This is a great in depth guide to fermentation. I’m more of an old school fermenter but this will be an excellent resource for those who want a deep dive and all kinds of recipes for the intrepid foodie.

While the inclusion of a pickle recipe seems to have become ubiquitous in contemporary cookbooks, Ferment goes much further, offering a visually striking and multicultural exploration of fermentation and pickling. It also includes a surprisingly robust section on cooking with fermented and pickled products, offering up creative ways to elevate everyday meals.

To get a feel for the book, I tried a few of the quicker recipes: morkovcha, spicy green beans, quick-pickled red onions, crunchy soy sauce cucumbers, and sauercaccia. All were highly enjoyable. It’s remarkable how just a few pickled additions can transform a sandwich into something deli-worthy, turn leftover pasta into a flavorful pasta salad, or make a bowl of plain rice or grains feel complete. These small but flavorful additions noticeably improved the quality of my meals all week. I admit that I had lower expectations for the sauercaccia, especially since I used store-bought sauerkraut, but I was impressed by its satisfying, sort of bialy-like flavor.

Overall, this is a great beginner-friendly book that balances inspiration with approachability. I did run into some issues with brine-to-vegetable ratios in a couple of recipes that may have been user error. Still, I’m looking forward to coming back to try the sauerkraut, pickled fruits, and maybe even homemade miso.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Experiment for providing an advance reading copy.

I found this book informative and helpful. It's very accessible to beginners like myself. Everything was easy to understand and I'm excited to see how things turn out and what I can make with them.

Fermentation books can be hit or miss—either too simplistic and safe, or so complex they feel like a lab manual written for people who casually keep a koji chamber in their basement. (Noma, I’m glaring at you.) Ferment by Kenji Morimoto manages to strike that rare balance: accessible without dumbing it down, detailed without being condescending, and with enough inspiration to make even a seasoned fermenter reach for a clean jar.

This book focuses primarily on small-batch lactofermentation—my personal sweet spot—but also dips a careful toe into koji, with just enough depth to intrigue without overwhelming. There’s even a section on pickling, which at first felt slightly out of place, but ultimately serves as a smart contrast. Morimoto doesn’t just tell you there’s a difference between pickling and fermentation—he shows it. That’s something a lot of books gloss over, and I respect the clarity.

Now, let’s talk criteria:

Photos:
Look, in a fermentation book, photos matter. Especially for beginners. People need to see the difference between harmless kahm yeast and mold that should send your jar straight to the compost. While Ferment includes a decent number of photos, I’d love to see more images of things going wrong. The whole “when in doubt, throw it out” line just doesn’t cut it for me without visual context. That said, most books fail this test, so I’m not holding it too harshly against this one.

Measurements:
This is where Morimoto wins serious points. He uses weight-based measurements throughout—because let’s be honest, anything else in fermentation is a guessing game you don’t want to play. He also lays out brine calculations and salt percentages in a way that actually makes sense. Beginner-friendly without being patronizing. Clear. Practical. Well done.

Recipe Quality:
The real test: how many recipes do I actually want to make? With Ferment—almost all of them. That doesn’t happen often. A few are too funky for my personal tastes, sure, but there were several that made me stop mid-page and say “I need to make that.” That immediate, gut-level yes is rare, and this book earned it.

Bonus Points:
The final section? Recipes that actually use the ferments you’ve made. Finally. So many fermentation books stop at “congratulations, here’s your jar of preserved magic” and leave you guessing how to use it. Ferment connects the dots and brings it full circle. That alone makes it worth adding to my shelf and to the library.

I absolutely love this book on fermentation. It’s clear & easy to follow to give anyone confidence to try fermentation. The recipes included both for a variety of ferments and pickles as well as recipes to use the fermented ingredients are interesting and sound delicious. I started noting the recipes I want to try when my garden produce starts coming in, and then I realized I was marking nearly every page. I plan to try a couple of recipes for rhubarb and a kimchi recipe soon. I also appreciate the author’s dedication to reducing food waste in developing the recipes for this book. Overall an immensely valuable book and I can’t wait to add a physical copy to my shelf.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Experiment for the advance read ebook copy to review!

Ferment is such a helpful and insightful resource for those new to fermentation and for those who are building out their experience with the process! I have recently become OBSESSED with kombucha and I now feel fully prepared to try and make my own after reading this. I found the "what to do ifs" the most helpful For example, what to do if your Kombucha is too sour. All of this and more is described in this awesome book!

Thank you to NetGalley, Kenji Morimoto, & The Experiment for the ARC!

Thanks to NetGalley and The Experiment for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I'm always looking for different ways to preserve foods, and I only knew a little bit about fermenting. This book gives clear and concise instructions on the process. I feel less confused and more confident in trying some ferments.

The other thing I really liked about this book is the recipes for various foods using the ferments made. The color photography shows so many appetizing dishes, I can't wait to try some of these recipes.

MMMMMM, after reading one of the recipes (kombucha-brined chiles), I immediately went to the kitchen to make them. I am already excited to give them a taste once they are finished.

I loved that the recipes were approachable and that I felt like I was trying something new. The pictures? GORGEOUS. I really liked this book and plan on gifting it to a friend once it is published.

This is a practical and beautiful guide to fermentation. First, there is a tutorial of fermentation of different foods. This is followed by beautifully photographed recipes which sound and look amazing. I cannot wait to try these.

Wow! So in my other life I admin a fermentation group that is very science led due to my background in the subject. I get asked for fermentation book recommendations all the time particularly from beginners and I have such a hard time doing so because so many very popular titles have plain bad information in them as they don’t come from a place of science. When working with microbes the “art” should be in your flavor combos and how you create with them and NOT in your process.

Well this book is pure gold! I give Kenji all the kudos for sticking to proper practices for home fermentation to get the best and safest outcome. This book not only gives you all the information you need, it also has unique recipes written in weight in both Metric and US Standard measurements but also how to use those ferments in tasty recipes. I have already started several of the recipes today and can already imagine how food they will taste.


I am thankful to have gotten a complimentary eARC from the Experiment Publishing through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.
Thank you for finally having a book I can recommend with confidence.
My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

This book was fine--as an American that uses the metric system, having the recipes in imperial was a bit challenging. The photos were nice and the recipes seemed unique, but I can't actually see myself using this book.