back to fermentation

by babhoyersh on April 26, 2011

Kombucha fermenting with scobyLearning to ferment foods at home helps save money on real food. A bottle of kombucha at Giant runs about $3.59, and a bottle of kefir runs about $2.50 to $3 at Trader Joe’s. I’ve always made my own yogurt using the crockpot method, and I’ve played around with making milk kefir,

As one of my kitchen goals for April, I grew my scoby for kombucha and then started the kombucha over a week ago. The kombucha is ready to be fermented with fruit juice. I’ll be using the peach cider that I picked up in New Jersey this weekend. Then I’ll ferment the kombucha further to increase the carbonation because I like my kombucha to be fizzy.

With the first batch ready to move to the next step, it’s time to start the next batch and see if I can keep the process up. The last time I made kombucha, I was able to keep the process going for a while until it became too vinegary. Hopefully, this time, I’ll do a better job of monitoring my scoby.

Buttermilk and Sourdough StarterMy next adventure has been making more buttermilk. Unfortunately, this one failed, probably because my buttermilk starter was old. Once I pick up a fresh quart of buttermilk from Trader Joe’s, I’ll try again. Buttermilk is so easy to make! Just one cup of buttermilk to 3 cups of milk, left out on the counter, covered, for at least 24 hours until the proper consistency.

My last adventure is re-activating my sourdough starter. Last week, I added 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour to room temperature starter (I took it out of the fridge first and brought it to room temperature). Today I added another 1/2 cup of water and whole wheat flour to the starter in preparation for making sourdough English muffins tomorrow. The starter smells okay so I think I re-activated it.

More on Fermented Foods at The Healthy Home Economist

Have you tried fermenting anything lately?

This post is part of Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, Hearth and Soul Blog Hop, Real Food Wednesday, and Tasty Tuesday at Dr. Laura. Also Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist

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{ 8 comments }

Lisa @ HappyinDoleValley April 26, 2011 at 8:40 am

I’ve been working on my sourdough starter, too! Homemade buttermilk is so incredibly easy and way cheaper than buying a new carton all the time. I use it quite often in pancakes, muffins, and homemade Ranch dressing, so I like to make my own. Found you at 21st Century Housewife. Looks like we read a lot of the same blogs! Blessings, ~Lisa

Lisa @ HappyinDoleValley April 26, 2011 at 8:42 am

I forgot to add I’m originally from Pittsburgh but now live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest — I still have family in Pa., but haven’t been back for a couple years now. Blessings!
Lisa @ HappyinDoleValley recently posted..Muffin Monday – Whole Wheat Pineapple Muffins

babhoyersh April 27, 2011 at 4:18 am

Thanks!

I can’t wait to get the sourdough recipe started today. My kids didn’t like the sourdough bread recipes that I tried before, but the english muffin one was a hit, and it’s pretty easy to make.

Swathi April 27, 2011 at 4:09 pm

I love sourdough bread, i have one in my hand.Nice tips. Thanks for sharing with Hearth and soul blog hop.
Swathi recently posted..Maple Mascarpone Mousse Served in Plantain Fudge Container

Meryl April 27, 2011 at 10:56 pm

I LOVE LOVE LOVE sourdough toast with butter- yumm! BUT with all of the issues about gluten- is it possible to make it gluten- free?

babhoyersh April 28, 2011 at 6:51 am

I haven’t tried it myself, but I would check out GNOWFGLIN. If they don’t have a gluten-free version on the website, I think they have forums where you can ask about a gluten-free version. Do you need to be absolutely gluten-free, or could you make the sourdough starter with whole wheat flour, and then make the dough with a combination of the whole wheat flour starter and gluten-free flours? I don’t know enough about the sourdough process to say whether you could use a gluten-free flour in the starter.

Meryl April 30, 2011 at 2:21 pm

thank you for the reference Barb! My daughter has been moving to an almost entirely gluten free diet which I knew nothing about until now….and I still know very little BUT gluten sounds really bad? Obviously I still need to do more research but I am aware of many people moving toward gluten free diets.

babhoyersh May 2, 2011 at 10:05 am

It depends on the person. Some people have celiacs which is an auto-immune disease, and others are simply sensitive to gluten. I’m not an expert, but I do think that more people are sensitive to gluten than they realize. They may not make the connection between digestive issues and gluten. The other part of the problem is that we simply don’t make bread the way it was traditionally made which would have made the gluten easier to digest.

Good luck! I’m very fortunate in that my family is fine with gluten, but I have several family members who are not. I’m learning about the issue as much as I can for my family’s health and to be a better hostess when we have extended family in our home.

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