Page 1 of 1

equipment for miso making?

PostPosted: Sun Jan 18, 2015 3:28 pm
by marello
Hi everyone

I'm new to the forum and I've joined purely because I'm looking to make my own soy-free miso after my doctor told me I'm not allowed so . Devastation - miso ramen is my favourite food!

I found this site amongst various websites which discuss recipes for miso making. They all talk about using a pot, layering gauze on top then adding a weight to keep squishing the mixture.

What do you make your miso in?
How do you weight down the miso?
Does this weight have to cover the entire surface area of the top of the miso?
It sounds as though the process creates a mould and a liqui . How do you stop these from coning over the gauze / weight? Do they need draining off?
I want to do a quick ferment as I neeeeed miso. What bean would you recommend?

Thank you so much for your advice.

Claire

Re: equipment for miso making?

PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2015 9:43 am
by Christopher Weeks
I'm a miso newbie, so don't take this as expert advice. I have my first two crocks aging in the basement. I used 1-gallon stoneware crocks. I bought used porcelain plates of the correct diameter at a thirft-shop for the lids. I weight them down with one-gallon carboys filled with water.

I don't really know what the tamari and mold on top will do yet -- but trying is how we find out. I think you can use any beans or mixture of beans and grain.

Re: equipment for miso making?

PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 11:00 am
by marello
Thanks Chris! I found a 1 gallon glass biscuit jar online but now I'm working out my koji purchase I've realised I've foolishly got 4 litres capacity and the America gallon is a different volume. Doh!

Re: equipment for miso making?

PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 1:32 pm
by Christopher Weeks
It's very close. 4l = 1.06g.

Re: equipment for miso making?

PostPosted: Tue Feb 10, 2015 2:17 pm
by nkbrilley
Hi Claire

I have been making miso successfully for a year in small quantities (1 to 2 L) now so feel i can help. This would be easier to do with a diagram! but will try to describe. I find the most difficult aspect with all anaerobic fermentation is the airlock at the top.
What i do for miso is ideally choose a straight-sided container, like an old ceramic biscuit barrel or a polythene tub, and then cut a wooden disc to sit on top of the miso, with a gap of a few mm. between the disc and the side of the container. I put some clingfilm underneath the disc and pull it round over the lip of the container, finally a stone of about 500gms on top of the wooden disc. Then as the miso matures, liquid (whcih can be used a soya sauce substitute) is forced up the sides over the top, - hence the container sits in a saucer. The clingfilms keep the air out.

However i usually use those old stoneware jars which look so nice, but if the miso is being matured for more than 6 months the level goes down so much that a gap opens up as the disc sinks below the level of the lip of the jar. So , not so sure if this is ok. But there is no problem for shorter maturation time misos.

BTW why on earth did your doctor advise against soy?!What are you using instead.?

Hope this helps
Noel

Re: equipment for miso making?

PostPosted: Sat Oct 05, 2019 10:20 am
by kimchiguy
On the subject of weights for fermenting in crocks... maybe easier for me because I'm two miles from the largest Goodwill store in existence, but I've long noticed I see at thrift stores the glass carousels from dead microwave ovens. At this Goodwill they're usually all in one place, and they come in many different sizes. I have several, since it finally occured to me they'd make good weights/presses for stuff like pressing the salted cabbage (to keep it submerged while soaking) when making kimchi. I have a smaller one that's perfect for one of the crocks I use for miso. It was an "aha" moment when I finally realized those things could be quite useful for something.