EM-1 Fermenting

After three weeks, I had almost forgotten about my adventures in microbiology experiment where I decided to try to ferment some new EM-1. I had mixed the recipe, sealed the bottle and left it in the laundry room sink to do its thing. 

On Saturday afternoon I found it laying on its side in the sink. The bottle was as hard as a rock and the bottom had pushed out and no longer sat flat - a sure sign that life has begun and the various microbes are doing their thing in there.

Here is the recipe I used...

1 part EM-1
1 Part Molasses
22 parts (non-chlorinated) water

Mix the molasses and water and heat to 100°. Stir in EM-1 and seal the entire mixture in an air-tight container (EM-1 is largely anaerobic). If you can keep it warm, the fermentation process will begin quickly. The cooler the mix is, the longer the fermentation will take. I left mine at room temperature and had to wait almost three weeks before seeing signs of life.

Adventures in Microbiology

I am trying two experiments this evening... The first is my experiment to ferment some EM-1 (I'll explain what that is later). The second is making yogurt.

Crockpot Yogurt in the making

I'll start with the yogurt since that's the easiest. Let me start by saying that I like Yoplait yogurt. I'll eat at least one cup a day with my lunch. Unfortunately, the government shutdown has impeded my ability to enjoy yogurt. You might be wondering how that could be. It's really quite simple. Because of the shut-down, our military commissaries closed and I was forced to shop at our local Food Lion grocery store. At the Food Lion, Yoplait yogurt is almost .35¢ more a cup than what we pay at the commissary. Did I mention that I was cheap? Hence, a science project is born, and let's face it, with bacteria, heat and milk, making yogurt is much more science than it is cooking.

I found the project list at the everythinghomewithcarol.com blog at this link. It was pretty straight forward. The supplies for my experiment cost about $4 which will represent a HUGE savings if it actually works. I'll update tomorrow and let you know.

My "new" bottle of EM-1 (if it works).

The second experiment is fermenting some EM-1. For those of you who are not familiar with EM-1, go to this link. I purchased a bottle of EM-1 from teraganix earlier this year for an experiment in Bokashi composting (more on that in a later post, but it is essentially a method of fermenting waste to break it down). Since that time, I've used it for a number of purposes. It's supposed to be good for the septic system so we've tried that. It's supposed to be a good pro-biotic as well. While I have not tried it personally, I have given to the animals and they have not yet died (before anyone calls PETA on me, I did some extensive literature reviews before I started feeding it to the animals). We mix it in the chickens' water and with the four-legged animals' food. I don't know if it makes them any healthier, but I guess it can't hurt.

Anyway... I digress. Today I found myself with the last 1/4 cup of EM-1 in the bottle and I started to wonder if I could culture some more. It's just some bacteria and yeast so how hard can it be, right? After a short Internet search, I found a recipe for fermenting more EM-1 at this link (third post from the bottom), so I decided to give it a shot. It seemed pretty easy... EM-1 starter, molasses and water in an air-tight bottle. We'll see how that one goes. It takes about 7 days to ferment properly at lower temperatures so I'll report back on that in a week or so.

More later....