Fermentation

I've been having issues with making milk kefir. Mostly, actually, fear of drinking it after fermentation. Sometimes I notice this foam on the top, and after straining, I don't know how to describe it and don't have any photographs.

When my kefir is done, it smells almost identical to sourdough starter. Is this normal? Does this mean its safe? It is different to commercial kefir, which I know is more of a thin yoghurt.

Hi, I've recently completed one of my first ferments, and it came out pretty good but was saltier than I would like. I used a 3% salt brine, and was wondering how low can I go for ferments? I was thinking of trying 2% on my next batch, but don't want to risk it not working. Any thoughts?

I'm getting deep into the yogurt rabbit hole. Last time I tried I sued for poor starting culture that was heavily infested with yeast. It was some delicious yogurt I bought from a lady on the street, but after a week or so it turned too sour and definitely gassy. It was not a good starting culture...

This time, I switched for some commercial yogurt and also went for this technique with extra water to retain heat for longer. I also finally decided to invest 4 euros and get a cooking thermometer. I'm so satisfied it's keeping in the range of 41/42 degrees Celsius.

I'll give it a night to rest, and I'll let you know tomorrow morning!

Edit: Alright, after 8 hours, the temperature dropped at 31°C. Perfect taste and smooth texture! Pretty satisfied with the result! From now on I'm using this technique with a larger pot filled with hot water.

Hi folks, I live in northern Africa and it is quite common to find ladies on the side of the street selling bottles of fermented milk. I thought this is some kind of yogurt or kefir, but I'm not sure. I bought a bottle of what basically seems to be milk. Also, I'm not sure about those little yellow grains floating around. The smell is quite tangy. What is this in your opinion?

I've been fermenting all sorts of stuff for a few years now and I'm quite open to experimentation to the point of being somewhat adventurous.

A jar of low sugar quince marmalade sweetened with grape juice (supermarket product, not homemade) started smelling slightly alcoholic and I filled it with water and left it on the counter to wash out later. Forgot it, found it again after a week and it was happily bubbling away. As I love fizzy drinks in summer I decided to feed it with sugar and bits of lemon and ginger and keep it going. It now lives in my fridge and provides one fresh drink a day.

No adverse effects (so far) and I'm very pleased with my new fermenting friend, but I'm curious about what it is. It doesn't grow a scoby, it's most likely not kombucha. The bottom of the jar has a cloudy layer which seem to be the remains of the marmalade. Ginger bug? Something else?

Try it it's delicious! I had a truckload of them in my garden and had to do something before they regrow... What better way to lactoferment them?!

I love the flavor that develops from lacto fermenting mushrooms. I'm a little bit suspicious of white button mushrooms (Agaricus species) since they contain agaritine. Agaritine is broken down by heat, making it safe. If you eat raw Agaricus, the agaritine is made into phenylhydrazines in the gut, which causes liver damage and can eventually make you anemic. Under no circumstances should you eat raw Agaricus.

So what about lacto-fermenting them? We know agaritine is heat sensitive. Is it also sensitive to microbial activity, so that it breaks down?

I found both dark and light rye bread at the store but it was the factory-made kind. I definitely made mistakes with both batches including adding way too much bread to the light kvass.the bottles need a day to carbonate then we shall see how well they turned out. Not that I have any reference for the flavor.

Plus if I'd prefer to buy/share locally. Any advice for finding either a local supplier or someone that wouldn't mind giving me a sample of their starter?

The one on top is my levain starter, bottom is kimchi (first aattempt, fingers crossed!).

I just find it funny that they are in their cozy corner bubbling away together 😄

Fermented with black cardamom and garlic (which I'm just noticing I forgot to put on the label 🤷) and puréed with mango and pear.
Added a little rice vinegar and salt to balance the fruit.
It's a little spicier than Sriracha, but not at all unpleasant. Nicely sweet and spicy. You can taste it with a spoon without regretting it.

First time making hot sauce. I let this batch go from 09/26/2022 to 10/01/2024.

Came out amazing.

I did it very simple.

Strained peppers and garlic after removing as much Kahm yeast as I could.

Tossed all of the peppers and garlic in a blender. I added back 1/2 cup of the lacto water and 3/4 cup of white vinegar.

Didn't add anything else and it's phenomenal. It's hot but not too hot (for me). Complex flavors.

All in all, I think it came out really well! The finished kōji had this incredible, indescribable taste/smell. Maybe kind of, flowers and mangos and peaches? I used it to make a ton of miso.

I used Modernist Pantry kōji kin and organic basmati white rice, and a makeshift immersion circulator/floating water bath incubator thingy. The rice was steamed in unbleached muslin cloth until just a little undercooked, then the same cloth was used to line a metal tray. The rice was spread into hills and valleys, covered with more muslin, then tented with some aluminum foil over the whole thing. The foil was mostly to keep condensation from dripping off the roof of the incubator onto the muslin cloth.

I put it in the incubator with the circulator st to 90 F.I stirred it at 12 hours and again at 24. It got appropriately matted, and for the most part it wasn't too wet. However, there were a few spots where I think it was getting on towards sporulation already, as you can see here:

Could have been some extra humidity collecting in those darker spots? The tinfoil tent kept the incubator condensation from dripping on it, but I guess nothing prevented the tinfoil condensation from dripping lol... Anyway, the entire process seemed to go way faster than all the guides lead me to believe. I broke it all up as best I could and put it back in set at 84 F with the lid open for lower humidity. By 24 hours it was maintaining about 97 F on its own.

I'm a total amateur, but here's what I did:

1. Soak 1.5 lbs beans for 6 hours in water with a little baking soda
2. Change water halfway through
3. Preheat immersion circulator/sous vide chamber to 110 F
4. Pressure steam for 20 minutes
5. Spread into wide flat container
6. Stir old nattō into 1/2 cup water, mix evenly into beans
7. Lay plastic wrap snugly against beans, poke many holes
8. Cover tightly with tin foil, poke a couple holes around edges
9. Poke corded probe thermometer into center from edge
10. Float in immersion circulator chamber for approximately 20 hours

The temperature in the beans generally kept about 2 degrees less than the chamber. I think we want the early fermentation to happen at 108 F and then cool to 100 F, so I tried to keep adjusting it based on that. Anyway, the result was pretty tasty!! The bacteria seem to take well to black-eyed peas. Might have been a little less stringy than "normal", but still delicious!

This was delicious when it finished. Just pineapple rinds, sugar and wild yeast, mostly. Sorry there's not really much to see here, I just enjoy watching the bubbles go by, and figured others might too.

Also, fingers crossed this video works right! File hosted on a Pixelfed instance, direct-linked to from a PieFed instance, and posted to a Lemmy instance... That's pretty convoluted lol.

Some blue fruit punch after 2 days with some ginger bug inoculation and it's very soda like!

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/38646723

Chocolate hazelnut porter, first tasting. Good porter. Medium chocolate flavor. No hazelnut. Sigh. Needs more nut extract. Not much head or carb.

I've started my ginger bug recently and am researching all about it. Found this and it answered a question I didn't know I had.

Potatoes, garlic and 2% salt. These will become potato salad for a picnic.

Just starting this book and my hot sauce journey. Anyone tried this book? Any good or bad recipes?

Let's see how this goes. Water and raw honey, 4:1, hoping for a wild yeast mead. First time, so fingers crossed

It's happened twice in a row now. Can anyone recommend how to prevent it. I've had years of no fermenting problems, now twice in a row. I'm sad.

I’m thinking mostly of turşu (torshi) and kimchi.

Traditionally, these vegetables are able to ferment fully sealed for weeks, months, or even years. My family ferments turşu for 6 weeks and they fill that bottle to the brim with no problem. But I have seen many reports of people doing European style fermentation who have popped lids and made a mess because they didn’t “burp” the jar.

So what is the difference that makes them not need to release pressure? Can they be made in a metal lid mason jar?

Also, there is vinegar in turşu solution - anywhere from 10% to 50% volume depending on the recipe. Some recipes boil the solution before adding to the jar. I have read many people say both vinegar and boiling will kill your culture, but I have seen both done and they definitely work. Any insights on this?

Hello fellow fermenters, a year ago I started to make miso, I planned to let it ferment for a year so today I went to check on it. However I noticed something that I think looks like mold. But I would like a second opinion before I toss it in the trash. The miso has been fermenting in a glas jar with an airlock, that I forgot about and didn't refill with water. On top of the miso I also placed a plastic bag filled with salt.

Images

I was given some apricot chutney, and it was so delicious I'm inspired to make some myself. I've done lactofermented things like hot sauce, kraut and kimchi. So I'm curious to access the Group Mind: What are your lactofermented chutney recipes, and tips for lactofermentation? :-D