Exploding Kombucha

I’d been warned that fermenting kombucha bottles could explode. But it never crossed my mind that it would happen to my kombucha. So I was really surprised this morning when I got a phone call from my wife to say that one bottle had, indeed, exploded. The glass had shattered and there was a mess to be cleaned up.

I guess you could say that kombucha goes through four stages:

1. Brewing
2. First fermentation
3. Second fermentation
4. Storage

The only stage where exploding is a danger is during the second fermentation phase. Here the kombucha is undergoing a second fermentation process without the scoby – inside a sealed bottle. The first fermentation process happens within a large jar covered by a tea towel – so there is no chance for pressure to build up.

I could have prevented this explosion so easily – “burping” the bottles. I did do this during my first batch – but I haven’t done it since. I am very thankful that none of my family were in the kitchen at the time – it could have been a little nasty. My children believe I timed it to happen while I was out – so that I didn’t have to clean it up. If I had been there I’d have got my priorities right – taking a picture first to include in this post! 😉

We humans always learn from our mistakes – it is one of the most basic principles. Until you push something too far you can never be sure where the limit lies.

After having been successful at brewing a kombucha batch that the children would drink, I hope that this explosive moment has not put them off the drink. Whatever the outcome, I am now down a bottle…

More Cultures in the Morning

My life is slowly filling up with cultures. Those of you who read my blog regularly will know that over the past few weeks I’ve started making both Kombucha and Kefir.

All this “culturing” put me in the mood to start making bread again. By bread I mean making in from a sourdough starter – no yeast. It is something that I have done before, about 3 years ago, and I really enjoyed it. The bread tasted incredible too.

I mentioned that I’d like to start making bread again, and before I knew it I was almost challenged into starting it before the week was out. So, the clock was ticking and there was one big challenge to solve: buying the right type of flour in Japan.

In my travels I’ve observed that the flour available in a country is related to how it’s been used. The flour in England is different from Sweden, is different from Germany, is different from Japan. Plus here I have the language barrier to get over. Animals, natural, and cooking ingredients are some of the hardest new words to learn. This was solved, however, by a brilliant blog. It explained the different types of flour sold in Japan and how to say them. Armed with this knowledge I headed out to the shops.

Saturday morning was a busy one for the cultures. Every morning I collect the latest kefir milk and start off a new batch. This is so easy that it’s done in a few minutes and normally ends up used straight for breakfast. I save any leftover in the fridge for later. I’ve developed quite a taste for it and find it makes a delicious desert. Don’t tell my kids – they think I’m weird enough as it is already.

Meanwhile my next batch of Kombucha was ready for bottling. One 5 litre batch only just lasts us a week so it might be time to have two batches on the go at once. I certainly have enough scoby to divide up – is there anybody in Tokyo who wants some? The ginger and turmeric that I’d been worried about turned out okay. I’d been concerned that there’d be a powdery residue when we drank it – but it appears to have ??dissolved?? into the liquid.

After bottling I had to get a new batch going. This being my third time bottling and fourth brew meant that I’m beginning to get the hang of it (see why in my rule of three blog post here: How to have confidence to keep trying).

I’m doing the second fermentation of the Kombucha with two different flavour combinations: lemon and ginger, and apple and cinnamon. I’m experimenting with flavours as the children still don’t really like it. They don’t complain much, but I know they’d rather not drink it if they could. So I’ll keep experimenting until I find a flavour they like.

Waiting for the Kombucha

Apple and Cinnamon

Lemon and Ginger

As for the sourdough starter – this one is very much an experiment. I was only able to find white strong bread flour and normally you need wholewheat flour to get the starter going. Something gets removed during the filtering process, an enzyme or something, that is needed for the starter. Still, I’m up against the clock so here goes. Hopefully it just means that it’ll take longer to get going.

I came back to check on the starter about 5 hours later to find that it felt cold. We don’t use any heat at this time of the year so our apartment is on the cool side for a starter. This will definitely slow the process down further- if not stop it all together. Getting creativity I’ve:

• Given it a hot bath
• Sat it on top of the running dish washer

(after this it did feel warm)

I’ll check on it when I get home from work tonight and if it’s still cold then I might have to resort to wrapping it up in a towel with a hot water bottle. Yes, I know, it does sound ridiculous but I don’t have an airing cupboard. I’m not turning the heating on for the four plus days that this will take to develop into an established starter. That, it me, sounds more ridiculous.

Cultures Growing in my Kitchen

Cultures are slowly taking over my kitchen – and they have their own needs. In one corner I have my now established Kombucha. In another I have the newbie: Kefir. I seem to have got into a routine with the Kombucha –starting a new batch each weekend. I’m now on my third batch which I started last night. I got part way through the preparation before I realised that I didn’t have enough of the special type of sugar I use. Out I ran to the shops to get some more. If I’d done that where I used to live I’d have a 35 minute round trip to the closest supermarket – and it would have been shut anyway!

We are currently drinking our way through my second batch which is different from the first in a few ways:

• I brewed the tea for less time – this makes for a milder taste
• I did a second fermentation process with this batch – flavouring the kombucha at the same time:
  • Two bottles with strawberries,
  • One with ginger
  • One with ginger and turmeric

Strawberry Kombucha

Ginger Kombucha

 

The whole family likes the flavour of the strawberry kombucha. But the second fermentation makes the kombucha fizzy and I’m the only one who likes this fizziness – they are all calling me weird! It created so much gas that when I opened the bottle the ember liquid squirted out sideways around the stopper! At least I know that the stoppers makes a tight seal!

I’m really looking forward to trying the ginger one – I will open that one tomorrow. My friend suggested making a lemon and ginger one with this current batch – which sounds delicious. I’m a little worried about the ginger and turmeric one – the turmeric has settled on the bottom of the bottle…

As for the kefir, it arrived in my kitchen only a few days ago. I was given a few kefir grains which look remarkably like small cauliflowers. I have to keep them at the other end of the kitchen because the two different cultures could react with each other. I’m not really sure what they’d do to each other but I’ve been told that it gets ugly.

The kefir milk is going down well. After removing and washing the kefir grains I put them straight into another batch of milk and the process starts over. I can make enough for breakfast within 24 hours. At the moment I’m not being very adventurous with it – I just want to eat it for breakfast. We mix it with muesli, honey, nuts, or just have it on its own.

Previously I’ve had sourdough starters on the go – maybe it’s time to start one of those again – get my culture hat trick?

Making Kombucha

I started a batch of Kombucha at the weekend – my first ever. Kombucha is a fermented tea drink and drinking it is meant to give health benefits. The health benefits sound promising so I thought I’d give it a go. I also like having a pot of something doing something in the kitchen – previously this has been a sour dough starter. If you’d like to find out more about the health benefits, check out the link I’ve added at the bottom of this post.

Kombucha can be started from scratch with the right raw ingredients and time. Luckily, however, I have a friend who offered to give me some of his Kombucha and scoby to get me started. He also gave me the steps needed to make the Kombucha, which were:

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I followed all of the steps, getting a little excited by the end. This was the same feeling I got as I worked on a sour dough starter. Simple ingredients are growing/changing and I am making it happen. What happened in reality?

• It took a long long time to cool down to the required temperature. I had time to wash up, put a wash on, and even go for a 30 minute run before we got down to the required temperature.
• When I reverently added the Scoby to the jar it did not float delicately on the top of the liquid. Instead it sank unceremoniously like a stone to the bottom of the jar.

No matter, sinking is allowed – a new scoby will grow on the surface. So now I am waiting patiently for the first indication that a new scoby is forming. This will be the proof that it is working.

As I continue waiting patiently I realize that two days have past already – and nothing. How long will it take I ask myself – as I continue waiting as patiently as I can.

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http://www.foodrenegade.com/kombucha-health-benefits/