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Fermentation Experiments

Play, and log what happens. Each entry is a short, hands-on protocol - what you need, what to watch for and which calculator does the arithmetic - written so you can run it in your own kitchen. Start any experiment from its page and it shows up on your bench below. New entries land at the top as the log grows.

  1. No. 006 Tepache: Wild-Ferment Pineapple in Three Days Pineapple peels, piloncillo and the wild yeast already on the fruit - Mexico's zero-waste fizz, ready in two to three days. 2-3 days · kombucha sugar guide , white film guide
  2. No. 005 Amazake: Overnight Sweet Rice in a Rice Cooker Koji enzymes turn plain rice porridge into a naturally sweet, non-alcoholic drink - one overnight hold at 55-60 °C does all the work. Overnight Koji series · koji incubation calculator , temperature guide
  3. No. 004 The Six-Degree Test: Watching Temperature Double the Speed One sauerkraut batch, three jars, three temperatures - a kitchen test of the every-6-degrees-doubles rule behind the temperature-time calculators. 2-3 weeks · temperature-time calculator , winter fermentation guide
  4. No. 003 Zero-Waste Fizzy Drinks from Ferment Leftovers Second-ferment sourdough discard water, pickle brine and kombucha dregs into light, naturally carbonated drinks. 2-4 days · salt ratio calculator
  5. No. 002 Catching Wild Yeast on Your Windowsill A simple sugar-water trap for wild yeast, how to tell capture from contamination, and what to do with your catch. 3-7 days · fermentation temp-time calculator
  6. No. 001 Shio Koji: Salt, Rice and a Week of Patience Turn koji rice and salt into a mild, umami-rich seasoning base - and how to use it on vegetables, fish and meat. About a week Koji series · salt weight calculator , koji incubation calculator

Safety first, even when playing

These projects are low-risk by design - salt, sugar and time do the work - but the same rules apply as everywhere else on this site: clean jars, honest observation and a no-doubt discard policy. If a batch smells putrid, grows fuzzy mold or otherwise makes you hesitate, compost it and start again. The calculators (salt ratio, temperature-time) apply to these experiments exactly as they do to the classics.