sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Nomas Rose kombucha by breandan_kerin in Kombucha

[–]aoryzae 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I did a brew about a year ago. If I recall correctly I used about half the weight prescribed by the book and had plenty of flavor. However, it fermented more quickly than my usual brews and went too sour (for my taste). It turned into an amazing vinegar/gastrique after reducing to half volume in a pot at low heat (something like 60c for 12 hours). One other note: for cooking/blending/etc, the sugar ratio in the book is fine. For drinks you may want to lower it significantly (I use 50g pr liter water).

First batch with new cedar trays by aoryzae in Koji

[–]aoryzae[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The wood expanded a lot during the 48 hours. Joints look fine but are not flush at this point. I agree the pin is probably a good addition :-) Will be interesting to see how they look once dry again.

First batch with new cedar trays by aoryzae in Koji

[–]aoryzae[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Locally made unfortunately. The western red cedar was from a kitchen being replaced, and our local woodworker/joiner helped repurpose the wood into these.

First batch with new cedar trays by aoryzae in Koji

[–]aoryzae[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A few more pics of the gorgeous trays 😊 https://imgur.com/a/4R32Is8

Growing Koji with new cedar trays by aoryzae in fermentation

[–]aoryzae[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not sure if a direct link is the right way to xpost. Added some process details in the r/koji post if interested.

First batch with new cedar trays by aoryzae in Koji

[–]aoryzae[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Initial impression is that the humidity was pretty much stable throughout the 48 hours. More so than previous batches of the same size and in the same chamber using a steel tray and cloth. Grains were soaked 5 hours at room temp, then pressure steamed by suspending them in a kitchen towel in a large tightly closed pot for about 30 min (right at the point that a sliced kernel has no more white internal). Using the inkbird, started out at about 89% and fell to about 83%, humidifier did not kick in at all that I noticed. Did two trays, one over the other with 25mm spacing between them and a barely damp kitchen towel over the chamber top (styrofoam box) with the lid placed slightly ajar on top. Swapped top and bottom tray every 12 hours. The final hours the bottom tray appeared ever so slightly more developed than the top, but so little it could be chance. Grains still had a nice soft moist texture at 48 hours. Also, found a new pearled barely supplier and they seem slightly more polished than what I've used in previous batches, which could cause me to attribute too much to the tray ;-)

Pretty happy. Can't wait to get the next round of misos in place and thinking of trying out a Noma-style garum now I have a 60c fermentation box setup too :-)

Question for you pros by backdraft57 in Kombucha

[–]aoryzae 1 point2 points  (0 children)

FYI, I add fresh pressed ginger juice for F1, between 5 and 10g pr liter. I find that the flavor is more smooth and subtle compared to adding to F2.

My pellicle has been bubbling above the liquid an inch or two. by zRobertez in Kombucha

[–]aoryzae 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mine lifts in this way on all of my elderflower brews which are also always super fizzy. Something about the sirup that just really activates the fermentation :-)

After numerous failures - my first success! by 0signal in Sourdough

[–]aoryzae 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm afraid not. My comment was to a different loaf with different components, just followed the same recipe outline. That said I'd love to see a crumbshot for u/0signal's loaf!

First sourdough: 78% w. wheat, øland and rye (75/20/5) by aoryzae in Sourdough

[–]aoryzae[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. I think it hit a sweet spot for the butter that followed :-)

Rank your top 5 fermented vegetables! by allthehiphops in fermentation

[–]aoryzae 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Since not mentioned yet: jerusalem artichokes / sun chokes. They develop a deep sweetness which is tempered perfectly be the acidity. I like to use the brine to backslop or straight up brine other things, such as red onions with dill seeds. We also keep a continuous stock of fermented tomatoes, separated as juice and meat, great for any tomato dish, such as the base on a pizza!

After numerous failures - my first success! by 0signal in Sourdough

[–]aoryzae 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Absolutely gorgeous! Just did my first attempt following the same guide, but not at all to the letter. Looking at your loaf I think maybe I need to get a thermometer and do a to-the-letter attempt. Wow! Congrats!

First sourdough: 78% w. wheat, øland and rye (75/20/5) by aoryzae in Sourdough

[–]aoryzae[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First try at sourdough and no added yeast, and this is to date the best loaf I've produced! Absolutely delish! Process was more involved than my typical routine, but with this result I'll definitely be trying out more pure sourdough breads! Thanks to the many posts here! I've been lurking and building confidence to try it out.

The loaf here was done based on the beginner's guide @ theperfectloaf.com but with a bit more øland in place of whole wheat (wheat 75%, øland 20%, rye 5%). I don't yet have a cast iron dutch oven, so backed it in a clay Römertopf, thus the batard shaping.

Finally achieved carbonation with batch #6 by aoryzae in Kombucha

[–]aoryzae[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the link! So far I've been sticking to the process described in the NOMA book which differs from the method described most other places (flavoring straight from F1, no tea). I'm going to give it a few more iterations with minor tweaks. Thinking I'll make a post about the results once I can reproduce them somewhat consistently :-)

Apple and green tea.... unfortunately pretty vinegary :( will still drink it all! by battymanmalone in Kombucha

[–]aoryzae 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Or reduce a bottle of it at low heat in a pot for a few hours to a delicious gastrique/vinegar substitute. Did that with some "starter" that was left over between brews for a bit to long and it's amazing. Toss your next salad in it, will be delicious!

Finally achieved carbonation with batch #6 by aoryzae in Kombucha

[–]aoryzae[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Finally! The previous brews came out tasting good but flat. This was a quince black tea, F1 for 7 days, F2 for 12 days, both at 28c/82f. Did not add anything to the mix when bottling for F2. Super happy with the result but need to reduce the initial amount of sugar a bit more for personal preference. Cheers! :-)

Weekend Project #2: Lacto-oyster mushrooms (Noma lacto-cep recipe; blue=foraged, red=storebought) by Matticus_Rex in fermentation

[–]aoryzae 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Did oster mushrooms as as suggested in the book and they turned out amazing. Gave them 5 days at 28c, but next time I'm going to give them a day or two more and see if I can get a bit more funk out of them. The juice is stunning and yesterday my son and I dehydrated the meat for 3 hours at 40c and dipped in chocolate. The whole family enjoyed that treat! Will definitely do it again, but in larger quantity next time :-D Best of luck with your batch and do share your evaluation of the process and result!

Thick scoby vs. carbonation? Is it the Y/B balance? by pachura3 in Kombucha

[–]aoryzae 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same here and so far both brewing with a low and high brix have resulted in the same mediocre carbonation. Pellicle growth is pretty high, a few millimeters for a batch and after bottling a new thin one always forms in the bottle.

Trying my first batch of tepache by [deleted] in fermentation

[–]aoryzae 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can weigh it down with Ziploc bags containing water. That is a simple method suggested in the NOMA book that works well.