How to Make Fermented Cranberries for Your Holidays or Any Time: A Recipe — All Posts Healing Harvest Homestead (2024)

NOTE: This article is about how you can ferment and preserve your cranberries. You don’t need a freezer, and by fermenting any extra cranberries you have from the holidays, you’ll actually increase their nutritional value! Cause…that’s what fermentation does. Read on for the directions!

Have you ever cleaned out your freezer and found things in there that you should really just use already?I found a bag of frozen fresh cranberries hiding out in my freezer, and I decided I'd just go ahead and ferment them in time for this year’s holiday feast.

This recipe is easy, tasty, and healthy, with a flavor that is unlike any cranberry taste you’ve ever tried!

But why cranberries?

The reason I decided to ferment these frozen cranberries is because 1) I just didn't feel like a cranberry sauce deal; and 2) I just wanted to see how it would go! 3) I had to get them used up, as they were getting on the old side, and…

Fermented foods are GREAT for your gut!So here's how I fermented my cranberries and also how I used these red beauties in our food.

FTC Disclosure: There are affiliate links scattered throughout this article. If you click through and make any kind of purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

How to Make Fermented Cranberries for Your Holidays or Any Time: A Recipe — All Posts Healing Harvest Homestead (2)

Recipe for Fermented Cranberries

You’ll need a quart wide mouth mason jar to make these. You really don’t need any fancy equipment, although you could use a mason jar airlock system if you like.

Ingredients for Making Fermented Cranberries

1) One bag of fresh or frozen cranberries

2) Sea Salt

3) Juice from 1 squeezed lemon or orange

4) Optional: Spices, such as Cinnamon Chips, Cloves, Ginger, etc.

Directions for Fermented Cranberries

Step 1) Since my cranberries were frozen, I put them in a colander and let them defrost. If you're using a fresh bag, you can skip this step. Rinse them well!

Step 2) Crush them up. You can use a large fork, a sauerkraut masher, or even a potato masher. You want to try to bust most of them up a bit to allow the juices out and to help them ferment better as the brine will soak into them more easily.

Step 3) Place them in a wide mouthed quart Mason jar or other fermenting vessel.

Step 4) Squeeze the juice of a lemon into the jar---or you can use an orange.

Step 5) Add some Cinnamon Chips and Clove Buds if you like.

Step 6) Add about 3/4 tablespoon up to 1 tablespoon of sea salt.

Step 7) Fill up the rest of the way to within one inch of the top of the jar with distilled water. Since we are on a well, I just use our well water.

How to Make Fermented Cranberries for Your Holidays or Any Time: A Recipe — All Posts Healing Harvest Homestead (4)

How to Make Fermented Cranberries for Your Holidays or Any Time: A Recipe — All Posts Healing Harvest Homestead (6)

Step 8) Place your weight on top of the cranberries, making sure they are all under the liquid.

Step 9) Now put on your airlock system. For Mason jars, my favorites are these silicone "nipple" types, but you can also purchase lids with an actual airlock that will fit on a Mason jar. Alternatively, you can simply use a regular Mason jar lid---if you do this, you will HAVE to "burp" your fermenting jar once or twice a day to allow the gases to escape.

Step 10) After you feel they have fermented long enough (I let mine go about 2 to 3 weeks on my counter), it's time to test them out!

Step 11) Enjoy!

How Do Fermented Cranberries Taste, You Wonder?

Well, I was pleasantly surprised! You know how cranberries are usually super tart? To the point where you can't really eat them by themselves?

Fermenting them makes them MUCH more mild. They are slightly salty, and not sweet. Since I like my cranberries a little tiny bit sweet, I added some Lemon Infused Honey, and MMMmmmmm! So, So Good!

How to Make Fermented Cranberries for Your Holidays or Any Time: A Recipe — All Posts Healing Harvest Homestead (8)

Final Reflections on Fermenting Cranberries and Ideas for Using Them

I admit. This was initially a move of desperation. You see, I hate waste. When I pulled out that old bag of frozen berries, I had three choices: 1) Give them to the chickens (but I wasn’t sure they’d go for them); 2) Compost them; 3) Try an experiment and see what happens if I fermented them.

Well, I’m glad I chose number three. This experiment just underscored for me how wonderful the traditional food preservation practice and skill of fermentation is. What would have been a waste turned into a delicious treat and side-dish.

Besides adding them to yogurt like I did in the above picture, you could try adding them to stuffings, potatoes, marinades, soups, and whatever else you think they might go with! Keep in mind, cooking them will kill off the raw probiotics, but if you are just going for a different taste or a unique addition to a traditional recipe, I think you’ll like these!

How to Make Fermented Cranberries for Your Holidays or Any Time: A Recipe — All Posts Healing Harvest Homestead (9)

I hope you enjoyed this unique cranberry recipe as much as I enjoyed experimenting and writing it for you! :-)

I should mention where I first learned how to ferment foods. These are my first and favorite books on fermentation and traditional food preparation methods: Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon is a feast of excellent research and information from the Weston A. Price Foundation. I love this book.

Other great books about fermentation include Sandor Katz’s The Art of Fermentation and Fermented Veggies by Christopher Shockey.

You may also enjoy these related articles on fermentation:

Russian Tomato Recipe,

Sauerkraut Recipe,

How to Ferment Lemons!

How to Make Your Own Raw Fruit Vinegars

If you just want more information about what fermentation is, you’ll enjoy: What is Fermentation and Why You Should Eat Fermented Foods Every Day!

Be sure to take a look at my website for hundreds more articles and/or my YouTube Channel for videos on. natural living!

Hugs, Health, & Self-Reliance!

Heidi

P.S. If you haven’t yet, I hope you’ll sign up for our newsletter! You’ll never miss a thing, AND you’ll get a ton of free stuff in the Resource Library! These are eBooks, guides, checklists that are all printable and will get you started on your self-reliance and natural living life! One of these is my FREE Herbal Remedy Guide that’s perfect for your kitchen or home apothecary!

You might also want to sign up for the FREE 5-Day Herbal Foundations Course, and start using herbs and spices for your own home remedies today! Just click here or on the image below:

Recipes, Fermentation

Heidi Villegas, MA, CA, Herbalist

fermentation, fermented cranberries, how to ferment cranberries, how to make fermented cranberries, why ferment foods

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How to Make Fermented Cranberries for Your Holidays or Any Time: A Recipe — All Posts Healing Harvest Homestead (2024)

FAQs

What happens when you ferment cranberries? ›

The berries are transformed after even just a week of fermentation, but this ferment can proceed for several months if desired. The honey grows redder, and more runny, as time and bacteria do their work. The berries soften a bit but still retain a satisfying burst of tart sweetness on the tongue.

How long does it take for cranberry juice to ferment? ›

Fermentation will take approximately 5 days. Tip: Once or twice a day, swirl your container to make sure the yeast make surface contact with all of the juice. Wait 5 days, then taste-test.

Why should cranberries not be eaten raw? ›

Is it safe to eat cranberries raw? Cranberries are generally considered safe whether they are cooked or raw. However, because of their notoriously bitter, sharp taste, most people prefer not to eat them raw or unsweetened. This bitterness is due to the high tannin content of cranberries.

What happens if you eat too much cranberries? ›

Cranberries and cranberry products are usually safe for most people if consumed in moderation. However, excessive consumption may cause stomach upset and diarrhea — and may also increase the risk of kidney stones in predisposed individuals.

How much alcohol is in fermented cranberry juice? ›

It also fermented at the slowest rate. The juices with the most sugar, purple grape juice and white grape juice (15% sugar) each produced the greatest yield of potential alcohol (8%). Cranberry juice had the lowest sugar content (7%) and produced the least amount of potential alcohol (0.25%).

Is fermented cranberry juice safe to drink? ›

Is it safe to drink fermented cranberry juice? - Quora. It is most certainly safe!

Why does my cranberry juice taste like wine? ›

Similar to red wine, cranberry juice contains a reasonable amount of tannins. Riddled with these bitter and mouth-drying compounds, the juice functions as a zero-alcohol stand-in for wine. Juxtaposing decadence and umami, tart cranberry juice proves itself as an equally effective palate cleanser.

Does cranberry juice make a woman taste sweeter? ›

Some sources assert that drinking cranberry juice may improve sexual experiences by enhancing the flavor of vaginal secretions. While one study list diets as one of several factors that influence the vagina's microbiome, no scientific evidence supports the claim that cranberry juice can improve vaginal taste ( 1 ).

What is the difference between 100% cranberry juice and cranberry juice? ›

Cranberry juice is usually labeled "100% juice." Other fruits are sometimes added to balance the tart cranberry taste, but that label indicates that the product is made with 100% fruit juices. Cranberry juice cocktail, meanwhile, has added sugars or high-fructose corn syrup for extra sweetness.

How do you know if juice is fermented? ›

Taste: Properly fermented foods should have a tangy or sour taste, and should not taste spoiled or rancid. Smell: The food should have a pleasant, fermented aroma, and should not have any off-putting smells. Texture: The food should have a slightly bubbly texture, and should not be slimy or mushy.

Can cranberry turn into alcohol? ›

Making your own cranberry wine is easy, using fresh fruit or cranberry juice. This recipe makes one gallon of cranberry wine, but can be increased or decreased based on your needs.

Do cranberries remove bacteria from your mouth? ›

Oral Bacteria: Cranberries can also combat harmful oral bacteria because they contain a nutrient called proanthocyanidins, which prevents bacteria from binding together. Not only can it reduce bacteria that can lead to cavities and gum disease, but it can also prevent bad breath.

What does fermented fruit turn into? ›

Fermentation can be found in nature in any sugar-containing mush such as fruit, berries, honey, or palm sap. When sugar is exposed to a warm environment, airborne yeasts operate on it, converting it to alcohol and carbon dioxide.

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