Experienced koji makers?

[kimchiguy]

Curious about just how complicated/difficult it could be to make my own koji, for making miso. Wondering if any folks here have favorite information sources or setup designs they'd like to share. A while back I started acquiring stuff, including the spores and an aquarium heater, but haven't gotten around to finding an adequately large picnic cooler. Something I saw just a bit ago made me wonder if my hand-crank corn mill might be good for breaking the rice grains...

[cerbu]

the aquarium heater in a tray of water under the koji tray should do in a microwave/toaster/gas oven as box; or cheap thermostat, light bulbs for heat, water tray still necessary for humidity; the mill will be useful for some grains , white rice, pearl barley and others are ok whole

[kimchiguy]

Thanks, cerbu. Getting enthused again about this idea after reading posts here. Will do some more research, and still curious what anyone else might have to offer...

[FermentingForFoodies]

The hardest part of making koji rice is finding the koji kin. Whole rice is fine as long as its polished (no hull).

I have a neat fermentation box that I use for all my ferments (officially a yogurt and bread maker, but it works!) Alternatively you could use a dehydrator.

Not sure if we're allowed to share links, but here's my recipe: https://www.fermentingforfoodies.com/homemade-koji-rice/

Let me know if you have any questions!

[kimchiguy]

Thank you 3-F. I've bookmarked a cool video also, showing (among several other things) how an oven can be used as an incubator with just the lightbulb supplying adequate heat. I have koji kin in the freezer, ordered online. I will probably start a batch soon using some store bought koji just to use it up, then before long I'll work on making my own.