Think of all the good properties both Honey and Garlic have! Thing of the Probiotic Possibilities – combined all together it creates an immaculate avour punch as well as ghts off any illnesses trying to come your way! Start it now so its ready in a months time. It can last a year simply in the cupboard, if your able to not eat it all and use it on salads, toasts and stir- fries!
Let the bubbles begin! This is a quite simple 'recipe'. All one needs is honey (unpasturized is best), garlic heads, a jar, and of course time.
Honey on its own is stable – meaning, it will not ferment, rot or sour spontaneously unless it is heated or in contact with moisture (more than 19% moisture means it will ferment). Mixing water and honey together simply makes mead – a honey-alcohol.
When we add garlic cloves to honey, there is just enough water in the garlic to help the honey ferment. The honey
pulls the water out and creates, over one months time and longer, a beautiful probiotic/antibacterial cold + u cure!
Simply nd a jar size of your choice. Put as many peeled garlic cloves in as you have patience for. Then ll the rest of the jar with honey. Make sure to label your jar when you started, so you can moniter the avour change, how long you have had it, when you like it best, etc.
Over the rst month, the thick honey will become more liquidy and bubbles will accumulate. It is necessary to release the gas to eliminate chances of jar bursts. Just make sure when you are ‘burping’ your jar of garlic-honey that you dont have a hot date over – they might not recognize the smell ;).
Hi. Two questions:
1 – Does the jar *need* to be sealed?
2 – What about adding some water kefir grains?
Hey there, here are the answers to your questions:
1 – the lid is on and closed just enough to not let in fruit flies, but just on enough that carbon-dioxide that builds up can squeeze out if pressure gets too big
2 – try a batch using water kefir grains – they are SCOBYS (symbiotic colonies of bacteria and yeast) which means you are adding extra (cultured) bacterias to the mix, and will speed up the product and perhaps give it a slightly different taste. – best to try two small jars of each and let us know how it goes!
Thanks! I’ll let you know how it goes.
Er… one more question: Exactly how do you use it? Eat a toe/toes of the garlic? Spread the honey on bread? …?
I like to make a buttered toast and spread the garlic honey on it nad a crushed garlic. or eat it like a candied garlic. Add it to a stirfry, or anything to add great flavour to! Millions of possibilities :)!
Hi Alexa,
I have my jar of honey-garlic ferment unopened since I made it a year ago when I was ‘attending’ your first online fermentation class. 🙂 Although I love the idea and want to try it so badly, I’m scared because it really never produced bubbles. But it also doesn’t show any mold or anything. Do you think it’s safe to eat?
Hey Dilhan, there could have been two things regarding the no bubbles: 1) the garlic was very dry and didnt have much water in them to react with the honey. 2) perhaps the honey was pasteurized and wouldnt react. However, if the garlics have turned a nice dark brown (they should have after a year), they probably have an incredible candied flavor and wont be so sharp as they are raw. i would say if there isnt any strange signs it would be totally fine to consume! both are antimicrobial so mold shouldnt be a problem. feel free to post a picture if you are still unsure :)!
hi, i tried to make one of this. but after first day, it shows mold sign on the garlic. is it safe? can it be salvaged?
mold is not a good sign. if it happened already on the first day, i would imagine the garlic was not in good condition. if it is mold, best to throw it away and start again. perhaps in a smaller batch at first to watch the action. bubbles start to develop around day 2-3. if you are curious you can see if any fermentation develops in the next days, however mold is not a sign we want here. feel free to post a picture so we can analyze.
if the garlic is floating on top will it rot?
should i add weights or something….
its normal that the garlic floats on top. i usually just turn the honey around so it coats it – but the environment inside the jar is enough to keep any bad bacteria off. eventually the honey will be saturated with honey through osmosis (yummm honey osmosis :)), and then sink. you can put on weights but they will get pretty sticky 😀
hi, is it normal for the garlic to be gummy/chewy to eat? it got stuck in my teeth and also burnt my mouth. it’s been fermenting in the jar for a few months now.
if the garlic is old, it can end up chewy and still have a lot of that garlic bite. the fresher the garlic the better
How about mixing honey garlic and vodka together… Long shelf life. Uses??
hmm well adding vodka would not make it a ferment. but im sure you can try it 😉 a sweet garlicy vodka, why not!?
Does it matter if you use fresh vs cured garlic?
both work wonderfully!