Chill Pill

When I try something new, I really, truly, seriously try. Case in point: yogurt.

I’d never made yogurt before, but I wasn’t nervous at all. I had my Greek yogurt starter, the most expensive local dairy milk I could find, and read the instructions until they were memorized. Failure was not an option.

I thought I knew it all.

Then my yogurt turned into something resembling snot. Interesting, I thought.

But I didn’t give up.

The second time around, you would have thought I was assembling a nuclear reactor on my counter top. All of my tools were lined up in the order they were needed. I wore an apron that resembled a lab coat. I wore my extra thick, nerdy glasses. While heating the milk, I kept the thermometer exactly one centimeter off the bottom of the pot the entire time until it reached 180 degrees. I wore rubber gloves to avoid contamination. I used a different spoon everytime I stirred. I logged temperatures and texture observations. I leveled off all measurements precisely, scraping off excess with a butterknife.

Failure. Was. Not. An. Option…

…until it was, and I had a breakdown. You know that scene from Julie & Julia when Julie got frustrated with a whole naked turkey she was stuffing, dropped it on the floor, then collapsed into a ball of tears and regret? It doesn’t hold a candle.

How could I not make this happen? How can I possibly be a good customer support rep if I can’t even make yogurt? What am I doing? Who am I? What is life?

The next day was Saturday. I woke up to a morning chorus of birds and gently falling leaves. I walked to the store and bought the cheapest gallon of whole pasteurized milk they had. I dumped about a quarter of it into a pot, turned on my stove, and made a sandwich. Eventually I took the temperature: 185. Too hot.

Whatever. I’m over this.

I poured the milk into a glass bowl to cool. It splashed on my cabinet doors. I watched an episode of Mr. Robot. I measured the temperature. It was around 110 degrees. I eye-balled two tablespoons of starter. I sloshed it around and put it in my Yogotherm. I went to Target and bought a rug and some yogurt to eat. I read a book, and when the power blinked on and off, I didn’t reset the blinking clock on my stove (apparently a squirrel in my neighborhood had an unfriendly interaction with a transformer).

I made my favorite Spanish soup for dinner, then noticed the Yogotherm out of the corner of my eye. I strolled over, my fuzzy house slippers dragging across the floor. I opened the lid, and the yogurt was perfectly set.

What? No snot? But I didn’t measure! What is this? WHAT IS HAPPENING?

I may have cried.

Before going into a state of shock, I placed the pail in the fridge. In the morning I ate my first bowl of thick, smooth, tangy… perfect greek yogurt. I accepted my chill pill, and swallowed it whole.

Cultures don’t hold grudges. They forgive. They forget. They thrive on love, and never seek perfection. Tips and tricks and measurements and flawless technique are all important, but I’ve learned that intuition and patience are a home-fermenter’s most invaluable traits.

Relax! Have fun. It’s just yogurt. It’ll happen.

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No Coupon Needed! Free $10 Gift Voucher Until 12/9

Do you have a friend who needs a little nudge to start making their own Kombucha, Kefir, Sourdough, Yogurt or more?  Then this is your opportunity to give them that nudge (for free) while you order in the next two days.  Did you know that all of the following products are less than $10 right now?  And there are more on the site!

Organic Cotton Bag

Available in three sizes. Perfect for straining kefir, yogurt, or soft cheese varieties.

Pomona’s Pectin

Useful for thickening non-dairy yogurt.

Traditional Flavor Yogurt Starter Culture

Traditional yogurt flavor; each box makes 4 batches of yogurt

Mild Flavor Yogurt Starter Culture

Mild yogurt flavor; each box makes four 1- to 2-quart batches of yogurt.

Vegan Yogurt Starter Culture

This direct-set yogurt starter can be used with non-dairy milks such as soy and rice milk. Each box makes 4 batches of yogurt.

Plastic Strainer

High quality, dishwasher safe; perfect for straining kefir and kombucha.

Organic Cotton Bag

Available in three sizes. Perfect for straining kefir, yogurt, or soft cheese varieties.

ConcenTrace Trace Mineral Drops

Use to re-mineralize distilled, reverse osmosis, purified or very soft water (improves the quality of the water for making Water Kefir)

Kefir Starter Culture

Make kefir with this powdered starter culture; can generally be recultured several times

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A Closer Look: Kefir Starter Culture

 “…It’s an awesome product, easy to do and very pleasant, I recommend it to everyone!!!” -Deb

Today we are going to take a closer look at the Cultures for Health Kefir Starter Culture.

Product Highlights

Make kefir at home with this powdered starter culture. With no grains to maintain, this culture is easy to use to make homemade kefir at a much lower cost than buying kefir at the store, and it’s delicious! Drink plain, add flavoring, or use kefir in many different recipes.

• Each box contains 2 packets of kefir starter.
• Use 1 packet with 1 quart dairy milk, juice, or coconut milk or coconut water.
• Cultures at room temperature, 72°-74°F, no appliance required.
• Avoid using ultra pasteurized or UHT milk.
• May be re-cultured 2-7 times, using a small amount from the current batch to make a new batch.
• Instructions for using this culture are included and may be found here.
• Having trouble making kefir? Browse our Expert Advice Articles on Kefir or contact us for assistance.

Ingredients

• Proprietary blend of selected strains of lactococci, lactobacilli, Leuconostoc, and Saccharomyces fragilis bacteria.
• May contain trace amounts of soy and milk.

Allergen Information

• May contain trace amounts of soy and dairy.
• Manufactured in a facility that produces products containing soy and dairy.
• Non-GMO
• Gluten-free

Shipping and Storage Information

Our kefir starter culture is shipped in a dehydrated state in a barrier-sealed packet. The product keeps:

• At room temperature (68° to 78°F): 3 to 4 weeks
• In the refrigerator (40° to 45°F): 6 to 12 months
• In the freezer (0° to 25°F): 12+ months

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Product Q&A

Q. When making kefir with raw milk, is it necessary to make a pure mother culture with pasteurized milk (as is necessary with the piima culture)?

A. No, a mother culture isn’t necessary.

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Q. What is the difference between the Kefir Starter (made out of powder) vs. the Milk Kefir Grains product? They seem to do the same thing but there is a significant price difference.

A. We have a great article that discusses the differences and similarities:

http://ift.tt/21IWJF0

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Q. I want to make fermented grape juice. Would this be the right kind of culture to use? Thanks!

A. You may use the Kefir Starter Culture or if you prefer a reusable culture, you can use Water Kefir Grains to ferment grape juice.

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Learn more about the Kefir Starter Culture here.

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Why We Brew At Home

This is a guest article from Jeffrey Michael.  Learn more about him at the end of the post!

Fermented drinks have been around for millennia. Our ancestors drank crudely fermented fruit, plant, and grain beverages since the start of civilization, and their fermenting innovations may even have “caused” civilization itself. These days, it is easier than ever to stop by one’s local convenience store to buy a commercially produced and packaged version of one of these beverages, most commonly beer or wine. So then why would one engage in the effort necessary to brew at home?

“Brewing beer is a form of cooking”

There are many reasons. The first I can provide is that brewing is simply an enjoyable process. Brewing beer is a form of cooking, and one who chooses to brew most likely attains a similar enjoyment as one who cooks instead of eating out. Understanding the components & the steps required to achieve an end culinary product surely broadens the mind and helps fine-tune the palate.

“A chili beer? A beer with cucumber & mint? A blue beer? “

Secondly, homebrewing provides endless possibilities to create any beer possible. A chili beer? A beer with cucumber & mint? A blue beer? With the skills of homebrewing at hand, you now have the freedom to add whatever ingredients you like to your recipes to make beers that are otherwise impossible to find.

“Homebrewing is typically a social event”

Next, homebrewing is typically a social event. Even if every brew day is not a massive party, having a dedicated brewing partner can result in the development a strong working relationship. Brewing can be as easy or intense as one wishes, and therefore I believe finding a partner with the same expectations is key. A friend’s report on homebrewing in New York City found after surveying that the top reason people start homebrewing is for social validation, and the top reason people stop brewing is because they lost their brewing partner – both profoundly social reasons. The Holy Grail would be finding a life partner who is likewise interested in the mastering of mashing, but that is only for the luckiest of couples.

	Now you can get started brewing beer at home with our collection of beer ingredients, equipment, bottling supplies, books and more!
	SHOP BEER INGREDIENTS		SHOP EQUIPMENT		SHOP BOOKS

“Homebrewing can be a less expensive form of beer consumption in the long run”

Not quite as obvious, homebrewing can be a less expensive form of beer consumption in the long run. Once sufficient equipment is purchased, producing a relatively simple beer with a straightforward recipe will most likely be cheaper per-glass to make it at home than buying the equivalent in a store. For this to be true, you will probably need to produce at least 10-gallon batches.

“What is better than a lively just-finished homebrew?” 

Lastly, and perhaps the most overlooked, are the health benefits of homebrew. There are several facets to this argument. Most commercial beer is filtered, which removes yeast sediment and vital vitamin B. Unfiltered beer in the store is typically old, so even though the healthy yeast is present, it is dead. I personally believe, along with prominent food writers like Michael Pollan, that there are strong health benefits to food and drink that is still “alive” and naturally probiotic, and what is better than a lively just-finished homebrew. And, much more simply, making beer at home allows one to know exactly what is going into the drink. You can choose to use entirely organic ingredients, to filter the water, and to omit questionable ingredients like fining or clarification agents.

So, for the sake of your health and many other reasons, consider patronizing your local homebrew store (or wine-making store, or pickling) to source the building blocks for your own hand-made beverage.

Jeffrey Michael, known as The Biking Brewer, is Certified with the Beer Judge Certification Program, having judged over twenty homebrew competitions over the past ten years. Also a trained sommelier and student of the French Culinary Institute, he frequently travels to uncommon parts of the globe in search of new fermented beverages. He tweets at @TheBikingBrewer and posts at http://ift.tt/1N7YoKt.

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Making Easy, Homemade, Naturally-Scented Soaps

I admit it, I am a bit of a DIY junkie. Truth be told, I think most of us home-fermenters are. While there are tons of reasons to make homemade breads, cultured veggies, and myriad other foods and personal care products, there are some things I would still make just for the fulfillment it brings. And sometimes these little activities not only ground us, but are just great fun.

Recently I had the opportunity to develop some recipes for homemade soaps that are both fun and so, so easy to make. No mixing lye and fat while donning goggles and gloves, no weeks of curing before use. Instead there is melting and coloring and mixing in essential oils.

And then there is the simple enjoyment of these soaps – fragrant and completely personalized.

Melt and pour soaps are designed with a base that melts down, can be colored, and can then be mixed with various botanicals or natural essential oils.

Some favorite seasonal soaps include this Coffee with Cream bar which mixes whole and ground coffee beans right into a creamy, dreamy bar.

Others include Orange and Clove, Oatmeal and Cinnamon, and super refreshing and simply beautiful Candy Cane. And trying to convince my husband that the above Chocolate-Mint bar was, in fact, soap and not a completely edible fudge was a hard sell.

The melt and pour soap making experience has been fun and fulfilling and a great way to introduce myself to the world of soapmaking without having to jump into the deep end with the old-fashioned methods I hope to one day explore. After all, I wouldn’t be much of a DIY junkie if I didn’t want to try it all.

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The Art of Gluten-Free Sourdough Baking: Cinnamon Raisin Muffins – Gluten Free and Egg Free

If you’ve been following Cultures for Health for a while, you know we empathize deeply with our customers when it comes to food allergies. Even more so, we relate well when they have multiple food allergies. It’s bad enough to be allergic to gluten, but to then also have an egg allergy? Gluten-free breads and baked goods just never rival their wheat counterparts. I got over that ideal that you could directly replace traditional sourdough long, long ago. Doomed, we feel doomed! When we can have bread or baked goods again?

But, if you want to make a weary parent of allergen-ridden children very happy this holiday season, I highly encourage you first show her or him this link:

The Art of Gluten-Free Sourdough Bread

Then wrap up this lovely gem of a sourdough recipe book as a gift:

Sharon Kane has spent years fiddling with and adapting her recipes to make great sourdough treats that are free of xanthan/guar gum, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and other sweeteners, fruit juice, eggs, milk, soy, added yeasts, and large amounts of high-starch flours.

I recently tried this recipe of hers, and loved it. The Cinnamon Raisin English Muffins turned out so perfectly shaped, and tasty! I can’t give out the recipe due to copyright laws of course, but it’s the yummiest mixture of a rice/quinoa flour blend, sweetened with stevia, honey, maple syrup, or coconut nectar. Using this book, the baker can then switch things up and create coconut English muffins, banana walnut muffins, poppy seed muffins, and more. There are also recipes for pancakes, buns, pizza dough, crackers, and mini loaves.

Troubleshooting section? You bet. It’s a must-have for the recipe book collection!

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Alcohol-Free Herbal Mouthwash

Using vinegar rather than alcohol to provide refreshing zing and preserving quality, this recipe is great for the whole family. With peppermint zing and the anti-bacterial properties of tea tree oil, this mouthwash is sure to leave your mouth clean and fresh.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup filtered water
• 2 teaspoons dried peppermint or two peppermint tea bags
• 5 drops tea tree essential oil
• 2 tablespoons xylitol powder or 6 drops liquid stevia
• 2 teaspoons raw apple cider vinegar

Instructions for Making Herbal Mouthwash:

1. Bring water to a boil and pour over dried herbs or tea bags. Steep 5 minutes. Strain herbs off or remove tea bags. Cool to room temperature.
2. Combine tea and remaining ingredients in a pint-sized jar or other container. Shake well to combine.

How to Use Herbal Mouthwash:

1. Shake mouthwash before using.
2. Pour 1-2 tablespoons of mouthwash into a small glass and transfer to mouth. Swish mouthwash around for as long as needed before spitting out and rinsing with fresh water.

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