Originally published at: How to make your own homemade vegan leather from kombucha | Boing Boing
…
1 Like
Neat. Reminds me of yuba which is basically soy milk scum that forms when you boil it.
2 Likes
did I miss something? that sounds almost nothing like leather
1 Like
Well according to the video, its tensile strength is great – two people can pull on a piece from opposite ends – & you can write on thin pieces, like parchment. You can sew it like leather. But yeah, “leather” that can’t get wet – not there yet.
2 Likes
Well, I make mine into apple pie gummies and “jerky” which are both pretty good. Unless there is magic going on here, it would not hold up as “leather” for any real use outside of “Hey, look, this is cool.”
1 Like
…how much SCOBY are you producing that you have so much to spare for other uses?
I make it in 2L beakers, and have a new one about every 2 weeks. The scobies get maybe 1" thick or so, and I split off the youngest layer to start the next batch. But yeah, it’s a lot.
1 Like
It isn’t a lot if you’re getting good use out of it! I was mainly just curious what volume of brewing would produce enough goo for gummies and jerky. With a bigger kitchen I would be brewing kombucha and pilsner, but with where things are (galley kitchen), all I’m doing is an occasional 2L lacto-fermentation and lots of pickled veggies.
Could you share a recipe? We just toss old scobies this sounds intriguing.
My wife refers despairingly to my “fermentarium” where I have mead, kombucha, sometimes yogurt and, in the summer, lactofermented red noodle beans and sauerkraut going. Yeah, I have a problem!
Not so much recipe as technique, you have to tailor it to your taste. For the gummies, I use a thick scobie cut into rough cubes, toss in sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and sometimes cloves then chuck into the dehydrator until gummy consistency, at my house, usually a day or so.
For the jerky, I slice it into strips and make a marinate from equal parts soy sauce, kombucha and honey, seasoned with garlic, ginger and chili pepper. How much? Enough, some, depends on my mood that day. Dip the scobie strips in the marinade and put in the dehydrator, dry until crispy, about a day or so. Then put the crispy strips back into the (refrigerated) marinade and let soak for a couple days in the fridge, then back into the dehydrator until the consistency you are looking for. 6-8 hours usually works for me, but YMMV. The flavor is almost entirely in the marinade, so you have to make it to your liking.
2 Likes
If you haven’t, think you should read: The Noma Guide to Fermentation: Including koji, kombuchas, shoyus, misos, vinegars, garums, lacto-ferments, and black fruits and vegetables (Foundations of Flavor): Redzepi, René, Zilber, David: 9781579657185: Amazon.com: Books. I have never gone beyond Kombucha, but I want to inspire you to farm your own koji and use it to ferment your own soy sauce. Live the fermentation dream!
1 Like
Wow I’m going to make one of those as a loin cloth! It will go great with my coconut shell sandals and my birch bark hat
There is a reason that vegans don’t wear shoes made from fruit leather.
1 Like
Strike SCOBY. Roll out Pineapples.
Don’t worry folks, it’s just the swing of the pendulum. In time, it’ll be fashionable to make leather out of vegans again.
3 Likes
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
