My 1/2 gal (finished product) recipe @Skydiver @MattyBear
LAB Serum:
This is the basics. There are smell cues that take practice to learn. I’ll do my best to write a walk through.
1 cup rice
1 cup + 3 tbsp water
[optional]
Bring the water to a simmer and take off heat.
Add rice to H2O and whisk for 1 min
Drain rice wash into a sterilized, clear cup. Place somewhere warm 2-3 days, until it separates into 3 distinct layers.
Time depends upon your specific environment.
- Tip: smell every day until you smell a sweet scent, followed by a slightly sour finish.
Use something to syphon the middle layer. I use a syringe with some air tubing, but a simple turkey baster works. Whatever you use must be sterilized first. Most turkey basters get used a couple times a year, so buy a new one for this.
Try not to disturb the starch layer on the bottom when collecting. Then measure out the solution into a sterilized measuring cup. It should be somewhere close to 100 ml.
Now add milk at 1:10 ratio.
So for example, 100 ml solution gets 1000 ml of whole milk for a total in container of 1100 ml or very close with my recipe.
Cover top with a paper towel, doubled over and rubber banded. You can also use a double coffee filter. Let it sit somewhere dark until it separates curd from whey. You’re looking for a solid curd layer to form. It’s ready when the curd starts to pull away from the sides. If done right, it shouldn’t really stink.
Remove the curd. I give it to my dog as a special treat. Then syphon out the whey you created.
- Tip: I use a 25 micron screen to filter out any solids. Cheesecloth layered in a funnel or even layers of gauze will do the same.
Again, with a sterilized measuring cup, measure out the cloudy liquid. While stirring, add equal amount of brown sugar or un-sulfured molasses to it.
- Tips: If using brown sugar, I use Bernoulli‘s principle to measure equal amounts. I also add in a lil bit extra to make sure the solution becomes supersaturated. When done, there will be a small layer of sugar on the bottom that doesn’t dissolve. This lets you know that it no longer has any water molecules left to bond with, supersaturated.
- Instead of measuring out sugar, you can begin by using a wooden spoon to stir in the sugar. This will help you to know when it is supersaturated. Keep adding sugar until the spoon floats off the bottom a bit. That is when you have achieved supersaturation.
Place somewhere dark with a loose fitting top for 3 weeks. After this time, transfer into the fridge for long term storage. It should be used up within a few years and within 6 mos if not refrigerated. You must burp the jar bi-weekly or it will explode, eventually.
Weekly use, for soil drench, is 15-20 ml/gal
I have at least 18 strains in my collection, 2-5pks per. Even have a couple never released ones, testers, that I’m gonna work.