Q&A about Live Cultured Foods
Hi Wade and Melanie,Thanks so much for the class. I was afraid that I would leave with my head in a cloud but I get it and it is fun. I typed my notes up and have a few questions for you if you do not mind.1. Kefir Water. Last night I drained it off and made new. I then took the drained water, added the 1 tsp. sugar but then I put it in the refrig. I think I should have set it out on the counter for a couple of days. So I took it out of the refrig this afternoon and will watch it to see if it “soda pops up”. Am I doing something wrong? And I should only leave it out for 2 days or it will explode – is that correct?
After you add the 1 tsp of sugar leave it on the counter for 2 days. Then drink or refrigerate after that. Don’t leave it on the counter for longer than 2 days, it could get explosive after that point.
2. Is this correct that you added hijiki to the beet sauerkraut. I know you added it to something but I cannot tell from my notes what you put it in.
We put hijiki in almost all of our sauerkrauts. It is so good for you.
3. Airlocks. I think I should have tightened the lids if I am using the airlocks. My jars still overflowed and nothing went up into the airlocks so today I tightened the lids so nothing more is seeping out of the jars but nothing is going up into the airlocks either. Any thought?
The airlocks don’t prevent the cultures from overflowing. No liquid goes into the airlocks from the jars, just air. They just allow the gases to escape. Before you use them, you take the lid off them and fill them with water to the fill line then you put the airlock on the jars while the food is fermenting.
Q: I loved your class and we are loving our fermented food! You mentioned something about culturing my cream before I make it into butter. Can you tell me how to do it?
A: I add about 1 part of cultured buttermilk with live cultures to 3 parts cream (for a quart=1 cup cultured buttermilk and 3 cups cream). Then I leave it for about 8 hours at about 60-70 degrees. Your cream will be cultured then you can make your butter like you usually do.
The buttermilk that you have leftover from making your butter will be cultured buttermilk – the real stuff. You can save some of that and use it to culture your cream the next time you make butter. There is a pancake recipe in your manual. It is yummy with buttermilk instead of milk. I prefer to use cultured buttermilk in cooking over regular milk in almost everything.
If it will be a long time in between butter making you will want to refresh your buttermilk. You can just add 1 part buttermilk to 3 parts milk. Let it sit out for 8 hours or so. It will be much thicker than buttermilk but will still have all the live cultures and you can use this to culture your cream. You can also use it in recipes.
I am so glad you loved the class and are enjoying your fermented food. It is so yummy.
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