it's going.  The carrots usually bubble pretty extensively.

I do usually add a little salt.  

sorry about that Possum!
you re missing out on some wonderfully curative fair

AB,
try zucchini for

Quoted Text

bubble pretty extensively

I believe you I can't do cabbage...maybe I'll try zucchini & carrot one day

Hmmmmm...  I've done zucchini and I don't remember them bubbling that much.  I'll have to do them again.

Ok, I followed Lola's direction:  I used only salt and set up my watery cabbage for fermentation in a tightly closed glass jar leaving one inch of the juice above the shredded cabbage, between the cabbage & the top of the jar.    Now what happens next?  I wait 5 to seven days and what then?  Please help...I want to do it right.  

Quoted from Rex

Ok, I followed Lola's direction:  I used only salt and set up my watery cabbage for fermentation in a tightly closed glass jar leaving one inch of the juice above the shredded cabbage, between the cabbage & the top of the jar.    Now what happens next?  I wait 5 to seven days and what then?  Please help...I want to do it right.  

Taste it every day....When you think it tastes fermented enough, refrigerate it and eat it...but mine never takes 5-7 days to ferment..usually 4 at the most.

I was thinking that room temperature is different for us, depending on our individual climates.  For me, room temperature all year long might be between 67-74 degrees....cooler in winter, warmer in summer..but never tropically hot inside my house.  I'm wondering if leaving a jar to ferment in a really
warm room makes the fermenting process go faster...??  Just wondering.

I do not shut the lid while it ferments, simply cover the stainless steel bowl with a cotton cloth.....once fermented, I transfer to a glass jar, seal and place in the fridge.

Most of the online directions call for weighing down the vegetables while the culturing is taking place, so that they are completely submerged in the brine.  So I think maybe the air space at the top might not be necessary.

Victoria...what can I use to weigh down the cabbage?  I saw a YouTube demonstration that did direct me to shut the lid down tight to seal-in the mixture.

Lola...If I leave the lid closed tightly, the liquid will not evaporate...do you think that allowing air to get to the mixture helps it to ferment?   Do you think this is the better way to do it?

I just push it down every  day.

I first give it a good mix with a spoon, then I push it back down.....daily

Chloe's right in that no water is needed. I just made another batch of turnip kimchee, this time slicing the turnips thinly, grating the carrots finely, adding chopped up green onion, salt, and a little chili paste. After working the veggies with my hands for a couple of minutes, the juices began to flow. The whole thing fit into my canning jar and as I stuffed the veggies in, the juices rose to the top.

This is such a great thread as I'm trying to ferment cabbage for the first time and I am not sure that I'm doing it right.  Right now I have the glass jar sealed tightly with a screw-on lid.  There seems to be so many ways to do this.  I'll just try them all & decide which one I prefer.  Wish me luck.  

Has anyone tried okra?  They're the only pickles I like but as a gatherer can't have the vinegar. I like raw okra but this fermenting in getting interesting.  But would they be to thick? you really can't cut them open or they will get slimy. debbie

I think okra would ferment just fine, though it will take longer.

Hmmmm... Okra, that could be interesting.  Not sure if they'd break down enough.  I wouild think so because the wall of it isn't overly thick. Brussels sprouts whole won't work.  You definitely have to crunch them up or something.

Normal room temperature is fine.  You don't need it warm.  In fact some people say a cool, dark place.  But yeah, the colder it is, the longer it will take.

I've done sauerkraut in canning jars. Say to put in closet. the jar lids will seal themselves just remember to put in a lined box, the jars will run over. Well if I get Okra up I'll try some. Hopefully next year I'll have our ceiler completed that will keep the temps. even, though it might be a little cool. I did loose sauerkraut once because it got to warm, or at least I think that's what happened. It was two soft. I like not using water. Our water sometimes has to much bleach in it. OK guess you got me.  

Quoted from deblynn3

Our water sometimes has to much bleach in it. OK guess you got me.  

Use bottled (not distilled) water and sea salt if you need water. You could make a brine for okra just like you do for cucumbers to make pickles.

just read some of the eariler comments. The carrot might "work" harder because they are a sweet vegetable I remember reading they have the most suger of all vegetables, which is maybe why they are a gatherer black dot. WH adds more sugar to his wine if it stops working.

Depending on what type of container a person uses . . some use a big crockery pot or wide mouth gallon jar.  Some of those folks use a flat sterilized rock, lay it on top of the vegetables and then cover with cheesecloth.  Or set a small bowl down in the jar, with a stone on top to weigh it down.  

I have heard of using a whole cabbage leaf, folded several times and pushed down on the top of the mixture.  This sounds good to me.