Kimchi

[Quattro Pete]

I always wonder, where do we get the "starting culture" from into sauerkraut and kimchi. I know you can buy a pack of Yakult and throw it in but that's not what any recipe I know do.

There is no "starting culture." Water + salt + time will do its thing. It's basically brine, just like when making pickles, or anything else pickled, really.

 

[Mr_Luke]

I always wonder, where do we get the "starting culture" from into sauerkraut and kimchi. I know you can buy a pack of Yakult and throw it in but that's not what any recipe I know do.

You add 1 tsp of sugar to it and that creates the starter culture at room temperature for several days.
Without the sugar you'd end up with rotten vegetables after several days.

 

[Quattro Pete]

You add 1 tsp of sugar to it and that creates the starter culture at room temperature for several days.
Without the sugar you'd end up with rotten vegetables after several days.

I make pickles without adding any sugar.

All brined/fermented stuff is technically rotten.

 

[PandaBear]

I just found the answer online: this is called wild fermentation, no need for culture if you are fermenting vegetables, only milk and bread need starter if you want consistent taste.

 

[y_p_w]

I make pickles without adding any sugar.

All brined/fermented stuff is technically rotten.

I've followed a cold pickle recipe before. I used about the same thing to pickle garlic and chili peppers.

 

[y_p_w]

I just found the answer online: this is called wild fermentation, no need for culture if you are fermenting vegetables, only milk and bread need starter if you want consistent taste.

Sourdough bread is rather interesting. Boudin Bakery claims to have continuously used the same "mother starter" sourdough culture that they've been using since the 1800s. Of course after over 150 years I'm not sure it would be the same without mutations that changed the bacteria.

 

[PandaBear]

Sourdough bread is rather interesting. Boudin Bakery claims to have continuously used the same "mother starter" sourdough culture that they've been using since the 1800s. Of course after over 150 years I'm not sure it would be the same without mutations that changed the bacteria.

Typically anything with human as quality control end up as a selection and sorting mechanism, that "evolve" and "domesticate" the wild variant. Think dogs and cats and cattles and pigs, they are no longer the wolfs and wild felines and bisons and boars they once were. Same goes for the culture. They likely constantly pick the batch that they like and went back to the ones a few days ago if they don't like what is going on.

The other things they are doing is of course, pick the flour and methods that best suited for the culture and the taste. They probably wanted you to think they are the only one with the secret recipe, like KFC, and we all know in 2021 KFC doesn't have the best chicken.

 

[y_p_w]

Typically anything with human as quality control end up as a selection and sorting mechanism, that "evolve" and "domesticate" the wild variant. Think dogs and cats and cattles and pigs, they are no longer the wolfs and wild felines and bisons and boars they once were. Same goes for the culture. They likely constantly pick the batch that they like and went back to the ones a few days ago if they don't like what is going on.

The other things they are doing is of course, pick the flour and methods that best suited for the culture and the taste. They probably wanted you to think they are the only one with the secret recipe, like KFC, and we all know in 2021 KFC doesn't have the best chicken.

Well - a lot of plants are propagated by using cuttings for grafting. Those can mutate too, like the cara cara navel orange mutated from a regular navel orange. Apples grown from seed can be unpredictable.

Boudin says that they have to keep their "mother dough" going in San Francisco - claiming that it's due to the climate and the mixture of bacteria and yeast in the air. They send the dough to other area where they have bakeries, but claim that they have to send more from San Francisco regularly or else it would change too much. They have a large bakery in Sonoma County, and also one at Disneyland that actually provides bread for their Southern California locations.

I'm not sure how much they can really do with a lump of dough used to propogate bacteria and yeast . That's not quite as precise as breeding individual animals. But even Boudin seems to think that the location is important keeping it going.

 

[vavavroom]

I always wonder, where do we get the "starting culture" from into sauerkraut and kimchi. I know you can buy a pack of Yakult and throw it in but that's not what any recipe I know do.

Lactobacilli are environmental and thrive in an anerobic environment such as brined cabbage. The kraut used to be stomped on by barefoot farm kids as part of the production process.

 

[vavavroom]

Well - a lot of plants are propagated by using cuttings for grafting. Those can mutate too, like the cara cara navel orange mutated from a regular navel orange. Apples grown from seed can be unpredictable.

Boudin says that they have to keep their "mother dough" going in San Francisco - claiming that it's due to the climate and the mixture of bacteria and yeast in the air. They send the dough to other area where they have bakeries, but claim that they have to send more from San Francisco regularly or else it would change too much. They have a large bakery in Sonoma County, and also one at Disneyland that actually provides bread for their Southern California locations.

I'm not sure how much they can really do with a lump of dough used to propogate bacteria and yeast . That's not quite as precise as breeding individual animals. But even Boudin seems to think that the location is important keeping it going.

SF sourdough starter esults in much more sour bread than any other sourdough starter I know. Sourdough bread has been aroun for at least 5,000 years. The yeast variant effects the taste of the bread.