Sunday, May 22, 2005

A new ferment

Today I started a new ferment: beet kvass.

It's a simple one:
3 organic beets
- washed
- peeled
- corsely chopped
1 Tbs salt
1/2c of active whey (as an innoculant)
2 qt water

Put it in a jar. Mix. Wait 2 days.

After it's fermented, you can strain out the beets, add more water, and ferment for 2 more days.

Beet kvass is supposed to be a great detoxifier.


I started a 3rd attempt at a ginger bug. This time I added a little whey to help it get going. We'll see if it worked later this week.


Finally, some bad fermentation news. The 3qt batch of kombucha I started last week wasn't souring quickly. Today I noticed a spot of mold. Dumped the whole thing in my compost bin.

I would have liked to start a new batch, but I was out of tea. Hopefully I'll pick up more soon.

Note to self: don't skimp on the starter (a bit of fresh kombucha that lowers the pH of the batch).

5 comments:

happy gardening mama said...

I am part of the Weston Price Foundation (http://www.westonaprice.org/index.html) and a couple of days ago put up my first beet kvass. Not tasty like kombucha or homemade sauerkraut, but ok. And definitely gives me a "zing" from the probiotics. Great blog!

Jay Bazuzi said...

Gee, thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Anonymous said...

I have a question. What do you use for whey? Do you a pwodered whey or make your own from milk or yogurt?

Jay Bazuzi said...

Powdered whey won't work. It's important that it be live, full of beneficial lactobacillus.

I make whey in a few different ways:

- Make yogurt, strain overnight through a cloth. The result is "lebneh" / "yogurt cheese", which I spread on arabic bread ("khubis" / "pita"). I grew up eating this, and love it. The drained liquid is whey.

- Make kefir & let it get really sour. It will curdle. It will strain easily to curds & whey.

- Make rawcotta (http://jbazuzi.blogspot.com/2005/06/rawcotta.html). Whey is a byproduct.

- Let fresh, clean raw milk sit on the counter for a while. It will sour & curdle.

Anonymous said...

You can try this for Beet Kvass
Use 2 tbsp of whey and 1 tsp of sea salt for making 2Q ferment beet kvass. Then you will find it just right. This is from the book of Norishing Traditions.

 
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