Great article, very informative. Had a couple follow-up questions for the author and/or crew:
1) The article suggests you could leave the FF fermenting at room temperature indefinitely as long as there is no mold, while only removing a scoop or so at a time. This is contrary to the lactofermentation guidance I have seen for human foods (e.g., sauerkraut) that suggests tabletop ferment followed by putting the whole thing in the fridge to stop the fermentation. Has anyone else tried fermenting feed indefinitely? I would think you'd need to refrigerate the whole mix after a week or so but the author has gone up to 2 months.
2) Has anyone tried fermenting a whole grain feed with grubs or other dried insects in it? I will just throw some in and see what happens, but was curious for opinions.
Thank you!
1) The article suggests you could leave the FF fermenting at room temperature indefinitely as long as there is no mold, while only removing a scoop or so at a time. This is contrary to the lactofermentation guidance I have seen for human foods (e.g., sauerkraut) that suggests tabletop ferment followed by putting the whole thing in the fridge to stop the fermentation. Has anyone else tried fermenting feed indefinitely? I would think you'd need to refrigerate the whole mix after a week or so but the author has gone up to 2 months.
2) Has anyone tried fermenting a whole grain feed with grubs or other dried insects in it? I will just throw some in and see what happens, but was curious for opinions.
Thank you!
I have not tried adding insects. I'd love to hear how this goes for you!
When I do my daily FF routine I take roughly half to 3/4s of the food in the bucket and add fresh food to the remaining quarter or half. There is always old going out and new coming in so it's not just sitting and fermenting itself crazy.
You're right in saying that if it fermented too long it could go bad. That is why it is important to adjust your container size and amount of food to your flock's consumption speed. Though I have not tested it, I can see how having a full bucket and taking only a scoop or two away a day could ruin the balance. Again, I typically take away at least half every day.
I have not done a lot of fermenting for humans, but it seems to me that if you have a container of sour kraut and you consumed and replaced a large portion of it every day there wouldn't be a problem with leaving it out, so long as you watch for mold. But if you go through the sour kraut slowly it would be a good idea to refrigerate it to slow the ferment.
Does this answer you questions? Can I clarify anything more/else?