Ferment THIS Alternative Fermentations Lorena Evans Benefits of Alternative Fermented Products

• Taste! Cheese, pickles, sauerkraut, kombucha, taste great. • Health benefits

• Long term storage- Fermentation is one of the oldest forms of food preservation technologies in the world! • Tradition SPOILED VS FERMENTED

• Choose your microbes • May be in the eye of the beholder…………………..BUT • Accidental fermentation is often BAD! • Provide favorable conditions • Brine, temperature, equipment, inoculation Why we love saccharomyces! Saccharomyces cerevisiae YEAST Saccharomyces

• What is it? • Ferment simple sugars • Usually transform sugars into alcohol • Sugar is the principle food for life on our planet • Hundreds of species of yeasts have been isolated from fermented foods. (Debaryomyces, Pichia, Torulaspora, Kluyveromyces, Hanseniaspora, Rhodotorula, Wickerhamomyces, Candida and Williopsis, etc) Bacteria To Love

• Among bacteria associated with fermented foods and alcoholic beverages, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) mostly species of Enterococcus, , Lactococcus, Leuconostoc, Pediococc us, Weissella, etc. are widely present in many fermented foods and beverages

• Species of , Brachybacterium, Brevibacterium, and Propionibacterium are isolated from cheese

• Acetic acid bacteria (notably of the genus Acetobacter) metabolizes ethanol into acetic acid. Basics for Lacto-fermented Foods

Wash/clean the food

Wait Prepare size

Salt or Cover brine The Magic of Salt

• Salt suppresses the growth of • Slows the enzymatic digestion of the undesirable bacteria while allow vegetables, leaving them crunchier; salt-tolerant Lactobacilli strains to flourish; • Inhibits surface molds;

• Salt will also lead to a crisper • Acts as a natural preservative, which texture, since salt hardens the may be necessary if you're making pectins in the vegetables; large batches that need to last for a larger portion of the year; • Salt strengthens the ferment's ability to eliminate any potential pathogenic • Start with a 2 ½% brine for most bacteria present; veggies but minimum of 1% always!

• Adds to the flavor; Spontaneous Lacto-fermented Foods Veggies and more………… Hot Stuff The spice of life Brining and lactobacillus

• Includes salted foods like olives! • Use 2 ½ % salt brine for pickles, 3% for sauerkraut

• Very robust fermentation • Inoculation not necessary, but can be helpful Fermented Dairy Products • • • Non-dairy yogurt can be made from non-dairy “” as well • – utilizes Streptococcus lactis. • • Cheese Cheese & More

Raw is ideal, but any non-ultrapasteurized milk can be a good source. Milk is warmed, a culture introduced and then drained from the , often utilizing rennet. Fresh cheeses like chevre are not pressed or aged. Hard cheeses are pressed and often aged. “Blue” cheese has another culture introduced during aging.

Photo by Andrew Deweerd Homebrewtalk.com Tips

Starter cultures are those microorganisms (bacteria, yeasts, and molds or their combinations) that initiate and carry out the desired fermentation of fermented dairy products. The function of the starter cultures in these dairy products is to ferment lactose (milk sugar) to produce lactic acid. The increase in lactic acid decreases pH and causes the milk to clabber It’s very important to keep the culture pure, or purchase fresh, as mutations and contamination occur and can ruin the product. Mold

• Main fermentor in proteins • Tempeh (fermented soy) • Sausage And more mold……………..

• But most often secondary role • More fragile, needing a specific environment • Example- Camembert • Flavor attributable to bacteria, but the bloomy rind and runny texture are due to molds Mixed Fermentations

• Two or more types of microbes act in symbiosis. • More robust fermentation • Generally sweet, oxygen present or absent • Cheese with bloomy rinds, water kefir, kombucha, vinegar, sourdough bread, kefir, etc. Acetic Acid

•Vinegar!

• Malt • Cider • White wine • Red wine Koji, Nuruk, and Sake’

Oxygen present, moist environment, 70-95F.

Koji is technically a mold, due to the amylase converting the starch but usually lacto or another bacteria is added. (Saliva does the same thing- ie chicha)! SCOBY SCOBY DO………….

•SCOBY •Kefir •Water Kefir •Kombucha Benefits

• Beneficial probiotics • Cost • Great taste • Customized Kombucha

• SCOBY is critical • Tea, Sugar, Water and Starter • Ferment at 70-80 degrees • Cover with a breathable cover • Secondary fermentation • pH of 2.7-3.5 • Health benefits • “Mostly” nonalcoholic • SCOBY hotel Kombucha

Recipe Tips

• One gallon • Use black tea, at least for several batches. Always use sugar, not • 4-8 tea bags (black tea) substitutes. Can sweeten with honey or substitutes, and bottle or keg. • 1 cup starter liquid • Secondary fermentation is a great • 1 cup sugar time to add flavorings and ingredients • 1 SCOBY • If bottling, “burp” and/or refrigerate Cover with coffee filter and ferment at to avoid bottle bombs 75-85F; may take 7-10 days • Washed containers are fine, no need to sanitize Methods for fermentation

Equipment Overkill, but nice……….

• Jars, airlocks, covers, fabric, coffee filters, weights, follower, kitchen scale, heat regulator, and utensils

• Salt (non-iodized) • Non-chlorinated water • NON METAL objects! • Temperature plays a huge role- ideally 75-80 degrees. Higher or lower favors less desirable bacteria. • Clean equipment • Prepare food by making all pieces similar size • Add salt (pound in/soak) or brine • Airlock or cover so gasses can escape • Place in clean container in fridge when finished. Mason jars are great for storage, but plastic is ok as Technique well. Sauerkraut, pickles, hot sauce, fermented beets, gochujang(no • Sauerkraut is made by “pounding” 3% of the weight of brine needed), carrots, “dilly salt into it, allowing the liquid to cover the shredded beans” and more! cabbage. Pack tightly, and cover with a follower to keep the vegetable(s) submerged.

• The brine is made by boiling water, adding salt, and cooling to room temperature. Cover the veggies with the brine, and add a weight to keep them submerged. Soft Cheese Chevre • Heat 1 gallon non-ultrapasteurized milk to 86 degrees (goat’s milk is the best!) • If using homogenized milk, add calcium chloride • 2 teaspoons salt • Add chevre culture and let rehydrate on top. Let it sit 6-12 hours until you get a “clean break”. • Separate whey and curds by pouring through a strainer lined with muslin. Pull up the muslin around the cheese and hang to drain until it reaches the consistency you like. • Salt and Eat!

Rikki Carroll Avoiding Cross- Contamination

Don’t ferment in the same place as other fermentations Separate, clean, sanitize Check for signs of contamination

Lactobacillus plantarum from Bob Givens CONCLUSION

• EVERYTHING ferments……..your job is to harness this principle and control the direction

• Fun, delicious, healthy, sciency, and a bit of an art. What’s in it for YOU? Sources 1. Functional Properties of Microorganisms in Fermented Foods, PMC, NIH, Frontiers in Microbiology 2/26/16 2. Photo of saccharomyces from Wikipedia 3. Photo of lactobacillus courtesy of Google images (no source given) 4. Photo of homemade vinegar from Mother Earth News 5. Photos of “blue” cheese by Andrew DeWeerd (homebrewtalk.com); Sourdough breads: Jessica Baxter; Hot sauces and pickles: Erik Hansen; Red Sauerkraut: Lynn Noella; kombucha, cider press, beer are my own.