Icelandic Skyr is a delicious, thick, cultured dairy product.
Usually known as Skyr Icelandic yogurt, this ancient creamy foodstuff is actually a type of soft cheese, more like a soft ricotta or quark, but with the sour tartness of a thick Greek yogurt. Continue reading “How to make delicious and easy Icelandic Skyr”
I was recently asked a fantastic question about the health benefits of eating a scoby. Bruce, a regular reader of the blog, had come across a recipe for making scoby jerky out of spare scobys and was wondering what he would be eating if he was to eat scoby jerky. Continue reading “Can you eat a Scoby? Scoby snacks and kombucha nutrition”
Kombucha makes the best and easiest sourdough starter ever.
I don’t know about you, but I am a sourdough baking failure. I have tried many times to make a traditional sourdough starter, and have even been given beautiful healthy sourdough starters from kind friends. Continue reading “Kombucha Sourdough – the world’s easiest sourdough”
Looking for a refreshing summer drink, but wanting something a bit different? Or maybe you want the benefits of a great probiotic milk drink like kefir, but you don’t want the hassle of caring for an ongoing culture.
Ayran is the perfect cultured dairy drink for beginner fermenters – it doesn’t really need any fermenting at all, and can be ready in just 2 minutes. Continue reading “How to make Ayran, a traditional Turkish yogurt drink”
Making milk kefir at home is super easy. This delicious, sparkly, probiotic milk drink is great for both beginning fermenters, and those with lots of experience at making cultured dairy foods.
Milk kefir can be drunk straight away, it can be given a 2F second ferment with berries or other flavorings, it can be used to make delicious kefir smoothies, and it can even be used to make kefir cheese!
If you’ve been making milk kefir for a while, then you will know how simple the process is. Are you keen for your first taste of homemade kefir? Read on! Continue reading “How to make Milk Kefir”
Is it really necessary to use both a scoby and starter tea?A kombucha troubleshooting question from the mailbag!
So. Why do we need both? If the scoby contains all the microbes we need, why do we need to add starter tea? And if the starter tea contains all the microbes we need, why do we need a scoby at all?
Basically it boils down to efficiency, and preventing contamination. Continue reading “Do I need starter tea AND a scoby when brewing kombucha?”
How do I make a kombucha scoby from scratch?Growing your own scoby from scratch using purchased kombucha is a pretty straightforward process, so long as you’ve got the basics right! Read on for the details of how to make a DIY kombucha scoby when you can’t find a fresh one. Continue reading “How do I grow a scoby from store-bought kombucha?”
What do I do with my Scobys when I want a break from making kombucha?If you’re wondering how to take a break from kombucha, the first question to ask yourself is how long a break do you want? Are you going on holiday for a couple of weeks and need to know that your scoby will still be alive when you come back? Or are you looking for a longer break? Maybe you like kombucha as a summer drink, but just don’t drink cold drinks during winter, so you want to keep your scoby safe through winter until springtime.
What you need is a scoby hotel.
What is a scoby hotel, you ask?
Well, for short breaks, you can just put all your scobys together into a big jar of sweet tea on the bench – just like brewing kombucha, but for longer.
That jar of scobys is your scoby hotel. It is a good solution for short or medium term storage (up to about six months).
Keep reading for how to make a scoby hotel, and also how to store your scoby for longer periods of time. Continue reading “How to make a Scoby Hotel”
Recently I’ve seen an article or two being shared around Facebook talking about the perils of plastic leaching from teabags, so I decided to have a little bit of a closer look and see if we should still use teabags for kombucha. Continue reading “Is it OK to use teabags to brew the tea for my kombucha?”
