Kombucha Bread

Another batch of kombucha was bottled up last night.

The dark bottles are the tart cherry that will go into the fridge today, after two days of fermenting on the counter. The light bottles are the ones I bottled last night and the added fruit juice is Cran-Apple. That’s the first time we’ve added that flavor so I’m anxious to see how that tastes. 

The first ferment happens in a one gallon jar and in the bottom of that jar, there’s “stuff” we call “kombucha dregs”. It’s strands of yeast and portions of new SCOBYs that are forming. I strain that out and have been throwing it out but people use it for all kinds of things. I hear it makes a great poultice for skin rashes, burns, etc. I can see how keeping it in the fridge would help ease the pain of a minor burn.

I’ve also been reading about folks making “sourdough” from the dregs. Technically, it may or may not be “sourdough” because instead of harvesting wild yeast, the starter begins with yeast water that has been produced by the SCOBY/tea brewing. Whatever it is, I decided to try it.

It’s probably going to be way sweater and less sour than typical sourdough bread but it’s worth trying. If it has a spongy texture and a dark crust, I’ll be happy. It will be real nice because instead of having to keep a sourdough starter fed and happy, I can just pour off the bottom sediment from a batch of kombucha and have bread the next day. We’ll see and I’ll keep you posted on how it works.