Any fermentation fans (fanatics?) here?

[Sally PB]

Some more thoughts on making yogurt....

You can buy a container of yogurt to use as culture, or buy some dry culture and use that. I used to use store bought yogurt, but ordered a culture and have been using that for awhile. I like it better. I save about a cup of the drained yogurt in a jar in the fridge for the next batch. Duly marked "Yogurt Culture" so I don't eat it.

The first batch I made with the dry culture was kind of thin. THAT IS NORMAL! The culture is "waking up," I think. Every batch since has been what I was expecting it to be.

If you drain it, SAVE the whey! Google "uses for whey," and you'll find there are a lot. I put it on my blueberries, and the plants love it. Strawberries would love it too. Actually, most plants would love it, but acid loving plants really love it.

I've also:

Used it in place of water when I make bread
Fed it to the chickens by mixing it with their food to make a mash
Used it to cook rice
Put it in smoothies

Some people can drink it straight, but I can't.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Oooh I've always wondered if someone had tried that! I am getting hops. I LOVE dark beer..I wondered if there is a way to make it taste like a dark beer as well?

As a beer brewer (and I prefer them dark - like porters and stouts - too), I think it would be difficult to get kombucha to taste like a dark beer. If you know how to brew beer, you could play around with ingredients, but kombucha is always going to have that distinctive tanginess, which is naturally more similar to a sour or IPA's flavor profile.

Always worth a try, though!

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Whey also makes a good starter for veggie ferments like sauerkraut. I save my milk kefir whey specifically for that purpose. Veggies can be fermented without whey, of course, but it will typically take longer.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

I made a pine-lime soda this summer using green pine cones...I know it sounds kind of funky but it was pretty good.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

I found a recipe on pinterest, but will have to work to source the ingredients locally.

Traditional kvass is mostly beets and rye bread plus honey, ginger, etc... lots of options. It can be a bit salty. I have also been playing with fruit kvass and fermented lemonade. Blew the top off of a half gallon ball jar last week with a strawberry cucumber lemonade. It was worth it.

Ah, right...I remember reading that in Eastern Europe, there are vendors that sell it from a big vat - and there are big pieces of bread in it. I would definitely try it.

It's always exciting when there's a lot of carbonation...I once opened a flip-top bottle and the pressure blew the top open out of my hands and sheared off a piece of the glass rim. I don't tell this story to people new to fermenting. lol

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Great - you've already forayed into the fermenting realm! And I agree that animals also clearly benefit from the probiotics and increased bioavailability of nutrients that come from fermenting feed.

What kind of veggies are you looking to start with? Do you prefer to learn from books or online tutorials? Both fermented veggies and KT are easy once you get the basics down (and learn how to identify mold - this freaks most people out). Store-bought KT just isn't as good as homebrewed IMO and much of the store-bought stuff is pasteurized now, so it doesn't have the same probiotic potency as home brewed. I find the commercial KT very fizzy and vinegary, and that can be controlled when you're making it.

Strawberry milk kefir? Yum! How about milk kefir pancakes? If you like cheese blintzes, I'm pretty sure you'd like MK pancakes. You can also make bread, biscuits, ice cream, cheese...and lots of other fun things with it. My dogs love it, too (and the grains).

If you and your family like soda, you can make a probiotic "soda" using water kefir grains, too. You can probably imagine all the great flavors possible...

I've been making KT for a while now and would be happy to answer questions if you have any or point you to resources. I'm curious about canning, so may have some questions for you!

 

[TroyerGal]

I passed 600 yesterday
Food freedom Now is online, probably thinkin

 

[AnchoredHomestead]

@samanthaoverton @AnchoredHomestead

Let's talk ferments!

It’s on my new skill list this year. First step is learning to brew kombucha

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

So about tepache.. love it. You can go sweet with a shorter ferment and if you go longer..it oddly tastes like a blonde beer..

Hops in kombucha second ferment makes it taste like a light IPA.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

I cheat with yogurt..I make it with half n half..talk about perfect. No worries about thickness, etc also I use it for sour cream for tacos etc.

Yum! I do the same with milk kefir. Heavy cream makes it just like sour cream, but the grains are difficult to remove because it's so thick.