FermenteaWhere food goes to change
Built structures · Incubators and warm holds
A dehydrator with its trays removed or shelves rearranged, holding capped jars of cultured milk at a low setting so the machine warms but does not dry.
A food dehydrator has a heater and a fan that keep a warm, moving airflow. Used as a warm cupboard, it holds capped jars of milk at a low setting. The jar lids stop evaporation, so the machine warms the milk without drying it.
Excalibur's yogurt method removes every tray and holds capped jars at 110 °F for 9 hours. Brød & Taylor's Sahara runs its High-Low yogurt at 120 °F for an hour and then at 100 °F for 3 hours, with its shelves arranged for jars.
A capped jar does not lose water, so the dehydrator's food-calibrated dial does not show the temperature of the milk. A probe in one jar does.
Measure the temperature inside one representative jar, and the set and acidity of the yogurt.
The minimum setting rules out cooler cultures. The Sahara's minimum is 85 °F (30 °C).
Open mould cultures would be dried by the fan, so this set-up suits capped jars only.
The interior height limits the jar size.
Documented: both yogurt methods are the manufacturers' own published recipes. Using the dehydrator for other ferments is not documented.
Both yogurt methods are current manufacturer recipes. The dehydrator's dial is calibrated for food drying, not for the milk, and the sources do not date the use of a dehydrator as an incubator.
A build is made where it stands: moving it means building it again.
The Excalibur method ends with a move to the refrigerator after incubation, which the card records as the safety step.
Hazard sourceMove the yogurt to the refrigerator after incubation.
Control sourceSet the heater to its lowest setting and check the jar temperature with a probe; the dial does not read the milk.
Documented for international use, with no single place of origin assigned.
A proofer, a dehydrator with its trays out or an old fridge on a controller can keep cultures at a steady temperature. Whether it works depends on what sits inside: a lidded jar, a vented bag, a shallow tray or a crock.
Soft, spreadable Calabrian pork sausage made with a great deal of red chilli and fatty pork, stuffed into natural casings, sometimes smoked and matured while staying soft.
A way to add independent temperature logging to an existing food dehydrator without changing its built-in controls or protections. It is a monitoring method, not a rewiring plan.
Pleurotus cystidiosus is the abalone mushroom, a cultivated oyster-type fungus with dark brown caps that grows more slowly and is more demanding than other Pleurotus species.
A dark, balanced vinegar from Emilia-Romagna made by combining cooked or concentrated grape must with wine vinegar, then acetifying and refining it in wood under a protected specification.
A living dairy inoculum that starts controlled cream fermentation, developing acidity and aroma before sour cream or cultured butter is finished.
A small electric incubator holds jars at a selected temperature for yogurt and other documented warm food preparations. Controls, capacity and vessel arrangement vary by model.
Adygean salt is a seasoned table salt associated with Adygea and the wider North Caucasian culinary tradition. Salt is blended with garlic and a variable selection of herbs and spices; the exact mix depends on the named style and maker.
The African Caesar-group mushroom, Amanita masasiensis, is a wild ectomycorrhizal species of central and southern African woodlands, eaten locally. The genus contains deadly poisonous species, so identification needs care.
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Excalibur Dehydrators (recipe site)Method
Homemade YogurtCited in: Overview; How it works; Measuring; Evidence
Brød & TaylorMethod
Support (product specifications and FAQ: Folding Proofer & Slow Cooker, Sourdough Home, Sahara Folding Dehydrator)Cited in: Limits