Cooking Stack Exchange
Cooking Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [fermentation]

Desired chemical breakdown of a food by a microorganism (bacteria or yeast), and occurs when making foods such as bread, yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, or wine.

Fermentation is the term for yeast and bacteria converting sugar in foods to acid, gas, or alcohol. This process is used for a number of kinds of foods, such as:

  • bread
  • yogurt
  • sauerkraut and kimchi
  • wine and beer

One key characteristic about fermentation is that it is microorganism activity that does not render food unsafe to eat. Any questions about an undesired or dangerous change in foods due to microorganisms should be tagged with .

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What is the difference in flavor between a fermented pickle and a vinegar pickle?

I'm interested in experimenting with pickling, and I'm wondering what the difference in flavor is between a classically fermented pickle and one made using vinegar. I've search online, but can't find a clear description. Many people seem to prefer…
Matt Ghering
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How do I calculate the final acidity of homemade vinegar?

I am making vinegar by mixing vinegar (containing the mother) and wine, and then allowing fermentation to occur. I am wondering how to calculate the final % acidity. Assume: I know the initial concentration (by volume) of acetic acid, X,…
Marc-André Lafortune
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Can I ferment black garlic intermittently?

Following this black garlic tutorial and in reference to this SA question, I would like to try making myself black garlic, and to try fermenting the garlic to different time to test out difference in flavor The tutorial suggest that garlic has to…
KMC
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Can we use probiotic medicine for bacillus subtilis culture?

I am from India and we do not get Natto (Japanese dish) starter for making Natto. I found that it contains mostly Bacillus subtilis, so I was wondering: can I mix the Bacillus subtilis strains available in the pharmacy to prepare my starter from…
Srijib Mandal
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Canned Coconut milk is curdled when opened

I bought Coconut milk (88% coconut and rest water) in a sealed can, when I opened it the solid where already separated from the liquid. The solid part was at the top quite thick like frozen coconut oil. It tastes perhaps (I am not sure) a little bit…
Porcupine
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Lactic fermentation related question: Is there a relationship between pH, salinity, fermentation magic, and heat?

I am trying to figure out if there is a way to abstract out heat in the Lacto fermentation equation. In fact, I am not even sure if heat is part of the equation. I know there seems to be a relationship between heat and yeast, but I don't know how or…
user1787331
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What is the difference between cream cheese and sour cream?

Let me be clear: I am not asking about their applications. I know some really good recipes where you use one or the other. I know you can replace them with each other in some recipes, not in others. That is not what I am asking about. My question is…
NurShomik
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What's the role of bread in pickling cucumbers?

In the summer, my mother always made Hungarian-style pickled cucumbers (kovászos uborka) by putting cucumbers, spices, salt, and water (no vinegar!) in a jar, putting a piece of bread on top, and letting the jar stand in the sun. Many many recipes…
Isabelle Newbie
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cabbage - volume to weight conversion?

I am making sauerkraut, and don't have a handy kitchen scale. What is the approximate volume of 1 lb of cabbage? Also, any advice on saurkraut making would be appreciated. This is my second batch. The first one turned out very good, but I had to…
mamadalgas
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What is this white, non-fuzzy, substance on my kimchi?

I have a jar of store bought kimchi that I neglected for a few months (bought around mid July). Today I opened it and noticed that a few pieces had some white stuff on it, but it doesn't look like mold. The best way to describe it is that it is…
Daniel Chui
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Looking for non-standard (i.e. no dill) fermented pickle suggestions

I'm looking for some outside the box ideas for fermented (sour) pickles. Fermented pickles only use a salt water brine, spices and some time. Here's a short list of what I'm NOT looking for: Anything using dill Sauerkraut Kimchee An example of…
haydenmuhl
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Is it necessary to skim the scum off of fermenting pickles?

The sour (fermented) pickle recipe that I am following states: Check the crock every day. Skim any mold from the surface, but don’t worry if you can’t get it all. If there’s mold, be sure to rinse the plate and weight. The only change that I…
David LeBauer
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How do I fix overly yeasty kefir?

My milk kefir grains now produce kefir with a very unpleasant yeasty/bready flavor. I've tried feeding it for a while, on the assumption that the yeast/bacteria will get back into balance, but this has failed. I'm worried there may be…
BobMcGee
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Would replacing sugar with a sweetener affect bread dough fermentation?

I've been baking Asian style sweet bread rolls using the Tangzhong method with success. However recipe calls for quite a bit of sugar (60g for 2.5 cups of flour). Will substituting a natural sweetener like stevia work in place of sugar? Will this…
Jay Sidri
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Mold on homemade sriracha

We found a recipe online for homemade sriracha hot sauce. 3lbs red jalapeños 1 cup brown sugar ⅛ cup salt Everything was blended together, then set in a dark closet. The lid is not airtight but has an elastic band holding it shut. This was to let…
marsh
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