HAPPY KOMBUCHA BLOG — fermented veggies
What is a water sealed vegetable Crock?
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Water-sealed crocks are a bit more difficult to find and usually more expensive , but they are generally pieces of art worthy of living on your kitchen counter.
After a water-sealed crock is packed, two half-circle weights are placed into the crock to keep your ferment submerged. Then, the lid is placed into an open moat which is then filled with water. Now, outside air is prevented from entering the crock and carbon dioxide gases created during fermentation easily bubble out. This helps to keep the environment inside the crock rich in carbon dioxide and this in turn helps to stop mold. Try to avoid opening the lid as much as you can though as otherwise you are letting fresh oxygen back inside!
Caring for your fermenter and stones
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Prevention is also better than cure so correct cleaning and storage of your crock and weights will make life easier. Here we tell you how to clean and store your crock for everday use and also how to clean if something goes wrong......
Cold weather care for your cultures
blog Culture care fermented veggies ginger beer kefir Kimchi kombucha milk kefir non-dairy kefir non-dairy milk kefir Safety scobies Sourdough temperature water kefir
Autumn and winter present special challenges for culturing. As the weather cools, the methods for keeping cultures at the proper temperature must also change and adapt especially here in the UK when the weather can change dramatically from one day to the next. Some cultures will actually behave differently during the winter even when the amount of light and heat are constant, they can change their shape, size and texture and you may notice that the taste also changes slightly. How Can You Keep the Cultures Warm Enough? There are a variety of ways to help keep cultures warm enough...
Pennies in a bag to keep away flies!
blog bread Cleaning Culture care Dairy milk kefir fermented veggies ginger beer info kefir kombucha milk kefir water kefir
Anyone ferments knows the problems of fruit flies, they just love kombucha, kefir and fermenting vegetables. Covering your brew with a good tight weave cloth can help to keep the little critters out of your brew but how do you keep them away. Well.... It's crazy and we have absolutley no scientific evidence to back this up but we use this method and it works. That's all we can say. Place between 4 and 5 pennies in a bag of water (we like the zip lock bags as they are easier to seal but any clear plastic bag works). hang...