Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, cooking sourdough in a bread pan will give you a harder crust. However, you may want to change your baking approach and scale the recipe up or down depending on the size of your bread pan. You may also want to change the temperature at which the bread cooks. 

Fermentation and feed have some effect on the sourness of the bread. However, the temperature of the fermentation has the greatest effect on the sourness of the culture. A long, cool fermentation is more likely to result in sourer bread than a short, warm fermentation. 

After 3–4 days at room temperature, you are able to freeze sourdough bread. Once you are ready to freeze your sourdough loaf, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and microwave the bread for 10-15 seconds to defrost the bread.

If the bottom of your bread is burning but the rest of your bread is baking normally, there are a few techniques you can try to stop the bread from burning. 

• Try placing the sourdough directly on the baking rack.

•  Place your sourdough on parchment paper and aluminum fo

•  Place a pan of water under the baking vessel.

• Take the baking vessel out of the oven 10 minutes before adding the sourdough.

• Move the sourdough off of the baking vessel halfway through baking and place the bread directly on the oven rack.

• Place uncooked rice in the bottom of the baking vessel.

• place oats at the bottom of your baking vessel.

A dense sourdough stems from small holes in the interior of your bread. This is due to under-fermenting, over-fermenting, or a lack of gluten development. You can change the density of the bread by fermenting it shorter if your kitchen is warm or longer if your kitchen is cold.

To stop the sourdough from sticking, we recommend preheating for 25–30 minutes before adding your sourdough. If that doesn't work try to place the dough on parchment paper.

You can feed your starter any flour you choose. We like to use organic bread flour; however, you are able to use any flour you like. We do recommend that you avoid using bleached flour as it has less wild yeast and self-rising flour because it has a higher pH level. 

You should feed your starter 1/2 cup starter, 1/2 cup of water, and 1 cup of flour every 24 hours.

The most common reason for this is underfeeding the sourdough starter. To correct this, try the following steps to revive your starter:

1. Combine 2 tablespoons of stater with 1/2 cup of flour and 1/3 cup of water before discarding the rest of your old starter.

2. Let your new starter sit at room temperature and look for bubbling and air pockets over the next 24 hours.

3.  If your starter is bubbling feed the starter 1 cup of flour and 2/3 cups of water and repeat this process over the next few days only removing 2 tablespoons of starter.

4. If your state is not bubbling we advise discarding the starter and starting over.

Store your starter in a mason jar with a loose-fitting lid. We also recommend storing your starter in the fridge to reduce feeding time but be sure to bring it out once a week for feeding.

If your starter is not bubbling, it is likely that your sourdough starter is dead. If your starter has died for the following reasons,

• You used bleached, self-rising, or cake flour.

• You used well water, distilled water, or reverse osmosis water.

• Your jar was not sanitized.

• your lid was placed too tightly on your jar.

Yes, bubbles are caused by a change in air temperature, airflow, or a buildup of CO2 and are normal to see while fermenting kombucha.

It's very rare for kombucha to grow mold, but it is possible. Often, what you think is mold is actually just yeast that can appear blue, green, pink, or orange. If your kombucha has actually grown mold, it will develop fuzzy blue, green, or whole mold on top of the culture.

After you've used your culture for 5 brews or if your culture turns dark brown and can be ripped apart easily.

You should store your culture on a countertop in a glass jar. The jar should contain 1–2 cups of starter liquid (your previously brewed kombucha) and be covered with a cotton cloth that is secured with a rubber band. To feed your culture while storing, add one cup of caffeinated tea with 1/3 cup of sugar dissolved into the tea. Do this every 4 weeks to ensure a healthy culture.

Although it is very rare, there are a few reasons that your kombucha could grow mold.

• Your sweat tea liquid was not cooled long enough before feeding the culture.

• Your brew time was too short, try brewing for 12-14 days.

• If your brew temperature is too cold, make sure to brew above 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

• Your brewing teas have oil in them, try using black tea as a base with a little bit of green.

• The top of your culture was exposed to air, try leaving your SCOBY in at least 2-3 cups of starter liquid and push your SCOBY to the bottom of the liquid starter periodically.

No, we do not recommend storing your starter in a refrigerator. When you store your culture in the refrigerator, you can cause the yeast and bacteria to go dormant and even potentially grow mold. 

If your SCOBY has dried out, unfortunately, it is now dead. If you find that your SOCBY is dry, it's time to get a new SCOBY and start over. 

If you are making a 1-gallon batch of kombucha, you should use 1 to 2 gallons of starter liquid. You can scale this up or down based on how much kombucha you are trying to brew.

This is actually a good sign and means that your brew has strong yeast activity. Just push the SCOBY back down with a clean spoon whenever you see the SCOBY climbing out of the liquid.

The ideal temperature for fermenting kombucha is 69-81º F.

If your culture is brewing at a colder temperature (66–68 º F.) it generally takes 3 weeks to fully ferment. However, if your brew ferments at a colder temperature, it's more likely that it will grow mold. If your culture is brewing at warmer temperatures (82–84 º F.) it is likely that the yeast will overpopulate and ferment too quickly.

Unfortunately, your batch has turned into kombucha vinegar. But don't worry, kombucha vinegar makes great starter liquid for your next batch, so be sure to save a cup or two for your next batch. You can also use Kombucha vinegar like regular vinegar by using it as a salad dressing, household cleaner, and hair tonic. 

There are two types of yogurt starters: direct-set mesophilic heirloom and thermophilic heirloom cultures. Direct-set cultures are single-use cultures for one batch of yogurt. Heirloom cultures are reusable and can make unlimited batches of yogurt if the culture is properly taken care of. The difference between the two heirloom cultures is the temperature at which the yogurt is cultured.

You can use any pasteurized dairy milk with any type of yogurt starter culture. You can also use raw milk, but when working with heirloom cultures, be sure to follow special instructions for raw milk. Non-dairy and alternative kinds of milk are also viable options; however, you will likely want to use thickeners that can be found here.

To ensure your culture lasts indefinitely, you must re-culture at least every 7 days to maintain viability.

There are a number of steps you can take to make your yogurt thicker.

• Change the milk you are using, the higher the fat content the thicker the milk will be.

• Increase the fat content by adding heavy cream on top of the milk.

• Heat the milk longer, the higher the temperature and longer cook will create a firmer yogurt.

• Strain the yogurt by draining the whey away from the yogurt to remove some water.

• Add thickeners that can be found on this page here 

The temperature at which you should culture your yogurt starter depends on what starter culture you are using. Mesophilic yogurt starters culture at 70-77º F.

Thermophilic yogurt starters are cultured at 110º F. 

Cooking temperatures will vary based on the type of milk used.

You will know that your yogurt is set once it appears less uniform and looks more like one solid mass. The yogurt should be relatively smooth and should be able to be easily pulled away from the side of the container. Sometimes the whey will separate during this process, but you can just stir it back into the yogurt or strain it out.

Whey will last about 6 months in the refrigerator, however, if it looks or smells bad at any point, discard the whey. 

There are two types of cheese cultures: mesophilic and thermophilic. Mesophilic cheeses are specific to certain types of cheese, such as Mesophilic Cheese, Italian Cheese, Feta Cheese, Fresh Cheese, and more. Mesophilic cheese is the easier of the two cultures to work with and is best for beginners. Thermophilic cheese cultures consist of Mozzarella, Parmesan, and Ricotta and sometimes work in conjunction with mesophilic cultures.

It generally takes about 3–6 hours to make cultured cheese at home from start to finish.

You should store your cultured cheese in the fridge or freezer, and you should store your unused rennet in the freezer.

Your cheese will last 7–10 days in the fridge and 6–9 months in the freezer.

There are two primary causes of your cheese not forming a solid mass. The first is that your curd was not allowed to sit and fully form before cutting the curd. The second is using high-temperature pasteurized milk. To correct this, try to check the label or try to use a local brand of milk, as these are generally less pasteurized. 

There are two primary reasons that your curd is disintegrating. The first cause is that the curd was not fully formed. The second is that your milk is too acidic. To correct the milk being too acidic, reduce the citric acid to 1 tablespoon. 

If your curd isn't stretching, it's likely that your curd isn't hot enough. Try heating your curd more to warm it before stretching. If your curd is still not stretching after heating for the additional time, you may need to start over and use more citric acid (1 3/4 to 2 teaspoons of citric acid). 

To avoid dry cheese, try reducing the temperature the curd is heated to (105°–110°F). You can also try decreasing the amount of citric acid to 1 1/4 teaspoons. If your cheese is still dry, attempt to cover the curd immediately with cold water once the stretching process is complete.

The main difference between powder and grains is that the kefir grains are live bacteria, while the powder is freeze-dried and needs to be reactivated.

Yes, kefir grains can be reused indefinitely if they are properly cared for, and kefir powder can be used 2–7 times before it will stop culturing. 

Rehydrating kefir grains may take up to 7 days. During this time, a layer of froth or foam may form on the surface. This is normal and caused by an overgrowth of yeast.

You can tell if you have successfully made kefir by checking the state of your kefir. Milk kefir should begin to thicken and have a sour, tangy taste. Water-based kefir should begin to bubble when moved and have a sour taste.

We recommend using 1 to 2 teaspoons of grains for every 4 cups of liquid you use.

Yes, your kefir grains will start to multiply 6–8 weeks after rehydration.

You can use any of the milk below to make milk kefir.

• Pasteurized milk

• Goat milk

• Powdered milk

• Coconut milk

• Non-homogenized milk

• Raw milk

Finished milk kefir can be stored as instructed below.

• At room temperature (68° to 78°F): 1 to 2 days

• In the refrigerator (40° to 45°F): 2 to 3 weeks

• In the freezer (0° to 25°F): 1 to 2 months or longer (like ice cream)

There are two factors that determine how quickly kefir forms: room temperature and the ratio of kefir grains to milk.

To slow down kefir production, either lower the temperature at which the kefir is culturing, use a smaller amount of kefir grains, or increase the amount of milk, up to 4 cups.

Keep in Mind: It is important for the health of the kefir grains for kefir to form within 48 hours of culturing. If you need to safely slow down the process or make less kefir, please follow the tutorial below and avoid trying to slow down the process past the 48-hour point.

Kefir will separate if it over-cultures. This usually occurs when the ratio of milk to grains is out of balance. To prevent this from happening, you can:

• Increase the amount of milk

• Reduce the number of grains

• Reduce the amount of time you culture the milk kefir

• Reduce the temperature at which it is culturing

The taste and texture of kefir can depend on several factors. The culture time, the temperature of your home, and the ratio of kefir grains to milk.

Changes in culturing conditions (different milk, a new spot for culturing, the season, temperature, etc.) can change the result of your kefir. The reality is, that it may be difficult to determine the exact reason for the change.

If the problem persists, reduce the amount of fresh milk by about 1/8, replacing that amount with finished milk kefir from the previous batch. Repeat 1-3 times, or until the milk kefir begins to thicken.

For Example: If culturing 2 cups of milk, in your next batch use only 1 3/4 cups fresh milk (reduce by 1/8), and replace the 1/4 cup you reduced with 1/4 cup finished kefir from your previous batch.

Kefir will often smell like fresh yeast. If your kefir smells like spoiled yeast (rotten), that can be a sign of contamination or that the yeast and bacteria that comprise the kefir grains are out of balance. Please contact Customer Support for assistance if you have concerns.

The grains are most likely fine if this has happened one time. The biggest danger of leaving the kefir grains in the same milk for more than 48 hours is that they may begin to starve, which can damage the kefir grains. Separate the grains and put them into fresh milk right away. As long as the finished, separated, kefir smells and tastes okay, it can be consumed.

It is normal for kefir to cling to the grains, and it does not present a problem. Strain the grains as best as you can, and don't worry about the smaller layers that remain on the kefir grains.

Milk kefir grains are known to multiply, but at times they are reluctant to do so. Even if they do not multiply, with proper care, kefir grains can be used indefinitely to brew milk kefir. Generally, kefir grains take 6–8 weeks following rehydration to begin multiplying.

If the vegetables are below the brine, with at least 1-2 inches of headspace, they will ferment well. If there is too much to fit in one vessel, fill a second, smaller jar and weigh down the vegetables. A partially filled vessel is fine. An overfilled vessel may overflow.

It is quite normal for the brine to be pushed up and out of the vessel during fermentation. If the airlock is full of brine, open the container and remove excess vegetables and brine. Then reseal the container. If fermenting in an open vessel, it’s helpful to set the container in a baking pan to catch the overflow. To prevent future messes, be sure to leave plenty of headspace, especially with shredded vegetables.

 Exposure to oxygen encourages mold spores to form. Keeping vegetables submerged or using an airlock is the best defense against mold.

Some vegetables foam more than others. It is not uncommon to see some foaming on vegetables that have a higher sugar content, such as beets or carrots. The foam is completely harmless and generally disappears after a few days. You may also notice some bubbling in the jar as gases are formed by the fermentation process. Again, this is normal. On the other hand, some vegetables get off to a slow start and don’t bubble as much. Many variables affect fermentation. As long as the ferment smells and tastes pleasant, the culture is doing well.

Slime-producing organisms thrive in warmer temperatures and low-salt environments. Slime may be produced by yeast or fast culture growth, which is why we recommend a simple salt brine without whey or starter cultures. Cucumbers with a blossom end can cause soft or slimy pickles. Slimy vegetables should be discarded, but slimy brine is not always a cause for concern.

Dark-colored vegetables will color the other vegetables in the batch. Just one beet or wedge of purple cabbage can turn the entire jar pink! If white or green veggies turn pink in the absence of dark veggies, the batch may be contaminated.