I decided to take a break from the spicy ferments and focus on making something sweet. Something kid friendly! This ferment is super easy to do. You can adjust the salt and ginger level up or down and it will still taste good. It tastes good with a 3 day ferment or a 10 day ferment. If you like the taste of carrots and ginger, it would be really hard to mess this one up.
Ginger is super healthy too. It is one of the starred foods in the book The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth. It has antimicrobial and antiviral benefits, which we can all use during this time of the year. Last week I got a cold and thankfully I had this ferment on hand to nurse myself back to health.
Another good thing about this recipe is I never have to worry about buying too many carrots and then having to throw them away because they went bad before I could use them. At the moment I know I can’t get to the carrots fresh, they become ingredients for the next carrot and ginger fermentation. My home is on a zero carrot waste policy. 
Summary: A sweet vegetable ferment using carrots and ginger.
Ingredients
- carrots
- ginger
- sea salt
- filtered water
Instructions
- Thinly slice carrots. I love my Global Knife.
- Finely dice ginger (some recipes say to grate, I find this sometimes makes the finished product too mushy). I use a 1 inch piece of ginger per pound of carrots. Use more or less. Let your taste be the judge.
- Add 1/2 – 2/3 tablespoons of sea salt per pound of carrots.
- Mix everything together.
- Jar mixture and top with filtered water. Make sure the veggies are below the water line.
- Cover jar and wait 3-10 days. Taste a little every few days. Once it is where you like it, stop the ferment and place in the refrigerator.
Quick notes
How many days you take the ferment all depends upon your taste and how warm the fermentation environment happens to be. If you prefer your carrots more crunchy, use a shorter ferment.
There is no wrong answer!
Preparation time: 20 minute(s)
UPDATE (Feb 14, 2011): I discovered that this ferment makes an excellent substitute for salad dressing.
J. Scott Shipman
Feb 14, 2012 — 5:41 pm
I’ve one very small batch of this underway today. Will advise on success or failure. Thanks so much for sharing!
David Holt
Feb 18, 2012 — 12:40 pm
I just filled a half gallon jar with this mixture (about 4 pounds of carrots). Now I can’t wait to try it out.
rose
Mar 11, 2012 — 2:14 pm
I was wondering if you could tell me do you use coarse or fine ground sea salt? I tried to make the NT ginger carrots and it was sooooooooooo salty!
MAS
Mar 11, 2012 — 4:27 pm
@Rose – Salt is not essential to the fermentation, so you can cut way back. The next time you make it, let taste be your guide. Add a little and taste while it is still raw. If it tastes good raw, it will taste good fermented. If it is too salty raw, then it will be to salted at the end of the ferment.
I use Redmond Sea Salt for all my ferments, which is labeled as a “fine salt”.
xtrocious
Aug 27, 2012 — 6:10 pm
Instead of water, can we use vinegar?
Or would that turn it into pickled carrots? 🙂
MAS
Aug 27, 2012 — 6:18 pm
@xtrocious – Hot vinegar is used for pickling. However, you can use some vinegar in your wild ferments. How much? Not sure I haven’t experimented with vinegar.