Sour smell OK or rotten?
nanaverm
grains. They were non-wheat (mostly fine-grind rice & corn mix) from
Bob's Red Mill . I followed the instructions for Ogi porridge and used
distilled water, at room temperature, on Mon. afternoon.
After about 42 hrs, I removed the scum or bloom from the top of the
container, then got the recommended amount and cooked it, adding lots
of additional water to thin it. The smell was not at all like
sourdough bread sourness from when I'd made it with commercial yeast.
This was sour but had a rankness to it that was hard to stomach. It
"sat" OK in the gut, so I saved the cooked extra for the next day's
breakfast.
Later that day, the rank smell of the fermenting grains increased to a
strongly sickening garbage-y smell, and the bubbles were rising
quickly. It reminded me too much of the smell of a field trip my
master compost class made to a garbage transfer site, and was scaring
me. I knew I couldn't eat it, so I dumped it out in my compost pile.
Is that "garbage-y" smell what the ferment is like? If so, I'll just
try fermenting for a much shorter period of time. (Have oat flakes
soaking 24 hrs. for tomorrow's breakfast). I know it's hard to
describe smells, but...did I do something wrong? I didn't see mold on
the top. I can't imagine people eating this after a week!
Thanks for your feedback!
nanaverm
Ross McKay
>Just read "The Book" and was inspired to try to ferment breakfast
>grains. They were non-wheat (mostly fine-grind rice & corn mix) from
>Bob's Red Mill . I followed the instructions for Ogi porridge and used
>distilled water, at room temperature, on Mon. afternoon.
>[...]
What organisms you get in your ferment will vary from place to place. A
wild fermented ogi made in North Africa will be different to one made in
North America.
I found when I tried making dosa, that I couldn't get the batter to
ferment for over a day. In the end, I added a little sourdough starter
and it fairly ripped away. Now, I just add a teaspoon of the last batch
of batter to a new batch to get it fermenting.
My sourdough starter wasn't a wild fermentation either, though - I
cheat, by adding about a teaspoon of kefir to the starter to get it
going. This supplies it with several varieties of bacteria and yeast,
apparently quite suitable for making sourdough, as well as dosa.
If you have some kefir, you could use a teaspoon of that to get your ogi
started. This will help prevent any nasties from taking hold first, and
will still provide you with the benefits of a wild fermentation through
great variety of beneficial organisms.
--
Ross McKay, Toronto, NSW Australia
"Let the laddie play wi the knife - he'll learn"
- The Wee Book of Calvin