Yes, thanks Scott. I have also noticed that some stores show it as a special order item. Probably better to go alone I am guessing.
Anyway, food prep for me is over for the day. I hear the Mrs. has some nice prawns and maybe scallops to add to the mix for tonight.
You can use frozen packaged natto as a starter. I had some of the powdered starter in a little baggie that a friend gave me, but the instructions I watched on youtube showed using 1/9th of a package of frozen natto.
DIY Instant Pot Natto - Homemade Fermented Stinky Soybeans - YouTube
Sort of like yogurt. You get it going and then just use some of the first batch as seed for the next, and so on.
A few weeks ago I was out on the road, so on the way back I stopped by an old friend's farm. She retired from teaching at a local university, married a guy who wanted a partner for his homesteading attempt. Not a good idea for a 60+ year old. All manual labor and six months in he had a heart attack and passed away.
She carried on for a bit and had a girlfriend join her. It has been a few years so I just stopped by to say hello. She immediately asked me if I could fix an old butter churn. So I took it back and looked at it. Looking at replacing lots of pieces and then sanding the inside cleanish, it Seemed to be easier to just make a new copy out of white oak.
Forming the wood wasn't all that hard in my over the top shop. The metal bands were a bit of bother. The original looked like 2mm iron, first I tried 1.5 mm mild steel. Just couldn't get it to nicely weld closed after rolling the pieces. So having 3mm mild steel I cut some strips, rolled them into hoops and was able to weld and grind them into decent shape.
Now the bottom was a single piece of wood fitted into a groove in the side pieces that were held together barrel style with two hoops.
Final test to see if it would hold water. Learned a bit and version two did hold water.
So being foolish I dropped it off. She had a few out of fashion Guernsy cows and promptly wanted to try out the churn. Gazalopfritz, that churning takes a bit out of those of us out of shape.
So now I have a bit of real homemade butter. Had to bake a bit of bread to go with it!
If I ever do it again I certainly will add salt to keep it fresher longer!
BTW most modern dairy cattle are Holsteins these days as they produce lower fat milk.
My sister in law one time served rancid butter explaining I just wasn't used to the taste of real organic butter! Funny the fresh homemade stuff was not surprisingly....great!
Yes we are quite spoiled being able to buy good butter in any quantity we want!
Oh don't ask about my city slicker experience milking a cow!!
She carried on for a bit and had a girlfriend join her. It has been a few years so I just stopped by to say hello. She immediately asked me if I could fix an old butter churn. So I took it back and looked at it. Looking at replacing lots of pieces and then sanding the inside cleanish, it Seemed to be easier to just make a new copy out of white oak.
Forming the wood wasn't all that hard in my over the top shop. The metal bands were a bit of bother. The original looked like 2mm iron, first I tried 1.5 mm mild steel. Just couldn't get it to nicely weld closed after rolling the pieces. So having 3mm mild steel I cut some strips, rolled them into hoops and was able to weld and grind them into decent shape.
Now the bottom was a single piece of wood fitted into a groove in the side pieces that were held together barrel style with two hoops.
Final test to see if it would hold water. Learned a bit and version two did hold water.
So being foolish I dropped it off. She had a few out of fashion Guernsy cows and promptly wanted to try out the churn. Gazalopfritz, that churning takes a bit out of those of us out of shape.
So now I have a bit of real homemade butter. Had to bake a bit of bread to go with it!
If I ever do it again I certainly will add salt to keep it fresher longer!
BTW most modern dairy cattle are Holsteins these days as they produce lower fat milk.
My sister in law one time served rancid butter explaining I just wasn't used to the taste of real organic butter! Funny the fresh homemade stuff was not surprisingly....great!
Yes we are quite spoiled being able to buy good butter in any quantity we want!
Oh don't ask about my city slicker experience milking a cow!!
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I first experienced homemade butter in a guest house deep in the black forest back in the early 80s. Proper old school place. Jug and bowl to wash in, chamber pot under the bed. Eiderdown so heavy you felt like you were being vacuum packed, and real home made butter with breakfast. My Dad and I loved it. His girlfriend was not impressed!
Yup, I get that part but as it's not the same as the yogurt culture, I'm at a dead end for now. I will wait to hear about yours. If it tastes kinda good on the first bite, I won't bother. If it tastes disgusting, then I know you did it right, and if you are still with us two days later, I might consider it.
Cheers Cogi.
When last on holiday found somewhere selling unpasteurised Guernsey milk. Made the best rice pudding ever! I am a fan of proper full fat milk as a treat.
I have a challenge to work out how to make Rubri (Rabri to some) at home. One recipe my wife's mother didn't teach her.
...a school class room. The jar was shook and passed from child to child until about 20 or so minutes later we has something that looked like washed out butter (no colouring) and this watery stuff on the outside.
Haha!
I have a lot of experience with natto over the years, so if I say mine is good, then I really mean it tastes like natto = most people don't like it.
Anyway, my only point was that it is probably a lot easier for you to go to T&T and buy some frozen natto in those Styrofoam containers and use a bit as seed, as opposed to sourcing some starter.
Better yet, try the natto and see if you are even interested in making it.
Tonight we are doing fondue. Not the fondue I grew up with. When I was younger, fondue meant maybe oil or broth, maybe cheese or chocolate, in those tiny pots with little forks, and it took about 4 hours to get full.
Then I learned about a different type. A type that is popular in many parts of the world I hear.
I don't do the old style anymore. Haven't for more than 10 years.
Tonight will be:
Spinach
Ong choi
Prawns
Bay scallops
Lamb
Lotus root
Two broths, one Calhoun style, the other Tom Yum based from Mrs. Weldon
Then I learned about a different type. A type that is popular in many parts of the world I hear.
I don't do the old style anymore. Haven't for more than 10 years.
Tonight will be:
Spinach
Ong choi
Prawns
Bay scallops
Lamb
Lotus root
Two broths, one Calhoun style, the other Tom Yum based from Mrs. Weldon
It happens to me most of the time pictures appears in this thread!
About your Fondue Cal is it the 'Asian way'? When you make a boiling broth in which you cook very thin cuts of ingredients?
This kind is delicious and much more 'light' than the fondue we french usually contemplate ( either cheese based - fondue 'savoyarde' or variants- or with boiling oil - fondue 'bourguignone').
And this is from someone whose native area is between Savoie and Bourgogne and where weather is cold so we eat fondue regularly in winter (in an area where we have a lot of variety and some of the best cheese in France)!
