Same here. Brew also my own kombucha , water kefir ( a misnomer), Sauerkrut, Kimchi and Yogurt. Have dabbled in skyr and will try cheese when and if ever I retire
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Fermented and Cultured Food or Drink Stories
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Soandso
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Brings to mind the Hindu India "Panchgavya" remedy which contains (presumably fresh) cow dung from cows not fed antibiotics. I don't think I was ever given that when in India. Years later I obtained formulations for making it when had 4 pastured milk cows and some agricultural projects but never followed through.
Currently we have kombucha, home made yoghurt and some elderfower wine (my wifes first attempt at winemaking) on the go. Kimchi and Sauerkraut are also regular staples for us and I try for proper french style artisan sourdough bread.
I've made a lot wine and beer in the past (my degreee is in microbiology) and also some fresh cheese but I can't make the matured cheeses I would like to do as we have pets wandering freely around the kitchen and can't maintain the hygiene levels to make those sort of cheeses safely.
Our next thing to try is making some faiselle having fallen in love with that on our last holiday in the Ardeche, getting fresh unpasteurised sheeps milk for it will be pretty imposible in the UK though so it'll have to be goats milk & not quite the same.
I've made a lot wine and beer in the past (my degreee is in microbiology) and also some fresh cheese but I can't make the matured cheeses I would like to do as we have pets wandering freely around the kitchen and can't maintain the hygiene levels to make those sort of cheeses safely.
Our next thing to try is making some faiselle having fallen in love with that on our last holiday in the Ardeche, getting fresh unpasteurised sheeps milk for it will be pretty imposible in the UK though so it'll have to be goats milk & not quite the same.
Ant yoghurt 
www.theguardian.com
‘Surprisingly creamy’: as a fermentista, how could I resist making ant yoghurt?
Findings of study into fermentation process behind dairy product could serve as toolkit for creating new foods
www.theguardian.com
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Soandso
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Ant yoghurt
Reminds me that about 10 years ago a friend was designing a low budget mealworm rearing set-up for edible production with the idea of promoting this as a home industry in "developing" countries. I was one of the prototype testers experimenting with different food waste stream feedstocks.
At the time my household yogurt consumption included draining off a lot of whey which I collected. Taking freshly culled whole mealworm larvae (no broken segments or pupae) these were rinsed, blanched, rinsed and then completely submerged in filtered fresh yogurt whey. These larvae were put into fermentation vessels with simple gasket secured plastic airlocks from a brewing supply merchant.
Once the fermenting larvae in the whey vessels (plural, testing different fed larvae batches) begun producing CO2 and when airlock activity looked stably reduced (with tested pH) the entire units (air lock included) was placed into a refrigerator. Over time I'd eat a sample of the rinsed off mealworm larvae and did so for over a year finding the larvae safely preserved and eating a portion amount of them caused me no health issues, nor gastro-intestinal discomfort.
Personally I don't like the mouth feel of larvae exoskeleton so blended the mealworm test portion in water, mesh strained (not filter paper) out the large solids and used the rest; consuming it in smoothies and also added to cooked rice their fermented taste was neutral as an ingredient. At the time I'd some very rough calculations of the protein content in my portion eaten, but lost those notes when moved.
I never got around to testing stable commercial packaging possibilities for a simple product of fermented mealworm larvae at different ambient temperatures and their shelf stability, both unrefrigerated and refrigerated. Friend's original development project was abandoned when got bankrolled by a financier to launch from scratch a large USA cricket production.
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gaz
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I've had stinky tofu in vegan restaurants in Taiwan - apparently the stuff on the street is stronger. It is ok, I am happy to eat it, provides variety.
DavidEdwinAston
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Why is water Kefir a misnomer, Frantz?Same here. Brew also my own kombucha , water kefir ( a misnomer), Sauerkrut, Kimchi and Yogurt. Have dabbled in skyr and will try cheese when and if ever I retire
Peace
Without delving into the intricacies of micro-organisms, something of which I am thoroughly ignorant, , Kefir is a milk-based ferment. "Water"-Kefir is not. The microbial compostions are extremely different.
The similarities in that they both look like some kind of "grains":
Else they are vastly different microbial culture...
The original names for Water Kefir are Tibicos, Beer seeds
See this thorough Science Digest articles about how different they are: "A comparison of milk kefir and water kefir: Physical, chemical, microbiological and functional properties"
Interestingly enough , you could ferment milk with "water Kefir" aka Tibicos grains. It will produce a sour beverage, similar but quite different from true Milk Kefir but such culture is not strong and will eventually die-off... with each subsequent fermentation cycles..
OTOH both cultures in their "natural" medium (Water based medium for Tibicos ,like Sugary water, Fruit Juice, etc) and in the case of Milk Kefir (Milk from most mammals), the cultures can last basically forever with a bit of care. I still have Milk grains dating back from 2007, when I started that journey into fermentation...
In both cases, but especially with Tibicos, the fermentation process produces a lot of "grains".. Milk Kefir takes a while, eventually it also produce more grains but not as much as Tibicos.
Fermentation is fascinating: for exemple Kombucha and Water Kefir are VERY different , yet , you could ferment sugary tea with tibicos and it will produce something similar to Kombucha .. or most often not
... Sour and drinkable but, there again the resulting "seeds" for the lack of a better words, may not be as strong and long lived as an original Kombucha "Mother"...Some people have taken to ferment coffee with Kombucha mothers and it seems to work.. Not tasted such , not cared enough to anyway ..
For those who are interested" Fermenting Grape Juice with TIbicos produces a beverage with serious (not measure by me) alcohol content...
Peace.
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Soandso
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One reason the culture will die-off should be related to Water Kefir's microbial consortium having limited ability (protease enzymatic activity) to process the proteins in milk. Suitable bacterial strains for milk protein conversion into peptides will in turn yield amino acids. The amino acid cysteine affects the natural pattern of a microbial cell's operating stress (re-dox potential) which influences the culture's pattern of pH changes. This is a factor related to the number of viable cells of certain bacteria in the finished batch (certain bacterial consortium members rely on others to thrive) and thus the already normally limited number of Water Kefir bacteria that can actually utilize milk in serial batches becomes less and less (reaching died-off state).
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DavidEdwinAston
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Thanks Frantz. Very comprehensive.Without delving into the intricacies of micro-organisms, something of which I am thoroughly ignorant, , Kefir is a milk-based ferment. "Water"-Kefir is not. The microbial compostions are extremely different.
The similarities in that they both look like some kind of "grains":
View attachment 481122
Else they are vastly different microbial culture...
The original names for Water Kefir are Tibicos, Beer seeds
See this thorough Science Digest articles about how different they are: "A comparison of milk kefir and water kefir: Physical, chemical, microbiological and functional properties"
Interestingly enough , you could ferment milk with "water Kefir" aka Tibicos grains. It will produce a sour beverage, similar but quite different from true Milk Kefir but such culture is not strong and will eventually die-off... with each subsequent fermentation cycles..
OTOH both cultures in their "natural" medium (Water based medium for Tibicos ,like Sugary water, Fruit Juice, etc) and in the case of Milk Kefir (Milk from most mammals), the cultures can last basically forever with a bit of care. I still have Milk grains dating back from 2007, when I started that journey into fermentation...
In both cases, but especially with Tibicos, the fermentation process produces a lot of "grains".. Milk Kefir takes a while, eventually it also produce more grains but not as much as Tibicos.
Fermentation is fascinating: for exemple Kombucha and Water Kefir are VERY different , yet , you could ferment sugary tea with tibicos and it will produce something similar to Kombucha .. or most often not
Some people have taken to ferment coffee with Kombucha mothers and it seems to work.. Not tasted such , not cared enough to anyway ..
For those who are interested" Fermenting Grape Juice with TIbicos produces a beverage with serious (not measure by me) alcohol content...
Peace.
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Soandso
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"Idli" is basically an Indian steamed concoction of fermented rice and beans which is neutral tasting and goes well with additional flavorful items. At first I made it the proper way using mixing the ingredients in a wet grinder but it made too much at once and now make what I consider daily portions of my ersatz Idli in the microwave.
Here's my version of batter fermented 8 hours under 15 w light bulb inside an old coffee warmer.
These below are the assorted Idli microwave cookers I've tried, each has a sized bottom dish and venting cover. For my single batch batter's consumption I use the orange colored one for medium size idli; in none did I find their lowermost 3rd tray steams out a satisfactory idli (I don't put batter there). The larger white brand by "Milton" is available on-line and which would recommend. Before filling a perforated cup I smear their disc with a scant fingertip of edible oil (olive works) which makes units' removal spoon out intact (they can be steamed without using any oil).
The first pictured ersatz Idli which are yellow colored have turmeric and also had a much higher % of fermentation inoculant than I now employ. These directly above cut open plate of Idlis are the size made in the orange microwave idli steamer ; they were cut open still warm for revealing interiors (which the knife somewhat smeared). My microwave doesn't have a rotating platform so every minute I give the entire array a quarter turn to guarantee even cooking. Even just any microwave steamer can cook Idli (if holes very big single layer cloth/silk line the steamer before add batter).
Here below are additional photos of the current ersatz Idli end product. They bag up when cooled exceptionally well for days refrigeration and even later taken along for finger food snacking on the go during the day; alone or with bites of cheese works. The bagged units show a bit if surface sheen and it is not gooey sticky because I have reduced my original amount if inoculant (in comparison to the above pictured yellow turmeric small Idli).
Fermentation inoculant which I now use is a modest proportion of home made yogurt (it happens to be instant skim milk powder based; whole milk yogurt makes a stickier Idli top surface) and fluidizing the batter exclusively with whey drained from my yogurt. Initially I used more yogurt and fluidized the batter with non-chlorinated water which also works (as seen in first photo of little sized turmeric yellow Idli) . Experimentally considered factors like the batter composition, inoculant and steaming times in my microwave involved edible but not always preferential textural outcomes - however now it's an easy routine.
Anyone interested may ask and I'll provide more specific details on this thread about the batter proportions. Meanwhile below is a picture of a nice tasting proper consistency instant India style Idli product available online (US$ price tag is a year old from my town's India products market which only stocked this "organic" brand).
Here's my version of batter fermented 8 hours under 15 w light bulb inside an old coffee warmer.
These below are the assorted Idli microwave cookers I've tried, each has a sized bottom dish and venting cover. For my single batch batter's consumption I use the orange colored one for medium size idli; in none did I find their lowermost 3rd tray steams out a satisfactory idli (I don't put batter there). The larger white brand by "Milton" is available on-line and which would recommend. Before filling a perforated cup I smear their disc with a scant fingertip of edible oil (olive works) which makes units' removal spoon out intact (they can be steamed without using any oil).
The first pictured ersatz Idli which are yellow colored have turmeric and also had a much higher % of fermentation inoculant than I now employ. These directly above cut open plate of Idlis are the size made in the orange microwave idli steamer ; they were cut open still warm for revealing interiors (which the knife somewhat smeared). My microwave doesn't have a rotating platform so every minute I give the entire array a quarter turn to guarantee even cooking. Even just any microwave steamer can cook Idli (if holes very big single layer cloth/silk line the steamer before add batter).
Here below are additional photos of the current ersatz Idli end product. They bag up when cooled exceptionally well for days refrigeration and even later taken along for finger food snacking on the go during the day; alone or with bites of cheese works. The bagged units show a bit if surface sheen and it is not gooey sticky because I have reduced my original amount if inoculant (in comparison to the above pictured yellow turmeric small Idli).
Fermentation inoculant which I now use is a modest proportion of home made yogurt (it happens to be instant skim milk powder based; whole milk yogurt makes a stickier Idli top surface) and fluidizing the batter exclusively with whey drained from my yogurt. Initially I used more yogurt and fluidized the batter with non-chlorinated water which also works (as seen in first photo of little sized turmeric yellow Idli) . Experimentally considered factors like the batter composition, inoculant and steaming times in my microwave involved edible but not always preferential textural outcomes - however now it's an easy routine.
Anyone interested may ask and I'll provide more specific details on this thread about the batter proportions. Meanwhile below is a picture of a nice tasting proper consistency instant India style Idli product available online (US$ price tag is a year old from my town's India products market which only stocked this "organic" brand).
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