[madscientistjenn]

can i please be part of a community who likes fermenting and science and art and teaching pre school

[randomly-generated-posts-machine]

*hands you vinegar*. here, it is dangerous to go alone. take this.

[albva]

They should let you vomit a black sludge and when you are done you feel better about yourself. Also the black sludge forms into an evil clone you can make out with.

[yellow-cat]

hey asshole. i can feel you skipping through my dialogue. did you even consider how that might make me feel

[madscientistjenn]

My ex boyfriend and ex friends really gave me the kind of trauma that took me off of Tumblr for years and now I avoid it for weeks once I do use it because im afraid of developing any type of relationship with anyone but also notice this place feels like a ghost town in comparison to what it used to be so idek how to navigate it anymore

Note: ex friends were not traumatic. I just have made great friends on here and am in a very "I want a small circle because im tired of friendships ending" period of my life

[madscientistjenn]

wild yeast starters made from cheongs/fermented syrups

note to self

[hilasss]

Fermentos

[madscientistjenn]

Successful innoculation of apple cider vinegar with ginger bug that was made from a ginger cheong. I cannot put into words how happy my work makes me when I get into a flow where everything starts fitting together.

[madscientistjenn]

Spicy cheong

[escuerzoresucitado]

[alexanderwales]

This is a water-seal stoneware crock. The design is ancient.

It is, essentially, a large ceramic vessel that you put vegetables and sometimes brine into. To prevent spoilage, you place those ceramic weights on top of whatever food is in the crock, and that keeps them weighted down, below the level of the water. Because fermentation creates gases, most crocks have a "water groove" in them. The lid sits in the groove, which allows air to escape but not come in. Because fermentation creates gas, the interior of the crock is positive-pressure, and because the gas created is almost entirely carbon dioxide, it's a low-oxygen environment that additionally helps prevent spoilage.

And all this would be pointless without lactobacillus, the bacteria that chomp down on the vegetables you put into the crock. They're anaerobic, which means totally fine without oxygen, and they produce an environment that's inhospitable to most other organisms. The main things they produce are CO2, which means no oxygen for other bacteria, and lactic acid, which makes the fermented thing sour and also decreases the pH low enough that many other bacteria cannot survive. They tolerate high levels of salt, which kill yet more competitor bacteria. It ends up being a really really good way to keep food from going off.

Our ancestors figured this out thousands of years ago without knowing what bacteria were. This general ceramic design has been in use around the world in virtually every place that had ceramics, salt, and too much cabbage or cucumbers that was going to rot if they didn't do something about it. It's thousands of years old, so old that it gets hard to interpret the evidence of the ceramics.

And I have crocks like this in my kitchen, where I make my own ferments, and I always think about how beautiful and elegant it all is, and how this was probably invented hundreds of times as people converged on something that Just Works.

(I do have pH testing strips though.)

[madscientistjenn]

Accidental Ginger Bug Discovery

or how I made a wild yeast syrup by mistake

1/4/26

I have been doing a lot of research lately and making the classic mistake of not documenting anything. Sometimes I write things down. Sometimes I take pictures. Often I do neither. This matters more than you think when you are experimenting with fermentation.

There are pros to how I’ve been doing things. I technically log thoughts through ChatGPT. It occasionally remembers things correctly. It tends to remember concepts and mechanisms if I explicitly tell it to commit something to memory.

There are also cons. Dates get forgotten. Information can get mixed up if it is not logged. AI is not infallible. You still have to correct it. Which means you never fully know if your information is perfectly reliable unless you verify it yourself.

That said, here is the thing I am most excited to share.

The accidental discovery

I accidentally made a ginger bug starter.

Not a ginger bug itself, but a wild yeast syrup that can be used to help start one.

This happened while making a ginger cheong using chopped and peeled ginger. I peeled the ginger intentionally because I believed that yeast lived only on the skin. That belief came from nearly every ginger bug instruction I have ever seen, which emphasizes organic unpeeled ginger.

The assumption is usually that non organic ginger is chlorinated and therefore lacks viable yeast.

After doing more research, I learned that yeast is not only present on the skin. It can also exist inside the ginger rhizome itself. I genuinely did not know that before this experiment.

The problem I was trying to solve

At the time, I was struggling to maintain a stable ginger bug. Multiple cultures became infected with kahm yeast and spread. It was a regular yeast infection! Instead of discarding everything (I did end up discarding them, btw), I started thinking about the conditions kahm yeast prefers and the conditions it avoids.

This led me to a different approach. Instead of fighting to keep a kahm yeast infected fermentation alive entirely, I aimed to selectively favor wild yeast while suppressing other organisms... like kahm.

I gathered information from personal testing, Reddit threads, Facebook groups, TikTok comments, and Tumblr posts. I cross referenced responses, questioned contradictions, and corrected errors where I think that noticed them, noting at honestly at the end of it all, I dont know sh*t.

From that, a few consistent principles emerged.

What I learned

Kahm yeast requires oxygen to thrive. Kahm yeast does not tolerate acidic environments well.

I already owned both citric acid and malic acid. After tasting both, I chose malic acid because the flavor reminded me of Warhead candy without the sugar. (it knocked me on my ass and didn't even have the gall to be sweet at the end)

Using an airlock allows gas to escape while preventing new air from entering, which limits oxygen availability.

Water quality also matters. Chlorinated water can inhibit microbial activity. This can be addressed by boiling water for 20 to 30 minutes or by using spring water. Distilled will probably work but I have doubts because it is essentially inert. Can anything actually survive in it?

pH findings

Based on multiple sources and practical testing, a target pH range of 3.5 to 4.0 appears effective for discouraging kahm yeast while remaining hospitable to wild yeast.

Experimental plan

Day 0 inoculation

Combine all components into a jar. Stir vigorously for 15 seconds. (air helps yeast) Ensure all ginger is fully submerged. Attach an airlock lid. Keep at room temperature.

Maintenance protocol

Days 1 through 3, once every 24 hours

Remove lid. Stir vigorously for 15 seconds. Add one teaspoon sugar and one teaspoon ginger. Reseal airlock lid.

I did not follow this perfectly. I did not feed it daily. Despite that, visible bubbling appeared by Day 1.

I have not formally used this culture yet, but the activity level strongly suggests it is viable.

Notes on ginger sourcing

Ideally, ginger should be organic and unpeeled. However, non organic ginger can still contain internal yeast. In my experience, results may vary.

Final thoughts

Imagine my surprise when I checked the jar and found it actively bubbling.

Not a ginger bug, but a wild yeast syrup capable of jump starting one.

Accidental discoveries are still discoveries.

[madscientistjenn]

[madscientistjenn]

Accidental Ginger Bug Discovery

or how I made a wild yeast syrup by mistake

1/4/26

I have been doing a lot of research lately and making the classic mistake of not documenting anything. Sometimes I write things down. Sometimes I take pictures. Often I do neither. This matters more than you think when you are experimenting with fermentation.

There are pros to how I’ve been doing things. I technically log thoughts through ChatGPT. It occasionally remembers things correctly. It tends to remember concepts and mechanisms if I explicitly tell it to commit something to memory.

There are also cons. Dates get forgotten. Information can get mixed up if it is not logged. AI is not infallible. You still have to correct it. Which means you never fully know if your information is perfectly reliable unless you verify it yourself.

That said, here is the thing I am most excited to share.

The accidental discovery

I accidentally made a ginger bug starter.

Not a ginger bug itself, but a wild yeast syrup that can be used to help start one.

This happened while making a ginger cheong using chopped and peeled ginger. I peeled the ginger intentionally because I believed that yeast lived only on the skin. That belief came from nearly every ginger bug instruction I have ever seen, which emphasizes organic unpeeled ginger.

The assumption is usually that non organic ginger is chlorinated and therefore lacks viable yeast.

After doing more research, I learned that yeast is not only present on the skin. It can also exist inside the ginger rhizome itself. I genuinely did not know that before this experiment.

The problem I was trying to solve

At the time, I was struggling to maintain a stable ginger bug. Multiple cultures became infected with kahm yeast and spread. It was a regular yeast infection! Instead of discarding everything (I did end up discarding them, btw), I started thinking about the conditions kahm yeast prefers and the conditions it avoids.

This led me to a different approach. Instead of fighting to keep a kahm yeast infected fermentation alive entirely, I aimed to selectively favor wild yeast while suppressing other organisms... like kahm.

I gathered information from personal testing, Reddit threads, Facebook groups, TikTok comments, and Tumblr posts. I cross referenced responses, questioned contradictions, and corrected errors where I think that noticed them, noting at honestly at the end of it all, I dont know sh*t.

From that, a few consistent principles emerged.

What I learned

Kahm yeast requires oxygen to thrive. Kahm yeast does not tolerate acidic environments well.

I already owned both citric acid and malic acid. After tasting both, I chose malic acid because the flavor reminded me of Warhead candy without the sugar. (it knocked me on my ass and didn't even have the gall to be sweet at the end)

Using an airlock allows gas to escape while preventing new air from entering, which limits oxygen availability.

Water quality also matters. Chlorinated water can inhibit microbial activity. This can be addressed by boiling water for 20 to 30 minutes or by using spring water. Distilled will probably work but I have doubts because it is essentially inert. Can anything actually survive in it?

pH findings

Based on multiple sources and practical testing, a target pH range of 3.5 to 4.0 appears effective for discouraging kahm yeast while remaining hospitable to wild yeast.

Experimental plan

Day 0 inoculation

Combine all components into a jar. Stir vigorously for 15 seconds. (air helps yeast) Ensure all ginger is fully submerged. Attach an airlock lid. Keep at room temperature.

Maintenance protocol

Days 1 through 3, once every 24 hours

Remove lid. Stir vigorously for 15 seconds. Add one teaspoon sugar and one teaspoon ginger. Reseal airlock lid.

I did not follow this perfectly. I did not feed it daily. Despite that, visible bubbling appeared by Day 1.

I have not formally used this culture yet, but the activity level strongly suggests it is viable.

Notes on ginger sourcing

Ideally, ginger should be organic and unpeeled. However, non organic ginger can still contain internal yeast. In my experience, results may vary.

Final thoughts

Imagine my surprise when I checked the jar and found it actively bubbling.

Not a ginger bug, but a wild yeast syrup capable of jump starting one.

Accidental discoveries are still discoveries.

[madscientistjenn]

I used to be on tumblr all the time

now i find myself pre writing posts in my notebook so I can properly format them because suddenly I have more than nothing to say and I want nothing more than to be... understood well

but its crazy cuz like id just make a post that said ass and post it and forget about it at one point

crazy how we evolve i guess

[oflline]

[loverworm]

i love you kombucha i love you yogurt i love you kefir i love you cheese i love you miso i love you sourdough i love you probiotics i love you fermentation

[madscientistjenn]

I am returning to Tumblr because, honestly, when everyone takes advantage of "I need to protect MY peace" and "i dont owe anyone anything" you get this situation im in: a few friends with poor mental health take time off from social media and in particular, responding to messages

Which is fine and well within their right. I take it personally when I am being sent hundreds of reels and videos weekly from these people on different platforms, but continual ghosting in perpetuate. They did not delete the messaging app. They are actively ignoring.

The other issue is completely disappearing (they are a chronically ill person and ha e the rigjt to disappear, they let me know and i understand. The disappearing is not the problem) everywhere for months and coming back like everything is ok, not trying to catch up or anything. Ok with getting asked every question about how theyre doing but never returning the question.

That never sat right with me and I think it never will

We went so far in one direction that these interactions no longer actually make sense. It takes a village but the village is dying because everyone wants to benefit from one but no one wants to do the work of being a community.

So this year I will start just... write things down. Catalog. Take note. Maybe connect with people, but mostly... archive