Apple Cider Vinegar; Homemade

Wow! was this easy and fun! I have almost a half gallon of apple cider vinegar that I started fermenting last summer. You HAVE to start with fresh pressed apple cider. The Lactobacillus and other wild yeasts and bacteria are on and in the fresh orchard apples. The minute you boil or pasteurize juice, you kill the friendly bacteria. Now, I'm not saying that it is impossible to make your own apple cider vinegar from pasteurized apple juice....I guess you could if you introduce the right culture mix into that juice and keep it warm and covered for several months...maybe it could work. Maybe Kombucha culture?

The first weekend of November 2010, a group of neighbors in my ward, gathered at a property that had an apple press, a new one. Each of us brought several bushels of apples that we bought or collected and picked wherever we could. We brought gallon jugs and many containers. We were taught the procedure and then we started. The next 4 hours we worked very hard, rotating the work stations until all 160 bushels were juiced. I brought home 8 gallons of juice and immediately stored 5 in my freezer and cooked and bottled the other 3 gallons. Summer of 2011 I cleaned out my freezer and wanted to use the space that the juice was taking up. I decided to try fermenting the rest of the apple juice. I let all 5 gallons defrost which didn't take long being in July. I then divided up the juice between some 1/2 gallon jars and quart jars. I did an online search how to do this and came up with some processes and time lines.

The directions were to simply cover the jars with towels or paper filters so air could circulate and leave the jars in a dark, warm place free from overt interference and direct sunlight for 6 months. I covered the jars and put them in my back room our of the way. A few days later, I smelled mold, the bad smell of mold really strong. I checked the jars and sure enough 3 of them had developed white mold on the top. I scooped that mold off and read directions again to see what to do when bad mold developed. I couldn't find anything about it.

I decided to add kombucha starter to the cider. I figured that the good bacteria would quickly take over and then start to make a "scooby" as a covering to keep the "bad guys" out. That is what happens in Kombucha (see much older blog) so I thought it might work in cider. I was fortunate...it did work. Each jar developed a "scooby or mushroom cap" and over the months it grew thicker and thicker as liquid shrank. They never did develop mold again. The back room instead of smelling of mold, started to smell of vinegar...a much better smell.

Right after Christmas, I harvested the the remaining juice out of all the jars. The gelatinous "scoobys" were very thick and as I couldn't think of anything useful for
those, I threw them away. I filtered the vinegar that was left; and it sure did taste like vinegar, and then I put all the vinegar into a 1/2 gallon jar and stuck it in the back of my fridge. I have been using some of it, but I will tighten it's cap and put it downstairs with other storage items. Very satisfying!

Kefir Class

I will be teaching a Kefir class at Real Foods Market in Orem, Saturday Oct.8 at 1.
There is a $10. class fee to be paid to the store a few days before Oct. 8. I will be selling milk kefir, water kefir, kombucha and sourdough starts. Nothing better than homemade, raw milk kefir! Come learn how easy it is to culture your own kefir products. The Orem Real Foods Market is on 800 N. west of State Street, north side behind Sonic Burger.

Kombucha; Green tea plus!

This is the stuff that got me into fermenting. Our basic diet is and has been for 5 years, the Blood Type Diet by Dr. Peter J. Dadamo. On the food list for O type Gatherers was this beverage called Kombucha. I went to HFS local to us, Good Earth, and asked. They showed me a commercial brand of Kombucha with many different colors and flavors. I liked it very much. I researched Kombucha and found that it contains these beneficial bio-acids, enzymes, vitamins and live probiotics and it is a high ph product. I was excited. I also found out that you could do it, ferment it yourself and save money. At the time, my immune system was not functioning well as I had come out of a bad winter with flu, then pneumonia and antibiotics which kill off the bad microbes and the good ones too. I was looking for anything that could boost my immune system without taking the probiotic supplements or the commercial yogurts. Kombucha seemed to me a natural remedy. It wasn't until summer of '08 when a cousin of my husband's gave me a Kombucha start, that I considered doing it myself. She showed me how easy it was and I decided to give it a try. I've been brewing and fermenting ever since.

I have 3 glass jars that I rotate which produces between the 3 of them, more than a gallon and a half of Kombucha, which is too much for me to consume. I keep trying to get my husband to drink more but he doesn't so I give quarts away to my friends....those brave enough to try it and find it useful. I also like to give away starters to anyone interested. Kombucha has a long history going back to the ancient Chinese and Russians and is known by other names. There are many websites that have lots of information, processes and that sell starter kits. I have looked at a few and have learned so much. My procedure and process is pretty basic but it works well for me and my home. What you will need....

1.Large glass jar that can hold 3 liters to a gallon. My recipe is based on one that large. If using smaller glass containers, reduce the ingredients.

2.Green tea bags, 5 for my jar. I use decaf green tea as this complies with my religion's standard against drinking coffee and tea a bit better than the caffinated tea.

3. Starter; a piece of the "mushroom" and some Kombucha with live microbes about 1/4 cup or more. ( The mushroom is a gelatinous material the microbes make when they are alive and happy which grows at the top of the liquid in your jar. It will grow to fit the size of the jar. It protects their environment and keeps the bad microbes out.)

4. Sugar, about 3/4 cup for about a gallon of tea. I use white sugar. It was in my food storage just sitting there taking up space and I did not use it for anything we eat so I was happy to feed it to them. It makes them happy and they grow and produce wonderful, healthy things with it.

5. Paper cover to write the date on and elastic band to keep it in place at the top of the jar. I use those paper coffee filters.

6. Warm place out of direct sunlight and away from moldy food contamination. In the winter I use an old heating pad on low to set my bottles on and I wrap them with towels to insulate. In summer I do the same if air conditioning is on. 75 to 90 degrees is ideal for them.

7. A fine mesh stainer, stainless steel is Ok.

8. Glass jars to put Kombucha in.

9. Water; it has to be pure and chlorine free. Chlorine kills pathogens and also kills lacto-bacillius and other friendly microbes. A couple of ways to get chlorine out: 1. let water sit for 24 hours, covered with only a clean cloth or 2. boil it and let it sit and cool for about an hour.

We use water that has been treated with "Precious Prills" ( magnesium crystals) which raise the ph of the water, gets the chlorine out and restructures the water to it's best hexagonal form for "wetter water". http://www.life-enthusiast.com/ Did I say that this is a high ph tonic? Yes, and you know that anything with a ph of 8 or higher is really, really good for you. Good, friendly microbes like lacto-bacillus have to have an alkaline environment like our body cells. The bad guys thrive in acidic conditions as does cancer. Keep your water higher than 7, fruits and veggies are alkaline also, and we need to eat them in abundance because they balance the acidic foods; dairy, meat, legumes, sugar and grain. Kombucha will help your system alkaline.

Process: Make/brew tea. You don't have to boil all the water that fits your container, just a portion of it. Place tea bags, free of those strings and labels, in boiling water, cover and let sit for an hour or more. I have been playing with green tea that has fruity flavors and it is a nice change. I keep the ratio 1: 3. One bag fun, fruity flavor and 3 bags regular decaf green tea. When tea has steeped and is cool, gather up the bags and squeeze dry and throw away. Add sugar and stir. Pour into jar and add more pure water and then add the starter with piece of mushroom or "scooby", as it is affectionately called.

Paper cover the jar and secure with elastic. Before you do this, write the date and amount of sugar and number of tea bags so you will know for the next batch. Set in your warm, out-of-the-way place and let it ferment. You should notice bubbles and the mushroom at the top start to form. After a few days there will be some "floaties" in the solution and that's OK. You might notice some "brown stuff" hanging down from the mushroom and that's normal too.

After about 7-9 days, taste the Kombucha pushing the mushroom aside using a straw or spoon. If it is still sweet to taste, it hasn't fermented long enough and if it is really sweet with no mushroom formed, then the microbes are dead. However if you don't mind consuming sugar, you can "decant". I find that 11-12 days is just right for me. It tastes zippy and not sweet. If you let it go longer, it will start to taste "vinegary". There is a small amount of alcohol produced in this fermentation like .2%. If you are familiar with wine it can run from 11-12 % alcohol. Beer and ale runs 5-7 % so .2% is minuscule. For this reason I do not ferment fruits; too much sugar and the bacteria produce more alcohol than lactic acid.

Decanting; This is fun. I love to "fork out" the mushroom and place it on a clean plate. It really is a miracle how it is formed. You can eat the mushroom; it has a rubbery texture and not much taste. Use a large bowl with a strainer that fits it and pour Kombucha through the strainer. It catches some of the "floaties".

Fill other clean jars and put in fridge. Separate the mushroom and keep the newer one that grew on top of the starter piece. Keep about 1/3 cup of the Kombucha at the bottom to start another batch. The mushroom or "scooby" can be cut to shape with knife or scissors and the rest throw away. If you want to keep mushrooms, they keep well in a zip lock bag with a little Kombucha liquid. Putting Kombucha in the fridge will slow down the microbes but they will still keep working and you may see in a few days more "floaties" as they prepare to make another mushroom.

I drink about 4-6 ounces a day and I put 2 ounces in my 20 ounce water bottles. My husband when he does consume Kombucha will put it in his pineapple juice in the morning. You can drink it strait or dilute it with water or juice.

In the 2 years I have been making my own Kombucha, I have not been really sick. I have not had the flu or severe colds or sinus infections that have plagued me for many years and I am still teaching public school 9 months of the year around sick kids. I do not use drugs or vacines. I could be wrong, but I believe this tonic has had a powerful effect on my immune system. Others in my neighborhood whom I have given this tonic to, say they feel a boost in energy. One man is recovering his health, devestated by various parasites, viruses and bacteria by using Kombucha and other natural protocols.
Making Kombuch is a fun hobby with healthy benefits. You can get a start from me if you live in the Utah County area and attend one of my fermenting seminars held at Real Foods Market on 800 North, Orem west of State Street. I am scheduled for 2 seminars this fall. Sept. 11 at 1 pm and Nov. 13 1 pm. Or... order online at any one of a number of websites that do this.

Lacto-Fermentation

I practice the art of lacto-fermentation. This is not about making wine or beer it's about preserving vegetables, the old, traditional way with lacto-bacillus bacterium. Our ancestors didn't know they were using microscopic life forms to make their sauerkraut, pickled beets, dill pickles , etc, they just followed ancient family recipes and processes and got really good tasting and nutritious food. According to Sally Fallon, author of "Nourishing Traditions", all cultures, all peoples everywhere, had some form of lacto-fermented vegetables. They also had some sort of cultured dairy products, soured breads and fermented beverages.

I started fermenting tea, decaf green tea. It's called Kombucha or mushroom tea. I have been doing this for 2 years and really enjoy it. I believe it has helped, boosted my immune system. Kombucha led me to Sally Fallon's book and I started "pickling" or fermenting vegetables. Sauerkraut was the easiest, next was beets and I have added carrots. Lacto-fermentation with the lacto-bacillus bacteria produces lactic acid which is a food preserver. The metabolism that takes place when the bacteria are consuming vegetable sugars, (or with Kombucha, regular white sugar) also produces enzymes and other bio acids besides, lactic acid, which are incredibly good for human consumption. Vitamins are also produced. Vitamin C is one of them and for this reason ancient mariners and warriors usually packed barrels and barrels of sauerkraut or other preserved and fermented foods.

My husband and I have greatly benefited from these fermented vegetables. But where do you get the friendly bacteria? Well, they are everywhere especially from the earth, the garden produce you bring in has lacto-bacillus all over it. They can be killed by high temperatures (over 116 degrees) or with chemicals. You can also get them from cultured dairy products. Lacto means lactose or milk sugar. Once the lacto-bacillus get started in a culture, milk, chopped cabbage, beets, etc. and conditions are right for them and they reproduce, the bad, spoiling bacteria have no foothold and they dwindle. Lacto-bacillus are very tolerant of salt which also discourages the bad bacteria. The fermenting process does produce some alcohol but with vegetables it is really minuscule. You can use the same bacteria with fruit, but the higher sugar content of fruit produces more alcohol and less lactic acid and that is why I do not ferment fruits. I find that the lactic acid produced satisfies my taste much better than vinegar. I used to consume a lot of pickles but all that vinegar just pulled my entire system down making my more acidic than I needed. Naturally produced lactic acid has the opposite effect. Vinegar now tastes too sharp and I avoid it.

For my vegetable ferments I now use whey from goat milk yogurt. I have found a brand of goat milk yogurt "Drake", from So. Jordan in Salt Lake County) that has very satisfying and sour lactic acid in it and I strain a quart of that every week to get the lacto-bacillus rich whey and that's what I use to ferment a lot of my kitchen products. You can use plain yogurt from cow milk but the "commercially" produced yogurts don't have enough lactic acid for my taste. They do consumer research and find that the general population does not like yogurt or kefir
to be sour tasting so they don't let the bacterium do their "thing" for enough time and then they fill the yogurt with "gums" and other thickening agents and super sweet syrups so the end product doesn't really resemble real yogurt at all.

To strain whey from yogurt you will need a large metal stainer with a bowl big enough to hold it. You will also need a cloth. Some kind of fabric that will hold the milk solids and allow the whey or milk water to drain out. I use a silkscreen fabric, 12xx which is 11x14". Put the fabric into the strainer and pour in the yogurt. Gather the 4 corners together and clip the short edges if needed

I have installed a hook on the underside of a kitchen counter and this is where I hang the safety pin. Put a bowl under the hanging yogurt to collect the whey. 24 hours is enough to separate the whey and the cheese. I love this goat yogurt cheese and serve it with fresh fruit and my homemade jam for breakfast. The cheese and whey are kept in separate containers in the fridge.

Lay the fabric out and scrape the cheese off the cloth. The polyester screen cloth I use washes up very quickly and dries fast and is reusable. I can sell anyone a cloth if they contact me.

The collected goat milk yogurt whey can be used for vegetable ferments, muffins, quick rise breads, soaking cereals, smoothies, salad dressings and more. You are supplementing a high protein, living liquid to your food. Just remember, that if you cook the product or bake it, the bacteria will die, which is OK really if you have given them enough time to deconstruct or digest the sugars or starches present and that alone is beneficial. If you don't heat whey but just add it to a smoothie or salad dressing, you will be getting a very nutritious, probiotic supplement to your food.