Pickle power: how to make your first ferments | Kitchen aide

Little more than clean jars, salt water and time are needed to get you on the path to perfect pickles

I love ferments and want to start making my own to save money. Where should I start?
Ben, by email
“Maybe with some carrots, onions, cucumber or beetroot – anything Ben has an excess of,” says Connor Wilson, head chef at The Kirkstyle Inn in Slaggyford, Northumberland. “Fermentation is a great way of preserving produce, but it won’t give new life to things that are past their best.”

That said, tired-looking carrots would be perfect for Olia Hercules’ go-to for newbie fermenters: “If they look dehydrated but without any rotting, they’re amazing to ferment,” says the author of Strong Roots. “The sugars concentrate and you get this bright carrot flavour.” Start by slicing carrots (“the thinner or smaller the pieces, the quicker they’ll ferment”), then make a brine by mixing 35g rock or sea salt (“don’t use table salt”) with a litre of water (“tap is fine, filtered is better”), and making sure the salt dissolves. You can then go as fancy or simple as you like: “Drop in some peppercorns, allspice berries, coriander seeds, fennel seeds or anything else you think might go, bring the brine mix up to a simmer, then take off the heat and leave to infuse and cool to room temperature.” Pop the sliced carrots in a sterilised jar, then fill with the brine, making sure the veg are fully submerged: “You don’t want any sticking out and meeting the air, because that’s when bad bacteria can attach.” Hercules then leaves the sealed jar(s) for a few days until signs of fermentation emerge – “The brine will turn opaque, and you’ll see some bubbles” – then taste, taste, taste: “Once the carrots are nice and sour, stick the jar in the fridge.”

Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com