FermenteaWhere food goes to change
Equipment · Incubators and warm holds
A ventilated, cleanable enclosure with spaced perforated pouches or trays and a gentle heat source, for incubating tempeh, which warms itself as the Rhizopus mould grows.
A tempeh incubator holds inoculated soybeans or other substrate in spaced, perforated pouches or trays, inside a ventilated, cleanable enclosure. The mould generates heat as it grows, so the incubator's main job is to let that heat escape while keeping the surface from drying or collecting water.
The brief recommends a gentle heat source and a path for heat to leave. Original low-cost practitioner builds show common layouts, but cardboard with a lamp needs a safer design.
Reviews of tempe fermentation put a standard working temperature near 30 C. The mould's own heat can lift the centre of a thick cake above the surrounding air temperature. Faster fermentation has been reported at 37 to 38 C, and several sources warn that temperatures above about 40 C can kill the mould.
These temperature figures come from secondary citations of the Nout and Kiers review, and the page has not confirmed them against its full text.
The brief asks for self-heating at different loads, a probe in the thickest cake, oxygen access, and no water collecting on the beans. Starter, soaking, cooking, cooling, post-fermentation cooking and cold storage are separate processes and are not covered by the incubator.
Cardboard and lamp layouts from some practitioner builds need redesign for safety.
SourceTemperature figures for tempe come from secondary citations of the review; check the full text before use.
Source →Documented for international use, with no single place of origin assigned.
A two-cup soybean batch uses one Cultures for Health tempeh starter packet and vinegar. The supplier describes dehulling, a thin vented layer, controlled early incubation and attention to self-heating; it is not a validated home process.
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Journal of Applied MicrobiologyMethod · Science
Tempe fermentation, innovation and functionality: update into the third millennium (Nout and Kiers, 2005)Review of tempe fermentation by Rhizopus; the temperature figures on the page come from secondary citations of this review and were not confirmed against its full text.
Cited in: What it is; Temperature and heat; What the article should test