[DIYbio] Re: Has anybody done a scoby project similar to The Thought Emporium

Greetings to all,
with Food Hacking Base (fhb) we'll be brewing kombucha and growing therefore also SCOBY for SHA2017 hacker camp (4-8/8/2017). If someone would be interested in participating in the project just get in touch. I'll be documenting the project and promoting it at fermentation evening and Open Fermentation Days

https://foodhackingbase.org/wiki/Open_fermentation_day

Hack 42 and Lurwah were making some big SCOBY'ies during 2013 and 2014 I believe.

I'm thinking about doing something smaller first like aquarium size and after that maybe something like the small swimming pool action as Michael's describes he was involved in before. Do you have a fermentation diary somewhere Michael? I would be interested in more info on the subject. Thanks!

Sincerely,

Frantisek 

On Saturday, June 10, 2017 at 5:14:05 PM UTC+2, Michael Hogan wrote:

If your goal is to grow bacterial cellulose, then you want a flat, shallow container .. the cellulose production is basically driven by the available carbon substrate (sugar) and the amount of available oxygen. A flat tray maximizes oxygen availability, so the cellulose forms rapidly.

Temperature rule of thumb "if it's comfortable for you, then it's comfortable for the culture"

The culture should not be exposed to strong sunlight.  However, ambient, indoor light or outdoor shade seems to be fine.  The biggest culture I ver did was done in a kiddie pool that was housed in a tent.

Commercial iced tea (pre-mixed or powdered drink mix) works well as a culture medium.  However, the powdered stuff often has dye that will give the cellulose some pretty "interesting" (gross) colors.

If you are using sucrose as the sugar, then the ideal seems to be about 1 cup per gallon of water.

When you harvest, you can kill the funky smell by soaking the sheet in a solution of baking soda.  If you want to bleach it, you can boil it in a weak solution of sodium carbonate (washing soda).

If you want it to stay pliable forever, you can use cyclopentasiloxane or dimethicone (these are silicone oils that can be found in hair care stuff that makes hair soft and shiny)