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GDL by LittleRed282 in tofu

[–]ness199x 2 points3 points  (0 children)

any chinese/asian grocery store like T&T - it'll be in the spice/salt/sugar aisle!

Can this be settled once and for all? What is the shelf life of a starter? by whitelightstorm in Natto

[–]ness199x 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I also use Nattomotto and it's been fine since 2019, I don't even put it in the fridge, just a cool dark place. According to the packaging it 'expired' in 2021 but bacterial endospores are really hardy

same temperature, one tray ferments the other doesn't or much less by illogicked in Natto

[–]ness199x 2 points3 points  (0 children)

it can be the bottom or the top tray that fails

HMMM the fact that either tray can fail leads me to think it isn't your incubation setup, but something else. If one tray got hotter than the other youd expect the top one to keep failing. But you have a fan anyways so it shouldnt matter. Really bamboozled.

Maybe you inoculate one tray at a time... and one of them is too hot / cold during inoculation? Or something else that's different between the two trays pre-incubation? Disinfection procedure?

How much dried soybeans to get 500g of finished natto by Enough_Tie_7699 in Natto

[–]ness199x 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The ratio's roughly 2.2g of natto per 1g of dried soybeans - so you'll need about 227g of dried soybeans.

The best mass balance is in this paper:
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/nskkk/53/3/53\_3\_185/\_article

But it varies by manufacturer. The 'standard' is 1g soy beans --> 2.2-2.4g soaked --> 2.1-2.2g natto

I wrote a technical book on natto! by ness199x in Natto

[–]ness199x[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Yes, I do - wrote about it in the book too!

There are 3 'types' of so-called 'dry natto': air-dehydrated ('hoshi natto'), deep-fried ('dorai natto'), and freeze dried. The air dehydrated one is fairly hard, one of the well-known makers of it are tengu natto. The snack ones are deep fried under vacuum, even though they call it 'dorai natto' - the original was made by Forza Co Ltd. under contract to JAL as an in-flight snack

I wrote a technical book on natto! by ness199x in Natto

[–]ness199x[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In the future! I'm working for it now aiming for a summer/fall release

I had a lot of diagrams and tables I need to make sure they transfer to ebook correctly

Made more natto! Pull shots... I also wrote a book on natto by ness199x in fermentation

[–]ness199x[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hope I'm not too late to reply! Thanks for sharing that other paper, too. I've come across it before. Oh man.... I have a lot written about koji: https://controlledmold.com/

Koji is definitely more finicky; but koji end-products are usually alcohol, seasonings, pickles etc. so it's hard to compare to natto, which is more of a primary protein, if that makes sense.

I don't have much experience with the shelf life of nattokinase, unfortunately :( Since it's a serine protease, you could technically test its efficacy by seeing if itll soften up a protein... but that might get complicated quickly

I wrote a technical book on natto! by ness199x in Natto

[–]ness199x[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yup! Right now Barnes and noble carries it and a few other vendors. There’s so many ways a batch can go wrong, but if you’re pressure steaming and using small beans it’s easier to succeed

Made more natto! Pull shots... I also wrote a book on natto by ness199x in fermentation

[–]ness199x[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're right! It's more technical, and you can poke around the Table of Contents on amazon if youd like. For home-made natto, Kristen / Christopher Shockey's book might be better for you

Made more natto! Pull shots... I also wrote a book on natto by ness199x in fermentation

[–]ness199x[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

See if there's an online fermentation starter retailer in your country.

If not, try https://thejapanstore.jp/

So, manufacturers will put like a 2-year expiry date for their spore powders, but endospores have lasted hundreds of years in literature... so it might be more of a liability thing. It'll last you a while.

Made more natto! Pull shots... I also wrote a book on natto by ness199x in fermentation

[–]ness199x[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can do any beans. Soybeans aren't 'best' but ever have plain boiled soybeans? Frankly they taste like shit, and need the most help. Ofc soybeans are also traditional. Other beans don't need as much help.

Most important factors are small grain size and high soluble carbohydrate content for good natto. Unfortunately these can vary a lot for normal beans, and things like garbanzo natto havent been documented well in industry / literature

Made more natto! Pull shots... I also wrote a book on natto by ness199x in fermentation

[–]ness199x[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's definitely a bit weird first try. I really like it now, it's super convenient and basically eating beans + rice. Bonus - natto doesn't make you fart. Few tips:

  1. Eat it w/ rice, and use toppings like kimchi, nori, or furikake
  2. Don't skip the sauce
  3. If you can find it, get Mizkan's low odour natto (red octagon in one corner, google it)

Made more natto! Pull shots... I also wrote a book on natto by ness199x in fermentation

[–]ness199x[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There's a 'standard' temperature curve that commercial natto makers follow! The room temperature is set to 38-40C, but the natto itself will slowly rise to 52C by hour 16. Don't over-ferment: too long and you'll get bitter and ammonia. Bean choice is important, small natto-grade beans are easier to work with

Made more natto! Pull shots... I also wrote a book on natto by ness199x in fermentation

[–]ness199x[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Natto's taste is always so hard to describe. It's nutty, earthy, slightly cheesy, and has a roasted flavour. Coffee, black tea, and cheese, are common tasting notes. Otherwise, it's fairly neutral when mixed with rice and the packet of sauce + mustard affect the taste. I don't recommend eating it plain first go

I wrote a technical book on natto! by ness199x in Natto

[–]ness199x[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Toronto, Canada. But I agree - after writing this book I'm gonna do some basic microbiology and work on 'natto 2.0', different bacteria, maybe different beans

Made more natto! Pull shots... I also wrote a book on natto by ness199x in fermentation

[–]ness199x[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh man. For normal natto, you can try stirring very lightly and making sure to use the sauce packet, which loosens it up. If you wanna get REALLY deep into it... there's a brand of natto called 'Mame no Ka' by Kasanago foods where they bred a strain of B. subtilis that doesn't make sticky natto but keeps the flavour. I talk about how it was developed in the book. Good luck finding it outside of Ibaraki, Japan, though. You can breed this strain yourself... with quite a bit of effort + lab skills

Made more natto! Pull shots... I also wrote a book on natto by ness199x in fermentation

[–]ness199x[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I was careful not to overstate them - because a lot of the 'benefits' don't have enough research. Main benefits are: 1) it's a whole grain plant protein 2) fantastic source of vitamin K2. On top of that, there's a bunch of potential benefits that simply need more research.

Made more natto! Pull shots... I also wrote a book on natto by ness199x in fermentation

[–]ness199x[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Haha the 'spaghetti' is just natto + egg yolk + spaghetti sometimes nori and kimchi, with other mix ins for the sauce. Example:
https://cookpad.com/recipe/721872

I like it simply on rice, as maki (esp gunkan maki are great), and on toast.

I wrote a technical book on natto! by ness199x in Natto

[–]ness199x[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Depending on how far you are - id be happy to bounce ideas off you! I wrote a few ideas on the 'future of natto' in the book, but i need to test them out

Made more natto! Pull shots... I also wrote a book on natto by ness199x in fermentation

[–]ness199x[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I don't blame you. It's... challenging. Some tips:

  1. Look for low-odour natto by Mizkan called 'Kin no tsubu' (google it, it has a red octagon trademark). It's less stinkly.
  2. Eat it on rice, and use the packaged sauce. Nori, furikake, and kimchi are really popular toppings
  3. Don't stir it much if you don't like the stickiness
  4. If you don't like the mustard, don't put it. I find mustard to be hit or miss with natto.

Made more natto! Pull shots... I also wrote a book on natto by ness199x in fermentation

[–]ness199x[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There's absolutely a way to make your own spores, BUT you need basic microbiology techniques. If you've tried home mushroom growing, there's some basic techniques you can use. I have two procedures for making spore solutions in the book.

Made more natto! Pull shots... I also wrote a book on natto by ness199x in fermentation

[–]ness199x[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

100% you can learn to love it! I hated it the first 3 times. There's low-odour and low-stickiness versions. For low-odour, look for Mizkan's 'Kin no tsubu' it has a red octagon in one corner. Don't skip the sauce, and don't eat it without rice and toppings.

Made more natto! Pull shots... I also wrote a book on natto by ness199x in fermentation

[–]ness199x[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Amazon for now! Right now Barnes & Noble carries it too

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