Pro-biotic & Fermenting Gurus
ruffneck813
Posts: 98 Member
I've been reading a lot of posts here about gut health and fermenting foods. When I get home I want to give it a try. On kickstarter I found a couple that have fermenting air-lock tops for 1/2 gal mason jars. It's in the "design" category under "HOPTOP: Mason Jar Airlock-Brew and Ferment". For the people here that have been doing their own fermenting for a while, does this look like it would work or be helpful? It looks like it could make things relatively easy to do and also for clean up. But never having done it I have no idea. I'd like to know your thoughts on whether this would be a helpful item or not. Keep in mind I'd be a beginner with no experience. Thanks!
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I don't cover or put a lid on my veggies as I'm fermenting, I always thought (and I could be wrong) that you want the top open while actively fermenting in order to allow the gasses to escape. When I'm done and move it to the fridge, I just use a regular lid for my mason jar.0
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These sound like they have one way valves to allow venting of gases. Just keeps other things from being able to get in maybe.0
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ruffneck813 wrote: »These sound like they have one way valves to allow venting of gases. Just keeps other things from being able to get in maybe.
It's a great idea for a product. I only do kraut and cover it in cling wrap with holes punched in. I have to watch it so it doesn't overflow and make a mess about 2 days in. You HAVE to keep an eye on them so they can be vented properly, otherwise you'll have a ruined brew and a big darn mess as well as a possible broken vessel. It's not necessary to have fancy lids, but I'm not saying they wouldn't be nice to have. You wouldn't have to baby-sit your brews as much for sure.
So I guess it depends on how much that costs and how easily/hard it will be for you to keep tabs on them.0 -
I had to go back and look. They are 15 dollars for two or 40 dollars for six. Used for the 1/2 gal mason jars. They also come apart for easy cleaning and are supposed to be dishwasher safe. I like gadgets so they call out to me
but I didn't know if they would be useful or not. Would they work for making yogurt also? 0 -
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ruffneck813 wrote: »
Do they say how they handle heat? Yogurt takes a max of 24 hours and once cooled enough to add the bacteria, needs to be kept at 110 deg for the duration of the fermenting. I'd read over a yogurt how-to and decide once you've seen how that works.
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ruffneck813 wrote: »I've been reading a lot of posts here about gut health and fermenting foods. When I get home I want to give it a try. On kickstarter I found a couple that have fermenting air-lock tops for 1/2 gal mason jars. It's in the "design" category under "HOPTOP: Mason Jar Airlock-Brew and Ferment". For the people here that have been doing their own fermenting for a while, does this look like it would work or be helpful? It looks like it could make things relatively easy to do and also for clean up. But never having done it I have no idea. I'd like to know your thoughts on whether this would be a helpful item or not. Keep in mind I'd be a beginner with no experience. Thanks!
I am doing tons of fermenting. You don't need those expensive airlocks from kickstarter. You can purchase many different systems on Amazon/eBay. Do a search for, "airlock". You can purchase 6-10 times as many airlocks as that single kickstarter one.
If you YouTube "how to make fermented" you'll find hundreds of videos, I highly recommend you do that.
I hope this helps,
Dan the Man from Michigan
Keto / The Recipe Water Fasting / E.A.S.Y. Exercise Program
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ruffneck813 wrote: »I had to go back and look. They are 15 dollars for two or 40 dollars for six. Used for the 1/2 gal mason jars. They also come apart for easy cleaning and are supposed to be dishwasher safe. I like gadgets so they call out to me but I didn't know if they would be useful or not. Would they work for making yogurt also?
No. You don't and are not supposed to seal jars when making yogurt.
Dan0 -
So, my favorite, crazy grocery store had a bunch of new stuff today in the case where the kombucha is sold. I took pictures because I thought you all would appreciate their addition of a decent assortment of fermented products and starters to make your own.
Hopefully you can see the different items ok. There was kefir starter cultures and yogurt... Some fermented veggies, kraut and apple cider vinegar... None of this was here last week.
I bought the dill and garlic kraut. It was really good as a burger topping! Even straight out of the bag!
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I made kraut in a fido jar. It worked perfectly.0
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@DittoDan Thanks, I was hoping you would pop in with some info because I've been reading your posts about fermenting. I'll have to wait until I'm back because sadly I cannot access you tube from here for the most part.
@baconslave It didn't really say much about heat other than they're supposed to be dishwasher safe.
@Sunny_Bunny_ That looks like a nice selection of items.
Thanks everyone! Can't wait until I have the opportunity to try some new things.0 -
Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »So, my favorite, crazy grocery store had a bunch of new stuff today in the case where the kombucha is sold. I took pictures because I thought you all would appreciate their addition of a decent assortment of fermented products and starters to make your own.
Hopefully you can see the different items ok. There was kefir starter cultures and yogurt... Some fermented veggies, kraut and apple cider vinegar... None of this was here last week.
I bought the dill and garlic kraut. It was really good as a burger topping! Even straight out of the bag!
Did you post the name of the store? Or did I just overlook it?
Thank you,
Dan0 -
Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »So, my favorite, crazy grocery store had a bunch of new stuff today in the case where the kombucha is sold. I took pictures because I thought you all would appreciate their addition of a decent assortment of fermented products and starters to make your own.
Hopefully you can see the different items ok. There was kefir starter cultures and yogurt... Some fermented veggies, kraut and apple cider vinegar... None of this was here last week.
I bought the dill and garlic kraut. It was really good as a burger topping! Even straight out of the bag!
Did you post the name of the store? Or did I just overlook it?
Thank you,
Dan
Not on this thread. Do you remember that post I made all about this store and how it's a tourist attraction because it's so unusual?
It's called Jungle Jims, International Market. It's local. They only have 2 locations in the Cincinnati area. Here's a Yelp link about it. http://www.yelp.com/biz/jungle-jims-international-market-fairfield?utm_source=ishare
Look at the pictures. They have bought things from amusement parks to display all around the store and property. All kinds of crazy stuff.
It even has a very small section in the store labeled low carb.
Anyway, I saw this podcast episode about kombucha and thought you might like it.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/livin-la-vida-low-carb-show/id324601605?mt=2&i=3648706700 -
ruffneck813 wrote: »I had to go back and look. They are 15 dollars for two or 40 dollars for six. Used for the 1/2 gal mason jars. They also come apart for easy cleaning and are supposed to be dishwasher safe. I like gadgets so they call out to me but I didn't know if they would be useful or not. Would they work for making yogurt also?
No. You don't and are not supposed to seal jars when making yogurt.
Dan
Maybe it depends on the cultures you use. I seal the jars, to keep oxygen out, and because I incubate my yogurt in a warm water bath, and it works just fine, which makes sense from a metabolic point of view, since fermentation does not use oxygen, by definition. Strep thermophilus is a common organism in yogurt cultures, and it's a facultative anaerobe, which means it will only ferment in the absence of oxygen. Otherwise, it will oxidize sugars to water and carbon dioxide. By sealing the jars, the oxygen that is present gets used up quickly, at which point the facultative anaerobes start fermenting.
Anyway, you bring up the interesting issue of whether there are aerotolerant yogurt cultures that would ferment in the presence of oxygen, because they lack the pathway for aerobic respiration, have the enzymes to tolerate oxygen, and fermentation is their only pathway for ATP production. I'm looking for them on Google.0 -
lithezebra wrote: »ruffneck813 wrote: »I had to go back and look. They are 15 dollars for two or 40 dollars for six. Used for the 1/2 gal mason jars. They also come apart for easy cleaning and are supposed to be dishwasher safe. I like gadgets so they call out to me but I didn't know if they would be useful or not. Would they work for making yogurt also?
No. You don't and are not supposed to seal jars when making yogurt.
Dan
Maybe it depends on the cultures you use. I seal the jars, to keep oxygen out, and because I incubate my yogurt in a warm water bath, and it works just fine, which makes sense from a metabolic point of view, since fermentation does not use oxygen, by definition. Strep thermophilus is a common organism in yogurt cultures, and it's a facultative anaerobe, which means it will only ferment in the absence of oxygen. Otherwise, it will oxidize sugars to water and carbon dioxide. By sealing the jars, the oxygen that is present gets used up quickly, at which point the facultative anaerobes start fermenting.
Anyway, you bring up the interesting issue of whether there are aerotolerant yogurt cultures that would ferment in the presence of oxygen, because they lack the pathway for aerobic respiration, have the enzymes to tolerate oxygen, and fermentation is their only pathway for ATP production. I'm looking for them on Google.
I agree that anaerobic cultures don't need oxygen. But when you read literature from the yogurt maker's, they say to not seal the container. Maybe that could be for moisture reasons? IDK. I have done it both ways and didn't see any difference in taste, texture. I was thinking the small amount of water evaporation, at 110 degrees, possibly could make the yogurt thicker. I also don't seal my kombucha or milk kefir, so I don't see any harm. I do realize that sealing tightly can produce pressure, as all my veggie ferments do. I add a water airlock to prevent oxygen from getting into them, to not do so, invites in the dreaded white yeast scum, that, albeit unsightly, is harmless....
BTW, I also do water bath too. I have thermo controllers and crock pots. I put the milk in pint jars, add culture, put in Crock pot, set @ 109°, for 8-10 hours. Minimal whey, maybe two tbs... I don't like making a huge bowl of yogurt, its just too hard to deal with it when taking to work. I just pull my pints out of fridge and go.
Do you do veggies ferments? Fruit fermies? Milk Kefir? Kombucha, Probiotic milk? I love doing all of this, I'm like a mad scientist....never had so much fun in the last 3-4 months...LOL!
Dan the Fermenting Man from Michigan
Keto / The Recipe Water Fasting / E.A.S.Y. Exercise Program
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I make kimchi. I put it in mason jars while fermenting at room temperature and I do screw on the tops. I unscrew the tops and "burp" them periodically. Don't know if this is authentic or not.0
