Whoops

9 PM, 10 FEB 14: Kept the pound of soybeans in 3 times the water out to soak about 19 hours.

4 PM, 11 FEB 14: Cooked the soybeans in a pressure cooker with minimal water, to steam cook for 2 hours vice the 9 hours recommended in a pot of water. Boiled utensils and jars. Microwaved bowls full of water, covered with plates for 'sterile' working surfaces.

6 PM, 11 FEB 14: Mixed .1 gram of Bacillus subtilis powder in about 2 tsp of boiled water. Moved beans into 'sterile' bowl with 'sterile' spoon, mixed in Bacillus subtilis mixture until all were reasonably mixed. Filled two jars with cultured soybeans, and closed them with the lid.

This is where I think I made a mistake:

While Bacillus subtilis is purported to have anaerobic respiration and true fermentation capabilities, the directions called for using a sterile cheesecloth on the lid of the jar before placing a tight-fitting lid.

Thinking the Bacillus subtilis vendor who created these sterile directions was taking sterility a little too far by having a sterile covering under the sterile lid in an attempt to absolve themselves of any responsibility should someone grow something other than Natto in these cultures, I thought nothing about how B. subtilis may need some oxygen to properly perform this near fermentation; I just blithely assumed this was a true fermentation and tightly closed the 'sterile' lids on the jars and plopped them in a temperature-control-switched crockpot full of water at 100 F.

I looked at them this morning and this afternoon and saw no evidence of the fuzzy or stringiness mentioned in other people's websites and so looked carefully at other recipes to find they do need to breathe. So:

1 PM, 12 FEB 14: Unscrewed jar lids a turn to allow air into jars.

While I don't have sterile cheesecloth underneath, I'm not worried as a very reputable website (one written with such delightfully incorrect grammar and impish stylization that one can't help but imagine it was created by a kindly Japanese woman) did not even mention using sterile or boiled tools in the process, nor any sort of cheesecloth, but mere poked holes in the lid! Domo arygato, mysterious maiden!

So, maybe this will be a bold new discovery of a superior Natto making technique, whereby forcing the B. subtilis to scavenge in a nearly anaerobic environment, they are imbibed with special fermenting powers, that, once exposed to the winds of change from the outside world makes them turn into an unstoppable force of Natto ninja, liberating vitamins and minerals from the cowardly clutches of the cellulose samurai!


I only hope the battle's over when its time for me to eat it.

Soaking

I put a pound of soybeans in a pot with three times the volume of water. I had put it in the refrigerator to soak, as that's how I remember we soaked all our beans when I was a child. I looked up the recommendations and found its supposed to go for 20 hours soaking in the winter and only 12 in the summer, so, I'm leaving them out.

Natto

Natto

I'm interested to ferment something that will make me faster, stronger, and better than I was before.

I've been lucky to have been exposed to a variety of fermented foods and would attest to some benefits they somehow provide to my well-being.  As a supplement test-junkie, I admit that dietary sources always produce better results. I had an Achilles strain, which may or may not have been attributable to excessive vitamin D3 supplementation, and helped the strain by eating a lot of kimchi as its purported to hold vitamin K2, a vitamin possibly necessary for reducing bone spurs and calcium deposits throughout the body.


So, looking up the benefits of vitamin K2 found in many fermented foods, I stumbled upon one that has protein and holds the title for most vitamin K2 -Natto, a traditional Japanese fermented soybean dish.

The soybeans aren't fermented by the Japanese; it'll be fermented by Bacillus subtilis natto.

I thought there was a long process to fermenting many foods, like the months required to make wine, but microbiology has alerted me to my folly. This one takes about 50 hours, start to finish.

Here's what I need:

.1 gram Nattomoto (Natto spores powder)- Bacillus subtilis (this took about 4 days to arrive in the mail)
2.2 lb Soybeans
100ºF environment (several options: some use yogurt makers, I saw another use a cooler with jars of hot water placed inside to modulate the temperature. I will use a large dehydrator and a temperature control switch)
Mixing bowl
Cooking pot / Pressure cooker
Mixing spoon
3-4 shallow glass containers with lids

The recipe I will be working from:

-Rinse the soybeans and then soak them overnight allowing for three times expansion

-Boil soybeans for 5-9 hours (or pressure cook them for an hour or so)

-Boil water in mixing bowl, boil containers and lids and boil mixing spoon
     (this makes for a cleaner transfer, reducing the presence of other bacteria)

-Mix .1 gram Nattomoto powder in 10 mL of boiled water

-Using aseptic (clean, free from dirty tools/hands) technique, place beans in bowl

-Pour Nattomoto solution over the beans and stir carefully with boiled spoon

-Divide mixture in 3-4 glass containers. Discard any that spills.

-Cover tightly with lids.

-Place in 100ºF environment for 22 to 24 hours

-Place in refrigerator for another 24 hours

-Ready at breakfast!