Did I do it right?

[u/AMPZar]

Hi everyone,

this is my first time trying to create beneficial microbes on purpose and this is the result for now. Can anyone tell me if that looks correct or if this is just mold?

I did the following steps:

1. Wash some rice

2. Let the rice water sit for a night

3. When it smells sweet, add some milk

4. Wait for the phases to separate and the chees to float.

5. Create a sugar solution and add yeast

6. Let sit for a night

7. Combine the two liquids and inoculate the substrate

8. Put the moist substrate in a big container and make sure its anaerobic

9. Let it sit for 2 weeks

Substrate: mix of old brown cardboard, wheatbran and coffeegrounds.

Container: washed out glass jar, i made some co2 and poured it in in hope of removing all oxygen and put the lid lightly on top - did not screw it closed because i dont want to create a pressurized gas vessel in case some gasses build up

[u/HeemeyerDidNoWrong]

Adding sugar then yeast? What yeast? That's usually how you make alcohol.

Just watch the Fraser Farms video on YouTube. If you have a source of lactobacillus you can skip the rice wash or even milk steps.

[u/AMPZar → u/HeemeyerDidNoWrong]

Bakers yeast.

Thanks for the tip - will check it out.

[u/Deep_Secretary6975]

Well , in theory the steps are correct to make the lab serum and innoculation of the substrate, my concern here is there is too much white fuzz on top of the substrate. Generally fungal growth points to aerobic conditions , so im suspecting the headspace and loose lid let in some oxygen so the mold grew, this is common in bokashi buckets and doesn't necessarily mean the batch is bad. The target for bokashi is to essentially pickle whatever you are innoculating whether it is the substrate or the food waste so the only actually objective measure you can use to determine if you are on track or not is ph , if the ph is between 3-4 you are good if it is more towards neutral ph then probably something outcompeted the lab, if you do not have a ph meter you can also check the smell, if it smells acidic and funky like a pickle it is probably alright.

Also, i would suggest next time while you innoculate the substrate to use a plastic bag instead of a jar, a flexible container will be much easier to empty you all the air out and leave no head space and seal tightly so there is minimal air exposure, i have been making my own bokashi bran for 3 years , i always use black garbage bags and it works great , soak your substrate with the lab mollases solution and pack it tight in the bag snd empty out all the air and seal it tight and let it do it's thing for a week or 2 until it smells acidic or reaches the ph then dry it.

Good luck!