Ingredients:
honey and garlic
Honey: must be raw, unpasteurized, unheated, straight from the hive to the jar
honey (available from Beamish Honey) The pasteurized honey you can buy
at the store will not work, the fermentation process will not happen.
Garlic: the freshest, most naturally grown (organic) local garlic you can find.
Or grow it yourself, it is not hard to do.
Benefits:
~ has strong antibacterial, anti fungal and antioxidant properties.
~ boost your immune system
~ lower blood pressure
~ reduce cholesterol
~ may help reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and even reverse its
effects.
~ a natural cold remedy
~ cold and flu preventative ~ eat daily to avoid getting sick during cold and flu season
~ great way to preserve your garlic (garlic will last for many years while in honey)
~ honey helps to mellow the sharp taste of raw garlic, you can eat it raw
~ feeds gut biome
Requirements:
~garlic
~raw honey
~glass jar (sterilized)
~canning lid and collar
~glass fermenting weight and air-lock lid
(The glass fermenting weight and air-lock lid are optional. You can simply use a canning lid and collar, but it will require daily burping- very important.)
The Process:
#1 Peel garlic and smash each clove or chop up cloves
#2 Place broken cloves in clean jar. Leave some room at the top for the fermenting process.
#3 Fill with honey so that garlic is completely covered.
#4 Place the glass fermenting weight on top of the garlic to hold it down in the honey. The garlic has a tendency to float initially until the fluid in the garlic starts to release, then it will sink to the bottom. You will also notice the honey becomes more runny.
(If you are not using a fermenting weight, you can just skip this step)
#5 Cover with an air-lock lid & collar or regular canning lid & collar. (The air-lock lid will release the fermenting gases automatically whereas the canning lid will need to be burped every day for a couple weeks. Which simply means, unscrew the collar and release the lid enough that you hear a pop. That releases any pressure on the lid, screw the collar back on. It is also helpful to twist the jar back and forth a few times to help release any air bubbles trapped in the bottom of the jar.
Fermenting glass weight Air-lock lid
That is it!
Now you will need to leave the jar in a room temperature area to ferment for at least 4 weeks. You will know when the fermentation process is done, as you will not see any more bubbles or fizzing. You will notice a strong garlic smell as it is fermenting…normal! (I had to put my jars in our basement kitchen cupboard because of the strong garlic smell. Once fermented the strong smell is gone)
Start enjoying your fermented garlic! (Store at room temp or in the fridge—up to you)
Ways to use your Honey Fermented Garlic:
~ eat it raw (one clove per day will help boost your immune system)
~ cooking (add garlic to everything you can)
~ drizzle the honey itself on salads, pizza, toast, hummus, charcuterie board dips etc
~ endless possibilities!
Botulism Concerns:
For those who are concerned about botulism or have read that it is not safe to ferment garlic in honey, please note. Raw honey is very acidic—not the ideal environment for botulism spores to survive in. This is another reason why it is so important to use pure raw honey. Many honey products available at the grocery store are pasteurized and/or the honey has been mixed with non-honey syrups—they are not true honey. You can easily test the ph of your garlic honey by using a ph strip. Simply dip the strip into the fermented liquid. It should be below 4.5
Here is a great link to watch Brad Leone make Honey Fermented Garlic