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Post by silverseeds on Jul 9, 2009 12:17:09 GMT -5
Ever hear of the kombucha mushroom? It has some amazing properties. It can rebuild cells, block cells from radiation,(russia found this is why russians living near nuclear accidents didnt all die) it will balance your internal bacteria in a way no youhgurt(unless you making your own maybe like the mongols or something) or probiotics will.
what you do is brew tea, add sugar and the mushroom stash it in a cool darkplace wait a week. Come back you have most of the sugar out of the tea, and a powerhouse of health.It grows feeding on the sugar and caffeine. and two mushrooms in the first ones place. So anyway I have this mushroom, I ordered it online, I dont have money to send them to people, but if you send me two sturdy ziploc bags and a sase I will send you a mushroom. Please research it before you ask me to send one, so its actually going to people who really want it. People claim to have cured cancer with it. Im not exactly sure how to work out postage, but I am on a budget, but if on your dime more then grateful to share this great mushroom. And it would still be much cheaper then ordering one I believe. If I send it as I got one it should ship fine. although dont worry if you get one and it doesnt do well at first, the first few times you have to build up your bacteria in the tea, you always use a part of the tea and the mushroom, takes awhile to build up the whole culture actually. but not so long. two or three cycles.
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Post by lavandulagirl on Jul 9, 2009 16:56:28 GMT -5
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Post by silverseeds on Jul 9, 2009 17:10:06 GMT -5
lavendula youd be suprised, took us about a year but now ours tastes better then any store brand. but vinegar yeast is probably the closest someone could come to describing the general taste of it this is true lol we dont always get it exact, but if you pull it when an exact certain smell is present, and bottle it in mason jars, it is the best. will be trying soe dried berries in it to eventually, might make it worse or better we will see lol
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Post by davidintx on Jul 25, 2009 23:09:48 GMT -5
I've made Kombucha from the mushrooms (pancakes) also. Is good stuff. However, if you let it ferment too long it tastes just like vinegar with no sweetness at all. I like a pinch of sweetness to it or it's just too sour. Sets my teeth on edge. It's really satisfying after working outside in the heat. Almost as good as a good, cold, beer. Anybody ever made sauerkraut by fermenting cabbage with sea salt and whey? That's mighty good too, and is good for digestion, and adding beneficial bacteria to the gut. Same with kefir. If anybody's heard of that. Fermented milk, which makes it sour, but thick and good. Glad to hear that some people other than me are a little crazy and try some of this "weird" stuff. But, we know what we're doing, don't we! It's the way that societies before refrigeration preserved their food, and it was a lot better for you.
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Post by silverseeds on Jul 26, 2009 15:11:14 GMT -5
I tried making sour kraut once, I didnt eat it, the smell was harsh, not sure I made it right. I bought culture for kefir before, but I forgot about it, I still have the packet but its been so long its likely not good anymore.
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Post by lavandulagirl on Jul 26, 2009 19:19:11 GMT -5
Kefir is a favorite breakfast food around here... blended with fresh berries as a shake, especially.
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Post by Emerald on Aug 6, 2009 17:48:57 GMT -5
I've been growing and using kombucha off and on for about a year or so now and I prefer it after the secondary ferment. I also use the flip top brown beer bottles for the second ferment- I even have some from Dec. that is still nice and yummy, super fizzy tho. The closest I can describe the flavor as is an almost dry sparkling apple cider.
The best second ferment flavor is Ginger and fresh pineapple- I grate the ginger and chop the pineapple small and use about 1 teaspoon of ginger per 16oz bottle and about 1 tablespoon of fine chopped pineapple. I let it sit on the counter for a couple of days (more if it is cool/cold and only about 1 day if it is warm) and then pop it into the fridge. Let it get cold and you have a nice refreshing drink. Be careful of the secondary ferment tho- if you jiggle that bottle too much- it will foam out all over your kitchen and it is sticky to clean up!
I have let them go too sour and ended up using just a bit as vinegar in a vinegrette salad dressing but the rest I fed to the chickens- they will get some in their water in the winter about once a week, seems to keep them healthy.
I also grew my own SCOBY from a bottle of GT dave's raspberry synergy. Just keep about 1/2 cup from the bottle and add one cup of tea (I used 1/2 green and 1/2 black) with about 3 heaping tablespoons of sugar, (let the tea cool to room temp, but add the sugar while hot) cover with paper towel that is rubberbanded to the top of the mason jar(to keep out fruit flies) when you see the SCOBY developing on top- try to wait until it is about 1/8 inch thick and then start by adding 1/2 batch of tea/sugar to larger jar add baby SCOBY and in a week it should be thicker then you can add the SCOBY with about 1 cup of the tea it was in to a normal batch of tea/sugar and start tasting anywhere from day 3 (if very warm) to day 7 (if cool) I like mine a bit sweeter also so I tend to do the secondary bottle at about 4 to 5 days, depending on the taste test.
Home made juice added to the secondary ferment can be - raspberry or grape or just ginger or almost any flavor you like.
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