Success?

Natto goo looks like a cross between 'Aliens' and 'Spiderman' goo.

8 AM, 13 FEB 14: I looked in the jars this morning and saw the requisite "white fuzz" on the beans near the lid; the one's near the bottom had no growth on them at all. I scooped out the ones that looked ready and gave them a stir and they quickly became an uncontrollable web of slime. Lifting the scoopful too high lent to wisp of string floating out across the room on a current of air from the space-heater. The mess was stuck to my fingers, to the fork, bowl and nearly the furniture.

Mushing the beans was a little more difficult than I expected: they could have used another half-hour in the pressure cooker. They smelled very much like ammonia; they smelled like a particularly skunky homebrewed beer. 

The taste was similar to that same homebrew, it seemed like there was the tiniest effervescence on my tongue among the viscous slime. Any hint of original soybean flavor is lost to the slime. I ate the bowl and felt mildly queasy as the new flora introduced themselves to the regulars like a contingent of Yakuza walking into "Eructor's" truck-stop.

Its fairly filling, but definitely could offend many nearby. Another website claims the ammonia smell means it is over-fermented.

I fed the bottom half of the jars to my dog, who can't seem to get enough; we'll see how he feels about it in a half-hour. I'm sure I'll regret this as new aromas arrive from him this afternoon.

For the next batch I think I'll try to separate the beans into halves, or chop them a bit in a food processor to make more surface area. I'll use an air spacer in the center of the beans so they can all ferment properly.