Natto
Natto is a Japanese fermented soybean food with a sticky coat and long strings, made by steaming soybeans and inoculating them with a natto Bacillus starter, then keeping them warm.
Built structures · Incubators and warm holds
Proofer as a multifunction culture station
A heat-only proofer used in turn for tempeh bags, natto jars, kombucha, yogurt and black garlic, each with its own container, rack and water-tray setting.
Overview
One heat-only box serves several projects. The rack and dry mode suit tempeh and natto. The rack and water tray suit open dough. The slow-cook mode, with a pot on the plate, suits natto beans and black garlic.
Each container changes the thermal result. Lids and the water tray raise the food's temperature at the same setting, and self-heating cultures push past it. The maker's recipes therefore specify the container and mode as well as the number.
Sequential use
Sequential use is documented. Running several exposed cultures at once is not. The maker recommends keeping different cultures a few feet apart until they are lidded and refrigerated.
Sources for this section
Measuring
Probe the food for each project. Record the mode, rack, tray and container.
Limits
The proofer heats only. A new tray layout or load is a new thermal configuration, and it needs a probe check.
History
The four methods are the manufacturer's own recipes, and the FAQ covers the kombucha container. The sources do not date the use of a proofer for these foods.
Site
SettingA kitchen counter: a folding proofer with a wire rack, a water tray and a plate for a pot, used in turn for tempeh, natto, kombucha, yogurt and black garlic.
ClimateHeat only, at the mode and setting the recipe gives. The water tray is used only in humid mode.
NotesThe model is the Brød & Taylor Folding Proofer & Slow Cooker. The sources give no internal dimensions.
A build is made where it stands: moving it means building it again.
How it is built
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Different exposed cultures running together
The maker recommends keeping different cultures a few feet apart until they are lidded and refrigerated.
Hazard sourceKeep different cultures a few feet apart until they are lidded and refrigerated.
Control sourceA new tray layout or load needs a probe check before use.
Materials
- 1 Folding proofer with a plate — Heat only. The mode and the container determine the result.
- 1 Wire rack — In or out, as the recipe says.
- 1 Water tray — Used only in humid mode, for open dough.
- Containers — Bags for tempeh, jars for natto, a jar for kombucha; the recipe names each.
- 1 Independent probe — In the food for each project.
- Choose the mode and record it with the rack, tray and container, as the recipe gives them.
- Tempeh: bags on the rack, at 88 °F (31 °C), dry mode.
- Natto: jars on the rack, at 100 °F (38 °C).
- Kombucha: a jar on the rack, at 75 °F (24 °C).
- Black garlic: a pot directly on the plate in slow-cook mode, at 140 °F (60 °C). Keep the jars off the centre of the plate.
- Probe the food for each project. Check any new tray layout or load with a probe.
Places
Documented for international use, with no single place of origin assigned.
Related
Used for
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Sources
Brød & TaylorMethod
Support (product specifications and FAQ: Folding Proofer & Slow Cooker, Sourdough Home, Sahara Folding Dehydrator)Cited in: Overview; Measuring; Limits
Brød & TaylorMethod
How to Make NattoBrød & TaylorMethod
Black Garlic: How to Make it at Home