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Fermented Eggs Recipe

Food For Life Garden
Lacto-fermented eggs are delicious! Submersed in a salty and tangy brine, plain or zesty, they make a super tasty, nutritious, probiotic snack, that is ready to eat at any time. They can also be quickly transformed into deviled eggs, egg salad, sliced on a salad and added to an appetizer platter.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
fermenting time 3 days
Total Time 3 days 30 minutes
Course Appetizer, Breakfast, Salad, Side Dish, Snack
Servings 12 servings

Equipment

  • A large saucepan - For boiling the eggs.
  • A quart size mason jar - Use a classic mason jar for this recipe.
  • A lid - You can use a regular 2-piece mason jar lid, screwed on just fingertight, but the metal can corrode and you might get some of the flavor into your ferment. You can also use a plastic lid. I prefer a fermentation lid or airlock.
  • Optional: a fermentation weight - This is a short ferment and you might not need a fermentation weight if you wedge a few larger eggs into the jar to keep them from floating up in the brine. It is important that all your ingredients stay below the surface of the brine!

Ingredients
  

  • 1 dozen small to medium eggs - These need to be hard boiled. Soft yolks will not work with fermenting. Adjust the amount of eggs to fill your container. And adjust the rest of the ingredients if you use any container other than a quart.
  • 1 tbsp salt - Use a mineral rich salt if you can. Such as Redmond Real Salt, Himalayan pink salt or Celtic sea salt. If you use any other salt, make sure that it does not contain additives.
  • 1/4 cup fermentation starter - You can use unpasteurized kombucha, fresh cultured whey, cultured buttermilk, kefir, or the active brine from another ferment like fermented pickle juice. If you add vegetables to your fermented eggs, you could get away with not using a starter, but since eggs are boiled and are mostly all protein with little sugar content, it is safer to add a starter culture to introduce the kinds of bacteria that you want to get multiplying in your fermented eggs.
  • 1 tsp each of your favorite pickling spices. And any vegetable you like to pair with the eggs. Dress up your eggs in any manner that you like. Add fresh dill sprigs and garlic for some Dilly Eggs. I used pickling spice with turmeric and ginger. Then I added garlic, hot peppers, and onion slices in this latest version. You can also flavor your eggs by pickling them in used brine from any fermented vegetable. If you use 100% brine, then you can skip the salt or any other spices. Try brining them in beet kvass or use beet juice instead of some of the water to color your eggs pink. Turmeric will color them yellowish and red cabbage blue.

Instructions
 

  • Boil your Eggs
    Poke the large end of the egg with a needle. Place in a pot with water to cover. Bring to a boil and gently boil small to medium eggs for 8-10 minutes. Extra large eggs will take twice as long. Pour off the hot water and run cold water over the eggs. Peel them and place them into a bowl for now.
  • Add spices to your mason jar
    If you're adding spices, place them into the bottom of your jar.
  • Add eggs and vegetables to your mason jar
    If you're adding vegetables, you can layer them with the eggs. Fill your jar, leaving about 1-2 inches headspace.
  • Add salt brine
    Mix the salt, fermentation starter, and water in a quart size mason jar and shake well to incorporate the salt. Pour the salt brine over the eggs in your fermentation jar.
  • Top with a Fermentation weight
    Your goal is to keep all the ingredients below the brine. The best way to do that is by adding a glass weight. These are fitted to a mason jar opening. You can also use a flat, clean rock, or a small baggie filled with brine or marbles.
  • Seal with a lid
    If you use a 2-piece mason jar lid, tighten it just fingertight, so the gasses can escape from inside the jar. Otherwise you'll have to burp it every day to release pressure and keep the jar from exploding. If you use a fermentation lid, it will do that for you while keeping oxygen out. Likewise with a Fido jar.
  • Ferment for 3-5 days
    You'll find the brine to cloud up and there should be bubbling after a day or two. These are good signs that your ferment is heading in the right direction. Wait until the end of 3 days and taste your brine or an egg. It should smell slightly sour and taste salty and tangy.
    If you like your eggs at this stage, place them into the refrigerator. If you want them more sour, wait another day. After 5 days they should be placed into cold storage.
    They will still ferment in cold storage, but very slowly. Officially they will keep for 2 weeks in the refrigerator Enjoy your fermented eggs!

Notes

Note: if your fermentation is going great but no gasses are escaping because you sealed off your jar, be sure to burp it, to release some of the pressure. 
Some spices you can try: 
Coriander seed, cardamom, mustard seed, allspice, dill seed, dill weed, caraway seed, sliced fresh or dried turmeric, sliced fresh or dried ginger, hot pepper flakes or whole cayenne pepper, garlic.