Brandon Byers is a bona fide badass. If you don’t already know him from his podcast, FermUp, it’s time to head on over there to take a listen. I wish I could tell you about all of his projects, because they are incredibly impressive, but I’ll leave that to him and merely ask for your trust that this guy knows his business. His approach to fermentation is definitely the kind that leads him way below the surface. He’s the kinda guy who will resolve an issue by gaining the deepest possible understanding of that issue and then building a thing from scratch to solve his problem. Oven temp not right? He builds the equipment! Curiosity brewing about why particular bacteria give this particular texture? He reads food microbiology textbooks while rocking his son to sleep until he finds the answer. See? A badass. His inaugural cookbook, The Everyday Fermentation Handbook, accurately showcases his tendency towards creativity and digging deep. It also makes for an incredibly fun and inventive guide to all things fermented.
If you aren’t already familiar with culture vendors such as Cultures for Health, Yemoos or GEM, you’re about to be. While there’s plenty of excellent wild fermentation in this book, usually my preference, some of my very favorite recipes here are those that had me online with my credit card. There are so many recipes here that creatively use cultures, like the chickpea and wild rice tempeh, the varied, heirloom yogurts and canned-bean natto. You’re gonna go nuts!
In addition to the ferments you’ve heard of, ferments you wish you’d thought of and the ones you immediately want to make, there are recipes for using all those things up. They range from the straightforward and delicious (sauerkraut dumplings, anyone?) to the thing that sounds a bit strange but will end up becoming your go-tos (PB&K, aka Peanut Butter and Kimchi Sandwich. Just trust me. It’s tops.).
In short, this book provides excellent guidance on everything you’ve ever thought you might want to ferment but, even better, it provides inspiration to ferment things you probably never conceived of, and to push the boundaries until you find your perfect thing, be it your favorite flavor combination, your new favorite ferment or the ideal process.
I’ll be sharing one the many awesome wild ferments from this book with you later in the week, but for now, enter below for your chance to make every single one of these fun, interesting and wildly delicious recipes.
Andrea T. says
Thanks for the fun giveaway. Looks like a fantastic book. If I don’t win, I’m going to get a copy.
Amanda says
I highly recommend it, Andrea! I’ve been playing around with it for a couple months now and having tons of fun!
Saniel says
Thru a glass straw on the back porch near the fan. Thanks
Neill Hines says
i want to learn how to ferment!
Bradley says
Had the privilege of meeting Branden a few times; he even gave me cultures for some mesophilic heirloom yogurts and KOJI! As for the prompt: I just love my kimchi on everything…
Amanda says
He’s very generous with the cultures!
Kelly says
I like to add sauerkraut juice to soup, and chopped pickles to chili. =]
Risa says
booch in my morning smoothie!
beth says
looks like a great book – loving the pictures, and the table of contents is tempting. still working on getting the hang of fermenting, so it would definitely be helpful!
Amanda says
It’s great, Beth! I highly recommend getting your hands on a copy, even if you don’t win. It’s a book that will take you right through getting the hang of things to expertise!
Justin says
fermented lemonade
Ellen says
I don’t know about “offbeat” but I love my fermented salsa on my morning eggs!
Suzy says
Kimchi fried rice and fried eggs. Yum
Lisa Christiansen says
I add sauerkraut juice to my salad dressing – gives it a great zip! But I would LOVE to win this and learn more since I am just starting with fermenting – sauerkraut and komboocha so far.
Deborah says
Love my sauerkraut!
Lisa P says
Don’t know if this is that weird, but I love drinking sauerkraut juice by itself 🙂
Amanda says
Not weird, Lisa! I always save the end of the jar. Makes me feel fantastic!
Heather Machin says
haha. kimchi and peanut butter is a favourite of mine too! and here in new zealand we have the fabulous Pic peanut butter, made right here (i.e. not in a foreign factory) that contains only peanuts, no sugar or fillers or oils.
uncatim says
I like kim chi in my tacos.
carley says
I love sauerkraut brine mixed with yogurt as a salad dressing.
Susanh says
just made fermented garlic…very good! And if I win this book, I’ll be trying lots of new foods by fermenting them.
Pam says
I’m new to this…had great results with kimchi, but my pickles were a fail…….It seems like a great resource!
Amanda says
Hi Pam, It is a great resource for sure! What kind of vegetable were you pickling?
Kristin says
I tend to just drink the brine straight from the container. Sometimes I like it more than the veg I fermented!
Andrea G says
This book looks so interesting!
Shayna says
I don’t have any offbeat ways, I just love ferments!
Amanda says
Ferments are the greatest! I think this book will inspire everyone to some offbeat thinking!
Stacey says
I’d love to win this for my husband! I’ve been going through some health issues and he’s been so excited to be fermenting food to help me heal! Thanks for offering this giveaway!
Amanda says
That’s really nice, Stacey! I hope you find these foods as healing as I have! And you’ll love this book!
KarenV says
Not sure how offbeat it is, but I like kimchi with fried eggs and buttered toast for breakfast.
Cam says
Grilled kimcheese sandwiches
amy b. says
Pretty new to fermented foods, so nothing too offbeat yet – we do love to eat homemade sauerkraut on raw onion “bread” ~so yummy!
Kat K. says
I’ve only done sauerkraut and pickles. I would love to expand!
corrie says
This sounds like a super fun book! Will definitely need to check it out.
Josh says
I love Kimchi and Soy Pickles!
Adriene says
Carrots & garlic…water kefir, kombucha & just started fermented lemons…have recently gotten into fermenting, and am loving it!
Dana says
I’m going to order ropey viili this fall when it is cooler for shipping. Thanks for the information. Sounds unique.