kombucha came in contact with metal, and oil

March 6, 2006

Hi there, I'm new to this list, and relatively new to brewing kombucha

(about 1 month). Hoping I can ask some advice of you more experienced

brewers....

METAL MANIA

It was an evening of mistakes tonight while brewing a new batch of

kombucha. The first, most horrifying mishap was that my friend, in his

frenzy of cleaning and sterilizing all of our equipment, somehow

blanked on the " no metal " rule and put our 2 babies in a (very clean)

stainless steel metal bowl, with some of the previously brewed tea.

They were in there probably for atleast 1 hour, while he was emptying

and sterilizing the brewing jars. Once he realized his mistake, they

were transferred to glass.

The babies did not seem any different after being in the metal bowl.

They did not shrivel up, or turn some new dramatic colour.

But I know that metal should never come in contact with it. So my

question is this: now that it has, now what? Do we throw the whole

works away and obtain a new baby? Or if it brews successfully, is it

safe to drink?

OIL PROBLEMS

We decided to continue with the brewing since the tea was ready to go,

just in case it is okay. Meanwhile, just before we added the sugar-tea

to the jar, I noticed a bit of an oily slick on the top of one of the

pots of tea. I guess the pot didn't get cleaned so well after all.

(normally we are very fastidious - I don't know what came over us

tonight!). My assumption is that this oil may contaminate the brew and

may result in mold, which I will be able to see, if that occurs. Or am

I wrong - could it result in some other kind of contamination that wil

not be obvious?

The oil was only on one of batches of tea. We were brewing two of them.

Well, thanks for reading this long email. I would totally appreciate

any opinions you may have on these matters.

cheers!

agnes

March 6, 2006

Agnes, excuse me please for top posting, but I wanted to keep your

post with my answer in case other poeple wanted to read it again.

This is my opinion on the matter.

I don't think that the cultures would have suffered damage through this

short contact with stainless steel. It is stainless, after all, and many

brewing companies are using stainless steel containers for brewing beer.

As Kombucha is so much more acidic, the general advice is, not to brew in

any kin d of metal, even stainless steel. Your cultures were only there

for a short time, so I would not worry.

As to the oily slick, just scoop it off with a ladle, or a clean piece

of paper laid on top of it. The oily substance will adhere to the

paper and you can thus remove it...

Oily film can sometimes be formed with certain teas. Did you use the same

tea for both batches?

So, after removing as much of the film as possible. add an extra amoint of

acidic KT or several tbsps of distilled white vinegar or cider vinegar

that has been heated to boiling and cooled again. This would prevent

mold formation.

Give it a go, and don't worry.

If it really doesn't work out ... I'm sure you can get some more starter

from a generous person. There is a list on the KT site connected to this

list:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/original_kombucha/files/Kombucha%20For%20Fr\

ee/

Agnes, let us know the outcome of your brewing.

I would be confident, that the contact with stainless steel would

have not contaminated your culture.

Wishing you all the best,

Margret:-)

In message <dugtpf+rg4aeGroups> you wrote:

>.....

> METAL MANIA

> It was an evening of mistakes tonight while brewing a new batch of

> kombucha. The first, most horrifying mishap was that my friend, in his

> frenzy of cleaning and sterilizing all of our equipment, somehow

> blanked on the " no metal " rule and put our 2 babies in a (very clean)

> stainless steel metal bowl, with some of the previously brewed tea.

> They were in there probably for atleast 1 hour, while he was emptying

> and sterilizing the brewing jars. Once he realized his mistake, they

> were transferred to glass.

>

> The babies did not seem any different after being in the metal bowl.

> They did not shrivel up, or turn some new dramatic colour.

>

> But I know that metal should never come in contact with it. So my

> question is this: now that it has, now what? Do we throw the whole

> works away and obtain a new baby? Or if it brews successfully, is it

> safe to drink?

>

> OIL PROBLEMS

>

> We decided to continue with the brewing since the tea was ready to go,

> just in case it is okay. Meanwhile, just before we added the sugar-tea

> to the jar, I noticed a bit of an oily slick on the top of one of the

> pots of tea. I guess the pot didn't get cleaned so well after all.

> (normally we are very fastidious - I don't know what came over us

> tonight!). My assumption is that this oil may contaminate the brew and

> may result in mold, which I will be able to see, if that occurs. Or am

> I wrong - could it result in some other kind of contamination that wil

> not be obvious?

>

> The oil was only on one of batches of tea. We were brewing two of them.

>

> Well, thanks for reading this long email. I would totally appreciate

> any opinions you may have on these matters.

>

> cheers!

> agnes

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March 6, 2006

Hi Agnes,

Wait and see:-)) Kombucha is very tough stuff and will probably come

through this without any problems whatsoever. Oil wouldn't cause mold

it just might interfere and bit with the fermentation process but only

time will tell.

You are right, mold you can see, it looks just like the mold found on

bread or fruit, fuzzy.

Stainless steel isn't great for Kombucha but it probably did no harm.

Next time you will remember to use glass.

Peace, Love and Harmony,

Bev

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>

> Hi there, I'm new to this list, and relatively new to brewing kombucha

> (about 1 month). Hoping I can ask some advice of you more experienced

> brewers....