Ask Allie!
What is Ask Allie?
Ask Allie is our food-related advice column, where you can ask all your fermenting, cooking, baking, and pantry-related questions to get digestible answers! No question about food is off limits!
Most of you will receive an emailed reply prior to your question hitting the blog, since I frequently think you need a more immediate answer. You should anticipate 1-2 weeks between submitting your question and its appearance on blog. Although emailed replies normally take between 1-3 days, it can take up to a week.
To have your question answered in Ask Allie posts, please use the form on our website. If you prefer to be anonymous, just say so in the form and we’ll leave your name out when we answer it in the blog! Note that some submissions may be edited for clarity.
For troubleshooting active issues with a culture you’re working with, please check the FAQs or write us at support@positivelyprobiotic.com - you’ll get your answer faster that way! Please also take advantage of our Facebook group for troubleshooting, conversation, and getting to know more members of our community!
For the water kefir, how much sugar remains in the fermented product?
— James
This depends entirely on how long it does both the first ferment and the second (if there’s a second ferment), and whether there’s fruit in the second ferment. It also depends on ambient temperature, the “mood” of the grains (these are living organisms, so they go through cycles based on seasons, treatment, and often what does seem to be whimsy). I think the only way for you to be sure of what’s going on with your kefir’s sugar content is to prepare it the way you like it and then send it to a lab for testing. I’m sorry I can’t be more help here, but lab testing is required for a definitive answer.
If I have several different yogurt cultures fermenting on the counter, should they be kept in separate parts of the house to ensure they don't get contaminated? Also the same for kombucha and jun cultures. I just got both and want to ensure there is no cross contamination going on. So I'm wondering what the best way to do this to ensure they are pure cultures and don't get cross contamination. Thanks in advance.
— Jennifer
Ideally, they should follow social distancing recommendations. That sounds silly, but it’s really easy to remember. If they’re closer (or don’t have an airtight lid, which is what I do since my apartment is only 900 sqft and I have a lot of cultures), cross-contamination is likely. I like to deliberately cross-contaminate cultures at times, because Frankencultures are really fun and interesting projects, but something like that should only happen on purpose. You obviously can’t use an airtight lid for your kombucha and jun, so privilege them in your space accommodations over the yogurts. Weck canning jars or fermenting jars are perfect for this if you want to keep the yogurts clustered up. Pickle pipes also work really well, and are less expensive in the long run when used with Mason jars and other similar brands of canning jars. This will also be true of sourdough, should you start doing that at some point.
I'm going to start a mesophilic yogurt culture and in one place in the directions it says you can use a plastic lid on these cultures because they don't need oxygen, like kombucha. In the directions to ferment though, it says cover with a breathable coffee filter. So, I'm not sure if I can put a plastic lid on, or if I should use a coffee filter.
— Wanda
I always keep a tight lid on. You can do either, though.
