Fermented Cranberry Sauce

My kitchen is looking more like a chemistry lab.

The Curtido is on the left, cranberries in the middle and milk kefir on the right. We keep the milk kefir going since we drink that daily.

This recipe does require a starter, which can be whey from yogurt or liquid from kraut. I prefer the whey from the yogurt. Below is a quart jar of whey from my last batch of yogurt. If I’m not using it for baking or fermenting, the chickens love it.

Here’s the Fermented Cranberries recipe:

2 cups apples
2 cups cranberries
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup apple cider
Juice of one orange
1 tsp. orange zest
1/2 cup starter liquid (whey from yogurt or liquid from kraut)
1 tsp. salt

Chop apples and cranberries. They do not have to be finely chopped. Pour into a sterilized quart jar.

Juice the orange and zest the peel. Add the peel to the jar of apples and cranberries. Add orange juice, cider, maple syrup, starter (I use whey from making yogurt) and salt to the jar. Give it a good stir.

Place a fermenting weight on top to keep the ingredients covered by the liquid.

Place lid on the jar. I use an air lock lid but if you don’t have that, use a plastic lid and open to vent several times a day. Let ferment at room temp for 48 hours.

Place the sauce in the fridge until time to use. Will keep in the fridge for at least a week. I sometimes add the pecans just after the fermenting is finished and sometimes I add them before serving and sometimes, I totally forget to add them!

The only thing I need to ferment before Thanksgiving is the curtido and the cranberries so I think that part of my job is done.