About Fermentation

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by Amanda Woods

Hume Enviro Champions About fermentation

Fermentation is the digestive action of microorganisms on food or drinks. The ginger beer plant (GBP) or ‘bug’ is not really a plant but is another Probiotics are microorganisms that provide health benefits when consumed. symbiotic culture of and (SCOBY) which consists of a fungus, They aid human health by providing the body with good bacteria that the yeast Saccharomyces florentinus and the bacteria hilgardii. eliminate or displace bad bacteria from the body. Today probiotics are the It forms a gelatinous crystal and grows happily in the light in a brew of sugar fastest growing sector of the nutritional market. and water. Using this culture you can produce your own special ginger beer at home in half the time of the current fermentation methods. cultures assist to easily start the fermentation process in the preparation of various foods and fermented drinks. Many different starter Utensils: As above. cultures are commercially available. Culture: Yeast Saccharomyces florentinus and the bacteria Utensils: You don’t need expensive equipment to get started. Most items will Lactobacillus hilgardii. be in your kitchen. You will need a 1.5L jar, a wooden or plastic spoon, plastic Time period: 1-2 days for a fizzy drink. or stainless steel strainer, glass measuring jug and cloth squares for covering jars with elastic bands. Swing top or plastic bottles are optional. Steps: It is easy maintain your culture by straining your crystals and moving them to a clean Always remember to boil your water so that chlorine is removed, and let it vessel every 3-4 days. Add your sugars, water, cool to room temporature before adding it to any cultures. Normal tap water a pinch of Cream of Tartar and some ginger will inhibit bacterial growth. beer from the previous batch. Add lemon to your bottled brew and pop it in the fridge to stop the culture continuing to ferment. Why not make your own personalised labels with the brew date?

Kombucha is made from fermenting tea and the best way to make it is use a previous batch to make the next one. The SCOBY will divide and make a new combination of green and black tea so you get the sweet taste and benefits of one every few weeks. So you can give it away or store it in its own fermented enhanced brain activity from the green tea and the full ‘body’ flavour of the tea , called a ‘hotel’. black tea. It is a highly acidic beverage which has been reported to cleanse the Be warned! Drinking the kombucha vinegar is not recommended. blood and liver. It has a detoxifying effect and is great to those people who are sensitive to dairy products. Kombucha is highly acidic so the starting dose should be as low as possible. First try a shot glass and see how it makes you feel. It is wise to build up On a chemical level, kombucha contains glucuronic acid which can bind toxins slowly and stop drinking it if is causes headaches, dizziness or any other and remove them from your body via your kidneys. It is reported to help with strange effects. Be warned! Drinking kombucha vinegar (what is leftover weight loss, allergies, boosting your immune system and helping with joint once your fermentation runs for 4-7 days) is not recommended! Google the and digestive problems. Herzheimer reaction. Utensils: As above. Storage: It is a good idea to keep it in a large glass or ceramic vessel with a Culture: Saccharomyces cerevisae & gluconacetobacter xylinus cover with holes in it for oxygen to get through. Don’t use iron, aluminium or copper vessels only glass or ceramics will do. You don’t want any other Time period: Time period: 3-4 days in summer, 5-8 days in winter, 14 days chemical reactions going on in your brew and you don’t want to poison maximum. Testing the pH allows you to check the acidity of the culture and anyone either! this should range from 6 at the start, to 2.5 once it has converted the tea to vinegar. Most people enjoy kombucha at pH 3-3.5 when it has a sweet tea Kombucha and vinegar don’t like light, store in a dark cupboard. If the area is and mild vinegar flavour warm it will ferment faster for you. Steps: To start your own culture, you need someone to give or sell you their “mother”. This is the circular disc, or SCOBY, that grows / floats on the top of the culture. Once you have one of these you can grow litres and litres of Kombucha by following a simple recipe. This is an example recipe from my SCOBY provider: 1 SCOBY plus 100ML of fermented Kombucha tea (from SCOBY provider) is added to a fresh sweet tea brew. The sweet tea brew contains of 2 tea bags (1 green, 1 black) with ¼ teaspoon sugar and 1L water in a vessel at least 1.5L in size. First you make the sweet tea and let it cool before adding the SCOBY and 100ML tea above and let it ferment for at least 3 days depending on temperature. Remember to taste it every day and keep some tea from your Yoghurt

Yoghurt is very simple to make by adding a bacterial culture to milk (dairy or Culturing the milk: non-dairy). Mesophilic cultures do not require any heat to start the process. Thermophilic Equipment: See main section. cultures need yoghurt maker / incubator or thermos to maintain the temperature between 37-43 degrees Celsius for the incubation period. Follow Culture: Ideally as many as possible but will vary according to your culture. the instructions provided with your yoghurt maker. Time period:1-2 days Most dairy yoghurts require 10-18 hours to culture properly, however this Steps: depends on the culture and your personal taste. In general, a longer culturing time will produce a thicker and more tart taste. Coconut milk requires up to Preparing the milk: Use pasteurised dairy but not UHT milk. Follow the 24 hours to culture, depending on the brand. instructions included with your culture for best results. In general, using mesophilic cultures require no heat and can be done at room temperature. You can also drain the whey from your yoghurt to thicken it up. This whey However, thermophilic cultures require heating the milk to approximately can then be used to make cultured vegetables. 40 degrees Celsius before adding the starter culture. Storage: Yoghurt which has finished culturing should be refrigerated to stop Inoculating the milk: Follow the instructions provided with your culture this process. Once you do this it will not ferment further at room temperature in order to use the right proportion of milk to culture. This will allow your and should be eaten within a week. You can add fruit and honey once it is yoghurt to thicken properly and achieve the expected consistency. If your refrigerated. yoghurt is too thin it might require more time to culture. For non-dairy (coconut or soy) milk adding a tablespoon of sugar will allow the culture more energy to grow and thicken. You might also need to add a few teaspoons of pectin or gelatine to help the yoghurt set properly. Please consult the instructions or contact the culture provider if you are making non-dairy yoghurt.