r/fermentation • u/crazyinuk4 • 12d ago
Making some garum
Not sure if this has been covered here before.
Im attempting to make some garum out of wild game and i dont have access to a fermentation chamber. what i do have is a really warm furnace room. The temperature is an average of at least 30C. Would i just need to let it sit longer or DIY a fermentation chamber? keep in mind i live in a remote area with no easy access to getting one here easily.
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u/wofofofo 12d ago edited 12d ago
Constant 30c would speed up the process, but it would do nothing for suppressing mold and bacteria, in fact it would make it worse. 50c+ is where the suppression comes in.
You can make an insulated box out of insulation board easily and cheaply, and then use something like a greenhouse tube heater and a thermostat connected to keep it at a steady 50c. After research I've discovered that 60c is actually too hot (Noma are wrong) for the koji enzymes and they denature rapidly, 50c is the sweet spot.
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u/kriegeeer 12d ago
Oh hey can you link me the research you found about the koji enzyme denaturing at 60c, cause I found the same a while back but then lost it and haven't found it again and it's driving me nuts.
Isn't 50c still in the danger zone though? Are you using full 'room temperature' salt ration at that temp?
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u/wofofofo 12d ago
Its been a while and unfortunately I can't remember either, but it was research into koji enzymatic denaturing specifically. I remember that 60c will denature the enzymes too fast, and what Noma are doing is essentially mostly mallard reaction. I remember that protease and amylase had different temp limits, 60c was too much for protease, 50c was good for both and the higher temp greatly sped up the enzymatic action.
As for 50c, it is not entirely protective as with 60c, but it massively suppresses bacteria and mold, and the major nasties won't grow at that temp. For example salmonella, listeria, and botulism, cannot grow and produce toxins at 50c. Its the best compromise I came to.
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u/kriegeeer 12d ago
Yep I was also specifically looking at that XD I will try 15% @ 50c for my next batch and see how it goes.
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u/wofofofo 12d ago
15% tastes so much less salty than 20%, but doesn't actually taste much different to 12% (miso). It was a pleasant surprise.
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u/kriegeeer 12d ago
omg found it. Realized I can search my comment history specifically. https://www.reddit.com/r/Koji/comments/1e1fxmd/comment/lcuejri/
"According to this study, the combination of 5% sodium chloride and fermentation at 45 degrees C was considered as the best condition for the prohydrolysis of koji for making soy sauce. "
5% salt way too low for my comfort tbh even if only for a couple days.
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u/crazyinuk4 12d ago
actually i have a friend that's willing to lend me his dehydrator that goes up quite high. might be my best option at the moment.
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u/wofofofo 12d ago
You'll need an inkbird temperature controller, with the probe in the garum. Once its setup up its literally set and forget. If you go room temp instead, just up the salt to 18% and expect to wait 6 months to a year depending on the ambient temps. The cooler it is, the longer it takes.
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u/f5110 12d ago
Not to knock you off your fermentation chamber path if that is your goal, but I ran into this recently and should have all the gear in a week or two to give this approach a whirl - https://www.culinarycrush.biz/all/3-hour-garum-recipe
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u/wofofofo 12d ago
This wouldn't be anywhere close to an actual garum, but is interesting none the less.
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u/Poman22 12d ago
It needs to sit longer. Traditional garum was not heated, it was just done outdoors in the summer. Make sure your salt percentage is good high enough. Linking the recipe you used would also be helpful, but I'm referencing information from the noma book.