Saturday, August 7, 2010

Feeding my Mother

Its the weekend, yea! Loving my Saturday but still a bit of work to do. I think I'll save it for tomorrow though. I need one day to just run errands, clean, relax (somewhat).
Anyway, let me tell you a little bit of what I've been up to. I've been feeding my mother.

NO, not this mother......
This mother.....

a growing mother soby
You see, it was about time I tried to make this stuff. I spend too much $$ on buying it and with the whole recall (which is ridiculous), I figured it was the perfect time.
So I researched on how to make your own scoby first (aka mother). I found a great website that says you can make it from a previous bottle. WOOHOO. I just so happened to have a bottle of the Vibranz Ginger. I can do this. Little did I know how much this Kombucha Making would test my patience. I'm like a 2nd grader school girl watching my science project grow. Come on, grow, culture, ferment, LETS DO THIS!!

So here we go. One week ago........

Growing the Mother

First, select an excellent bottle of plain or gingered kombucha. It should have as many yeasty filaments floating in it as possible, and it must be raw. Heat kills kombucha. You can drink some of the kombucha if you like -- just leave all the sediment & stringy bits in the bottle, and at least half a cup of liquid. Next, ready the kombucha food.
In a small saucepan, heat 1 cup water to boiling. Add two tablespoons white sugar, and return the liquid to a boil until the sugar is dissolved. Turn off the heat and add one bag of organic black tea (or a tablespoon of looseleaf) and let the mixture cool at room temperature until it no longer feels the slightest bit warm to the touch.
1/2 kombucha bottle, sugar, and black tea


Remove the tea bag or strain the tea. Pour all the contents of the kombucha bottle into the sugar-tea -- the the sediment, the half-cup of kombucha liquid, and the stringy things (these will turn into the kombucha mother!), and put it all in a glass quart or pint jar. Cover the jar with a cloth and a tight rubberband to keep bugs out, and place it in a warm, dark, safe spot. Note that the kombucha liquid is necessary to keep the mixture sufficiently acidic. If the liquid is not acidic, mold will grow.
first jar- growing my mother scoby
Keep an eye on the kombucha. In a few days or a week, it should star to grow a thin film over the surface. The film will thicken and become the kombucha mother. If any mold appears, discard everything and start over -- but that shouldn't even be a possibility if you have enough acid in the liquid.
When the film is about an eighth of an inch thick, you'll need to give it another little boost of food. It's not yet strong enough to culture a lot of kombucha for you to drink -- right now it's just growing.

After waiting a week....
eek! look at mother growing! I must bee feeding her well. :)
What I made yesterday.....
This time, make a quart of tea. Heat four cups water to the boil, add 1/3 cup sugar, and steep with 2 tea bags or 2 tablespoons black tea. When the liquid cools completely, remove the tea leaves, put the baby kombucha and all the liquid and sediment in a large glass jar or bowl with the tea. Cover it tightly and watch it carefully.
bigger batch with my growing mother inside. We shall see what happens next week!
The kombucha mother should thicken significantly over the space of two weeks. When the mother is between 1/4 and 1/2" thick, you can use it to make yourself a batch of kombucha.

So there you have it. I must wait another 10-14 DAYS to make a complete batch. UGH!! I am so impatient, can you tell? After this batch, i get to brew. See below on how to brew.
 
Making Kombucha

Heat three quarts water to the boil. Add 1 cup sugar, return to the boil until dissolved, turn off the heat, and add 4 tea bags (or 4 tablespoons looseleaf) black tea. Let cool completely to room temperature. Remove the tea bags or leaves, and put it in a one-gallon glass jar. Pour in a cup or two of finished kombucha liquid from the last batch (to keep everything acidic) and place the kombucha mother on top. It's okay if it sinks. Cover it securely with cloth and a rubberband, and place it in a warm, dark cupboard for a week or ten days. A new kombucha baby will grow on the surface of the liquid. When the kombucha baby is about 1/8" to 1/4" thick, taste the kombucha. If it doesn't taste too sweet, you can harvest the liquid (saving some for the next batch) and repeat the process.
Source: Paprika

Stay tuned, maybe I'll give you some update on how my  mother is doing. I sure hope she eats a lot and gets bigger, haha!
Moving on now. Just wanted to share a little fun night out. Last night we got together with my oldest brother (I have 3 brothers) and my parents. We love going to ROUGH HOLLOW GRILL and wanted to show the bro the awesome view and the delicious seafood/steaks. It was a fun time indeed! Lots of laughs, jokes, sarcasm, wine, beer, good food, and a good view.

too much testosterone and beer.
Dad, Bro, and the hubs being pleasant

great view of lake travis


Well, thats it for me. Hope your Saturday is thoroughly enjoyed. Put your feet up, enjoy a good meal, and have a good laugh!
 
Cheers,
LC

25 comments:

Dorry said...

I'm so impressed with your innovative nature! I couldn't help but laugh reading about "checking on my mother" - haha. So hilarious and awesome. LOVE Lake Travis - and love your bangs. Y'all sure make a cute, fit couple.

Heather (Where's the Beach) said...

Love a restaurant with great views. Nice! Sounds like you had a fun evening. You and your hubby are just too cute.

april said...

Man you are brave making that!! I've always wanted to go on big experiments like those but have been too chicken!

Maggs said...

it's worth the wait. I think I have 2-3 batches going all the time.

Eden said...

Wow, more power to you! I personally dont have patience LOL! your second grade? I'm more like Kindergarten! I think your real mother is more attractive, btw!

Morgan said...

keep us posted on the growing process! i find it so interesting even though I've never tried Kombucha

Kelsey Ann said...

wow im so intrigued watching the process! its like a fun science experiment hehe <3

Mo said...

You are so lovely!
I can't wait to hear how the kombucha tastes. I am intrigued enough to try it. I didn't care much for the Vibranz kombucha...do you like it? I will be curious if homemade buch tastes more like the GT's.

Lisa (bakebikeblog) said...

wow - what an interesting 'experiment' indeed!!!

Anonymous said...

Amazing idea!

You make a gorgeous couple!

Abby said...

Maybe I'd like Kombucha if you made it for me. I know your pecial ingredient is LOVE! :)

Averie @ Averie Cooks said...

you fixed your layout a bit and it looks awesome!!! so much easier to read!

the booch and mother...girl, just tell me if you need a scoby. I can mail one to you. I mailed another lady one and I will put the whole thing in a ziplock baggie and send it. Not a biggie. For real. If you're not having success, just lmk. But you totally look on the right track!

what i have found is that mold is not an issue, just be super clean with your hands, jars, etc, keep covered w/ a cloth, you're fine.

i have found that using a little more sugar, i.e. 10-20% more than what recipes call for, ie 1.25 cups rather than 1 cup per gallon of tea yields a better mushroom and better tasting brew. otherwise it just tastes too bitter/sour to me I guess. but it's so individual!

Anonymous said...

I came back to tell you that it is easy to make a gluten free fillo dough. I ll show you how in one of my next posts.I don't know when because it takes about 2 hours to make it.

Joanna Sutter (Fitness & Spice) said...

Word to your mother!

Ok, homemade kombucha? You are my hero, I'm so impressed!

DarkUFO said...

Test

tanyas daily said...

I have neer tried that...what a process to make!

Nora@LiveLifeEatRight said...

I think it is so cool that you are making Kombucha!!! I would be so nervous that it wouldn't turn out right...very impressed with your motherly nature :). LOVEEE the hair. You both are so cute!

fittingbackin said...

Great pictures!!

That is a MAJOR experiment - wow!!

fittingbackin said...

Great pictures!!

That is a MAJOR experiment - wow!!

tanyas daily said...

I have neer tried that...what a process to make!

DarkUFO said...

Test

Sunfishers said...

Love your story. I have a mother that I keep reusing and it is getting quite big. Does anyone know if I can trim it up, cut it up or what? Also, does anyone know how long one mother will last? I'm still kinda new to making my own kombucha, too.

haley said...

Eeeek so excited to read this. The hubs brews his own beer so when I asked if he'd help be try this out, he was all about it. We shall see. Thanks lady for all the info!!
Haley

lindsay cotter said...

oh yea!! Let me know if you need any other help with it. Just shoot me an email.
It will take a while to grow a mother but then you will be set for a long time.
Cheers!
 
Lindsay Cotter
Nutrition Manager & Fitness Consultant
lyndzut@sbcglobal.net   
www.cottercrunch.com




________________________________

Missysjas said...

I think I am finally going to bite the bullet and try this!