FORGEThe only bit left is to mount the temperature sensor
in the box and have something to rest our food on, as
we don’t want it sitting directly on the heat pad. We’ve
used three bits of 18 mm wood – one with a hole
drilled in it to hold the temperature sensor. These are
in the bottom of the small box, with the temperature
sensor configured so it’s between the food and the
heat pad. This means the food should never go above
the set temperature.
That’s the box built and ready to power on. When
you first turn it on, be aware that there may be a few
different modes that the controller can be in – for
example, ours came configured to work with a chiller
rather than a heater, so it would have left the heater
switched on permanently. Follow the instructions on
your temperature controller to make sure you’ve got it
set up properly, and make sure you keep it supervised
so you’re sure it’s working properly the first few times.
That’s your temperature-controlled box built. You’re
now ready to help your bread rise and make yoghurt,
tempeh, or all manner of other fermented goodness.
Above
Internet deliveries
can lead to huge
amounts of plastic
waste, so make sure
`ou find wa`s to
reuse itYOGHURT
Yoghurt is a form of cultured milk. To make it, you
inoculate some milk with the appropriate bacteria,
and then keep the milk at the right temperature for the
bacteria to thrive. What temperature this is depends on
the particular cultures you’re using, but most common
cultures want between 40 and 44 °C.
The traditional method of creating yoghurt has the
rather unappetising name of ‘back slopping’. This is
where you take a couple of spoonfuls of live yoghurt
and add it to milk before putting it in your temperature-
controlled box. You can start this with any commercial
live yoghurt; however, the bacterial colonies in
commercial yoghurt aren’t very virile, and you’ll
probably find that after a generation or two of yoghurts,
it stops working. We’ve had the same experience with
commercially produced ‘yoghurt starters’.
If you want an ongoing supply of yoghurt, the best
bet is to acquire an ‘heirloom’ yoghurt starter. These
cultures should continue to grow indefinitely if you look
after them well.