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Cover art for Michael Pollan Cooked - a natural history of transformation book showing penne noodles splashing into water

Cooked By Michael Pollan

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Cooked By Michael Pollan

Cover art for Michael Pollan Cooked - a natural history of transformation book showing penne noodles splashing into water

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hey i’m kaitlynn, i’m a microbiologist and together with my husband jon we are cultured guru.

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Fruit and Herb Shrub Vinegar Master Recipe
Vinegar & Tonics

Fruit and Herb Shrub Vinegar Master Recipe

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Instant Pot Vegan Chicken Noodle Soup
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A lot of people think vinegar kills all microbes b A lot of people think vinegar kills all microbes because shelf stable pickles do not contain microbes. But with shelf stable pickles, it’s the pasteurization/sterilization via hot water bath or pressure canning that makes shelf stable pickles free of microbes. Hot hot hot acid in a pressurized environment does kill, well…most microbes. Think about “refrigerator pickle” recipes, though. They need to be stored in the refrigerator because vinegar alone doesn’t stop fermentation. Fridge pickles are made without pasteurization/sterilization (canning) so they will wild ferment without refrigeration, and not necessarily in a good way because there’s not enough salt.  All vinegar is made via fermentation too, and vinegar fermentation involves acetic acid bacteria, but also a ton of LAB, mainly Lactobacillus, Pediococcus, and Leuconostoc (the same genera you’d find in fermented veg.)  I linked a reference paper in my fermented mushroom recipe blog, so you all can read about the LAB involved in vinegar fermentation. Try 🍄‍🟫googlin’🍄‍🟫“fermented mushrooms” and you’ll see my recipe, it’s the first result (usually) 🤗 #mushrooms #fermentation
I will not ever wild lacto ferment just beets agai I will not ever wild lacto ferment just beets again lol. Mixing with cabbage for beet sauerkraut is the best though! “Lacto fermented beets” was the first ferment I tried to make after learning sauerkraut in college. My best friend Sidney came over and we used these gorgeous beets from the farmers market, with 2.5% salt, and some spices. Well, it ended up tasting like beet moonshine and it was just… not good. But it was a conduit for learning. Those beets were my first lesson in how different sugars and growth in the rhizosphere vs the phyllosphere influences fermentation. Cabbage and the cabbage microbiome offer a lot to balance out beets in fermentation, and I think mixing into a sauerkraut is the only way to go for lacto fermenting beets! Try googlin’ “beet and red cabbage sauerkraut” and you’ll see my recipe, I’m Cultured Guru.
Squash is the secret ingredient! My Roasted Butte Squash is the secret ingredient! My Roasted Butternut Squash Hot Sauce recipe is free on my website! I didn’t cook this one, so yes it’s still probiotic. When lactic acid bacteria ferment the starches in winter squash, they naturally convert them into emulsifying compounds called exopolysaccharides. So when we blend our hot sauce after fermentation, there’s no watery separation in the bottle. Roasting the squash with the garlic for the recipes also adds such good flavor! Definitely make sure it’s fully fermented and not bubbling anymore before you blend and bottle. Otherwise, it’ll carbonate in the cute little hot sauce bottles. #hotsauce
Myth Busting: Yes, the SCOBY IS the pellicle! Plee Myth Busting: Yes, the SCOBY IS the pellicle! Pleeeease stop saying it’s not. 😌

 Watch till the end, I show you how to grow one!

 This is a little tidbit from what I teach in the Kombucha lesson in our Fermented Drinks Semester online course! I also share this recipe FOR FREE just ✨GOOGLE✨ “cultured guru SCOBY” and you’ll see my full recipe with the perfect sugar to tea ratios for growing, feeding and maintaining a kombucha SCOBY. #kombucha
And the knife stays in the box. GOOGLE “sourdoug And the knife stays in the box. GOOGLE “sourdough king cake” my recipe is the first one! 👑☂️💚✨

If you’re like me and prefer from scratch, homemade everything, you’ll definitely want to try this king cake for Mardi Gras! I used organic naturally dyed sprinkles and all that jazz too. If you just search “sourdough king cake” on google you’ll see my recipe, it’s usually the first one. My main tips for making this: ✨use a very active starter or throw in some instant yeast with your starter ✨make sure the dough is actually proofed before shaping it. If it’s cold in your house it will take longer. ✨please follow directions! You can cold ferment the dough in the fridge after it doubles in size and BEFORE filling and shaping. 🎵Song is Casanova by Rebirth Brass Band
Fermentation is a gift from the microbes of this e Fermentation is a gift from the microbes of this earth. When we had a food business, I could never shake the feeling that fermentation is not meant to be sold to you from a fluorescently lit grocery shelf in an endless cycle of waste. Fermentation is meant to be cultivated in your home, with your hands, with intention and love in a sustainable, grateful practice of reciprocity and nourishment. This is the story of how we got here. After so many lessons learned, our small fermentation business is now value aligned, peaceful, fulfilling, and happy. It often seems like the gut feelings (the microbes within us) guided us in the right direction. To teach. You can learn for free on our blog, or you can enroll in our online courses (we extended our new year sale!) Either way, with me as your teacher, you’ll learn to adopt a holistic perspective on the microbial ecosystems that influence our food, lives, and the planet.
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