Poor Scoby

For a number of years my wife had been making Kombucha. I say had, because as of now she has moved on, at least for the time being, to another cultured fermented beverage. Since this past winter she has seemingly become enamored with kefir grains, which, as it cultures with milk (and perhaps other things), has similar pro-biotic benefits.  With her concentration on kefir grains the scoby has been sitting in its scoby hotel for weeks, if not months. The poor scoby is now second fiddle to kefir.

Scoby in its Hotel

A scoby hotel is essentially a Mason (canning) jar with the scoby and some of its fermented tea and sugars placed in a refrigerator for storage. The scoby has nice digs, it must be a high end hotel with its structure being glass curtain walls. Last November or December, part of a scoby was in such a hotel  in our small downstairs refrigerator.  I needed to make room for some stuff for Christmas dinner, so I had to rearrange the fridge and I placed the scoby hotel on its side.  I did not know what was in the jar.  The problem was some of the precious liquid leaked out, and the scoby touched the metal lid.  These two events made me highly concerned as, when she saw this, she said I may have killed the scoby.  The lack of liquid was one thing, but the worst part was the scoby touching the metal lid of the jar.  Apparently metal can kill the fermentation process. Much to my relief, the scoby, while somewhat stilted in its ability to grow and look like an even bigger piece of old slimy ham, was still able to produce Kombucha.  

Looking like old slimy piece of ham, or a body part ready to be used by Dr Frankenstein, or a body part preserved for eating by Hannibal Lecter, (with a fine Chianti). The scoby, from what I gather, is a living organism that is now in some state of suspended animation in the refrigerator in its upright Mason jar. I would be going bonkers if I had to live in a hotel for, say more than a few weeks.  The poor scoby never gets out.  Although, if I was in a state of suspended animation, I may not really know what is going on. Not knowing what is going on, some would say, is part of my whole existence.

Kifer at Work, the large jar is probably the fermenter
the smaller jar is what, I think, we can use

With kifer, I really do not know much of what goes on. I do use some of the kiefer product, in smoothies, and I once almost killed that too by stirring it with a metal spoon. I guess the kiefer culture can be killed by metal too.  In other words, I am close to being the kryptonite for her varied cultures.

I am not sure what it is about stuff that is supposed to be healthy for your digestive system, but the stuff that is, is, well, unappealing in its appearance.  I have mentioned how the scoby looks like a slimy piece of ham. The kifer is as bad looking too, like soured milk that has curdled. The process seems to involve leaving it out of the fridge in milk for a period of time, and hence milk left out makes me think of sour milk.  Second, she strains it, and it looks, well, curdled.  Like some thing in a cheese making process went bad. It is like slimy cheese curds, with the emphasis on the slimy.  Or, perhaps, a food science experiment gone way bad. What I do know about kifer is some how they come for the Caucaus Mountain region, and one can not start their own.  Which makes me wonder who ever came up with such a silly idea as to leave this stuff out and coagulate in slimy cheese curds and not only that decide to combine it with milk and create something good for the gut?  

Detail of  small Kifer Jar
Notice the separation

Now, don't get me wrong, there are somethings that I enjoy that are fermented: beer and wine come quickly to mind.  The nice thing about placing it in a smoothie is that the fruit or and other flavors help to camouflage its smell and probably its taste. I still use yogurt in my smoothies, usually with some peanut butter and a fruit. This kifer product adds a heavy cream like liquid to the smoothie. My wife's kombuhca scoby is now set aside in a hotel. She says she is not brewing right now since she needs time to drink her kombucha.  She really nurses a kumbucha, taking all day to drink a small, say 4 to 6 oz glass of the stuff.  When I drink it, I do it fast, thinking a few seconds of torture is better than one that lasts all day. Drinking kombucha is about the only thing she does not do with alacrity.  What I am not sure of is can a kifer grain be set aside in its own hotel, so I may have something else to be concerned about if I turn it on its side, and kill the kifer.