@Pollinators @kimchiconcept I have finally made my mind up after vacillating for so long. I *think* I have made my mind up 🤣

Chickpea Miso - 2 month ferment - Shockey
Mellow Miso - 6 month ferment - Shockey
Red Miso - 12-24 month ferment - Shurlett

I intend to use some white rice koji and some brown rice koji. Also available locally via internet is black rice, red rice and barley koji. Lots to try.

I already have people queuing up for some miso 😄 so I am looking to have a rolling cycle. There are so many options to experiment with, and Shurlett has lots of very interesting variations. As I begin to harvest one miso I plan to begin another.

The red miso from Shurlett is very similar to the one I have just made, slightly different ratio but close, but a MUCH longer ferment. I can't wait to compare.

Very interested to hear how the koji making goes, @kimchiconcept

#Food #Fermentation #miso #FromTheKitchen

Cont .....

A little more information..... apparently, traditionally Japanese miso varieties are salty. Modern misos, especially outside of Japan, are using a lower salt percentage eg Noma and Shockey. Even so, this kit seems to have a very high percentage for a white miso - although I found another kit online with exactly the same ratio. This is really good info: https://thejapanesefoodlab.com/miso-science/#salt-content

I probably could have fermented it for a year, but the instructions said 6 months.

I have one more source I want to check for info, a very traditional miso book, but I guess my learning from this is that salt levels are very flexible, as are koji/beans ratio, and time can be adjusted according to the amounts of other ingredients.

Nothing is every fixed in fermentation 😆

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Cont....

This was a kit miso that I used for my first time making miso.

It is darker than the jar I "harvested" from it in December, and is more mellow in taste, and more pastey - fewer bean bits and skins. This is all expected from the longer fermentation in our hot weather, and is quite lovely.

But both the one I harvested early and the rest I did today are very salty compared to store bought misos. So I checked against Shockey's recipes and the salt percentage is way higher than hers for the combined weight of koji and beans, even for her misos that are fermented for 24 months.

It's still very good - I have been using the early harvested one for ages. I'll now be more aware of salt levels when using it so I don't add too much additional salt (if any).

I am not sure why they'd use this level of salt, maybe to keep the fermentation slow and avoid problems. I am sure going to check some other recipes I have saved to compare.

Let me know your thoughts.

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