Home-made probiotics and foodstuffs...

AlexandraCarlyle

Wasn't sure whether to put this here or in 'Diet & Nutrition'..

Does anyone else make their own probiotics?
I lactoferment my vegetables (sauerkraut, Kimchi, pickles) I brew my own Kombucha (SCOBY available to UK peeps!) and have just made some home-made yoghurt.
I make my own coarse peanut butter, and I also have ACV brewing....
I always make my own tomato sauces, mayonnaise and ketchup.

Any other 'commercially-available' products you prefer to make from scratch?

annacole94

I do! I do water kefir, yogurt, and various veggies. Curried caulflower and carrots lately. I also do sourdough.

It's fun, and the probiotics are so much more diverse than anything you can buy. Plus it's super inexpensive. I love it.

StealthHealth

I've made my own yoghurt because, in the UK, full fat is not that easy to get hold of. I made it in a kilner jar - it was a little too runny. Need to try again and experiment to see if I can make it thicker.

I used to regularly make sauerkraut, the white cabbage type was reliably good but I struggled getting red cabbage to ferment. I used to have these in constant rotation so I always had a batch ready to eat (usually takes about 4 to 6 weeks), but I've been a little lazy with it recently.

But, because you've reminded me I'm going to prep some sauerkraut this weekend!

StealthHealth

I tried to lacto ferment some homegrown chillies once but I got some rogue spores in there and the batch was spoilt. From what I recovered, it was OK but probably didn't ferment for long enough.

AlexandraCarlyle

When I told my colleagues at work that these foodstuffs I brought to work, for lunch, were home-made, people were a little incredulous. I even got that kind of "You are so crazy!" attitude (in a nice way - I get on well with my colleagues!). Now, many of them enjoy tasting my lunches, ask for recipes and are more curious... I also make Christmas presents such as bundles of taralli (a particular Italian savoury biscuit) and Quince cheese - a very thick, sliceable 'jelly' which is actually eaten with cheese, or cold meats, etc... So my reputation is fixed, even though folk do consider me somewhat loopy!
But I'm in my 60's - so I was brought up at a time when food was unprocessed and very much always in its 'raw' state - not ultra-packaged, prepared and sanitised....

annacole94

As for thicker yogurt, just strain it! Put it in some cheesecloth in a strainer for an hour or two. It also helps to make sure you hit at least 180*F when scalding, and hold it there for a few minutes.

Then once you have whey, you can add some of that to your sauerkraut to get it fermenting better, faster. It will give it a big shot of lactobacteria to crowd out anything else.

I'm only in my 30's, but I'm a farm girl. I made yogurt sometimes back when I was a kid, just because we had excess milk. I like learning to do things, and fermentation has been my hobby for the last few months. I should make a batch of apples again - those were really interesting.

StealthHealth

annacole94 wrote: »

As for thicker yogurt, just strain it! Put it in some cheesecloth in a strainer for an hour or two. It also helps to make sure you hit at least 180*F when scalding, and hold it there for a few minutes.

Then once you have whey, you can add some of that to your sauerkraut to get it fermenting better, faster. It will give it a big shot of lactobacteria to crowd out anything else.

I'm only in my 30's, but I'm a farm girl. I made yogurt sometimes back when I was a kid, just because we had excess milk. I like learning to do things, and fermentation has been my hobby for the last few months. I should make a batch of apples again - those were really interesting.

Thanks

CorneliusPhoton

I make yogurt regularly now that I have an Instant Pot which makes it quite convenient. I've also done sauerkraut a few times, but I seem to have mixed results with that.

How do you all do your sauerkraut?

annacole94 wrote: »

As for thicker yogurt, just strain it! Put it in some cheesecloth in a strainer for an hour or two. It also helps to make sure you hit at least 180*F when scalding, and hold it there for a few minutes.

Then once you have whey, you can add some of that to your sauerkraut to get it fermenting better, faster. It will give it a big shot of lactobacteria to crowd out anything else.

Another thing that will help thicken yogurt is if you add some powdered milk before the scald. I use 3 heaping spoonfuls for a gallon of milk.

Interesting use for the strained whey! I'll have to remember that.

Although I have read that heating the milk hotter and longer helps, I don't think I have ever reached 180F when scalding and never had a problem with getting thick yogurt. I usually make sure it's at least around 170 though. I have an aunt who doesn't even scald it -- she just brings it up to 110F and starts culturing. Buying milk that has already gone through the pasteurization cycle may be enough, but it would be interesting to try it several ways to see how much of a difference it makes.

I will second the recommendation for straining. Straining out the whey for a few hours after the yogurt chills overnight gets it really thick. Decadently thick! I add a scoop of chocolate protein powder to it for my breakfast sometimes and it is crazy good. I make yogurt with whole milk which may also be a factor in thickness.

Straining it even longer ( a few days?) will make cream cheese. Has anybody tried that?

AlexandraCarlyle

CorneliusPhoton wrote: »

I make yogurt regularly now that I have an Instant Pot which makes it quite convenient. I've also done sauerkraut a few times, but I seem to have mixed results with that.

How do you all do your sauerkraut?

I actually have a special bowl I use for nothing else but making my pickles.

I shred the cabbage as finely as possible, then I weigh it. For every KILO of cabagge, I use one level tablespoonful of coarse-grain salt. I layer cabbage and salt, and then mix vigorously, and knead until you see some liquid forming and the cabbage begins to change texture.
I actually prepared an instruction document for my cousin, who asked for this advice. Would you like me to PM it to you?

StealthHealth

Saurkraut: I had a couple of food tubs, about the same size dimensions as a 5l can of paint, with a snap ring lid. The opening was exactly the right size for a saucer, so I would pack with cabbage/brine, place a saucer on the top and then a small glass tumbler would ensure that when the lid was on the saucer pushed the cabbage below the fluid level.

I say had, I think they were culled during a recent ridding out campaign.

I've made in large kilner jars in the past but ensuring the cabbage was submerged was more difficult.

So process for me was:

• Sterilise everything
• Shred about 1/2 cabbage in food processor and transfer to mixing bowl
• Liberally salt and mix with hands
• Leave for a about 10 mins then transfer to fermenting vessel
• Add brine to submerge
• Seal and set aside.
• Check weekly for mold growth and to ensure cabbage is still submerged.
• Taste after 4 weeks and end or carry on for longer.
• Once complete, transfer to kilner and drain off excess fluid.
• Store in fridge (coz I like it ice cold)

StealthHealth

Yoghurt:

• Heat full cream milk to temp
• Allow to cool to 2nd temp and add organic live yoghurt as a seed culture
• Transfer to kilner jar, seal and wrap in a bath towel
• Leave on counter top overniht
• Done

I'll try the milk powder (I think i read something about that in the past) and straining in cheese cloth on next batches.

AlexandraCarlyle

StealthHealth wrote: »

Saurkraut: I had a couple of food tubs, about the same size dimensions as a 5l can of paint, with a snap ring lid. The opening was exactly the right size for a saucer, so I would pack with cabbage/brine, place a saucer on the top and then a small glass tumbler would ensure that when the lid was on the saucer pushed the cabbage below the fluid level.

I say had, I think they were culled during a recent ridding out campaign.

I've made in large kilner jars in the past but ensuring the cabbage was submerged was more difficult.

So process for me was:

• Sterilise everything
• Shred about 1/2 cabbage in food processor and transfer to mixing bowl
• Liberally salt and mix with hands
• Leave for a about 10 mins then transfer to fermenting vessel
• Add brine to submerge
• Seal and set aside.
• Check weekly for mold growth and to ensure cabbage is still submerged.
• Taste after 4 weeks and end or carry on for longer.
• Once complete, transfer to kilner and drain off excess fluid.
• Store in fridge (coz I like it ice cold)

I found salting AND adding brine made the mix too salty and therefore the cabbage didn't ferment. This is just my finding though. I tend to salt rather than brine cabbage, and yes - it's absolutely vital to keep the cabbage well submerged, or the bits above the brine will go off.
I tend to brine when using vegetables in bigger pieces, ie, carrots, cauliflower, daikon radish, and cram them into jars with varied seasonings (peppercorns, caraway seeds, juniper berries, garlic slivers) then cover with brine, again, making sure everything is -and stays - submerged.

I bought some decorative smooth glass pebbles (several bags, the kind used for floral displays) and thoroughly cleaned them, then leaving them in their own net bags, pushed them down onto the vegetables and let the brine come up through the bags. It worked quite well....

CorneliusPhoton

AlexandraCarlyle wrote: »

CorneliusPhoton wrote: »

I make yogurt regularly now that I have an Instant Pot which makes it quite convenient. I've also done sauerkraut a few times, but I seem to have mixed results with that.

How do you all do your sauerkraut?

I actually have a special bowl I use for nothing else but making my pickles.

I shred the cabbage as finely as possible, then I weigh it. For every KILO of cabagge, I use one level tablespoonful of coarse-grain salt. I layer cabbage and salt, and then mix vigorously, and knead until you see some liquid forming and the cabbage begins to change texture.
I actually prepared an instruction document for my cousin, who asked for this advice. Would you like me to PM it to you?

Sure! Thank you.

Most of my issues revolve around keeping the cabbage submerged, so thanks for the tips!

AlexandraCarlyle

Ok, @CorneliusPhoton , tried sending you a message but I got a screen telling me the server had a problem with complying and that admin have been advised, so I don't know if you'll get anything. Let me know. If no luck, I can replicate message here....