Cultures for Health Tempeh Starter Culture | 4 Packets Starter Spores for DIY Plant Based Meat | Gluten Free, Non-GMO Indonesian Food | Make Meatless Bacon, Vegan Nuggets, & More High Protein Snacks

I was so pleased that my first attempt at making tempeh was successful. My end product was deliciously nutty and had a complex umami flavor I've never experienced in the store bought kind. I followed the included directions exactly, with a few minor adjustments based on recommendations of Sandor Katz: 1. I found the de-hulling part a bit daunting at first. The Cultures for Health instructions recommend de-hulling by hand by massaging the soaked soybeans in a bowl of water and scooping out/straining the hulls that float to the top. I found that when I did this, I was left with a mushy mess, with not many floating hulls and many still attached to even the broken apart beans. While it did help to break the beans up, I found that simply boiling them and then skimming off the foam that contained the hulls was much easier. 2. I also used raw organic apple cider vinegar instead of distilled white vinegar. For incubation, I placed a seedling heat mat on top of a cookie rack, placed that in a plastic container, put the tempeh on top of the heating pad, and closed the lid. I wrapped the plastic container in towels for extra insulation. My temperature did fluctuate a bit (sometimes dropping to 82 degrees and sometimes going up to 92-93), but I had mycelium growing by the 24 hour mark. At this time, I placed the heating pad next to the tempeh, rather than on top of it, because I noticed that the area touching the heating pad was too hot and was not growing any fungus. At the 32 hour mark, I removed the heating pad from the container completely. My tempeh was done after 40 hours. Another note: my tempeh had a really strong stinky mushroom/ammonia smell when I first removed it from the incubator. I was worried it was bad. After wrapping it in plastic and placing it in the fridge in the morning, I came home from work 9 hours later to find that it had a pleasant white mushroom/yeasty smell. After panicking and researching, the consensus was to trust your nose. Not sure why it was so pungent at first, but it was not an indication that the tempeh was bad. Also, the seller was great. My first package arrived with a damaged packet of culture, and they quickly sent me a replacement free of charge. Will definitely be buying from them again.

So I didnt have soybeans. But I found Garbanzo beans. Used the same recipe that came with the packets. I used Rice vinegar by the way. Just let it sit in the oven with the light on and it was done in 36 hours. So I sliced this stuff, and boiled it in chicken stock. Strained it and let the moisture steam off. Once dry I fried in Avacado oil. 5 min each side. O.....my.....HEAVENS. Even my 7 year old ate this stuff. Zero funk or bitterness. No wonder the eat the crap out of this stuff in Indonesia. I just bought Tempeh by the way at Trader joes and it was horrific and bitter. Anything I cooked it in took on a weird funk. Not this stuff. Was pure heaven. Deep fried goodness. Edit:: Here is some Pinto Bean Tempeh, Like I said wish I had some non GMO soy but if you follow the recipe given, this stuff likes to colonize alot of different things. Just add rice for a complete protein and you are golden. And another photo has some black beans. This stuff works on anything. Just follow the directions.

There were four packets in the shipment. Each fermented two cups of soy beans. Step by step instructions on making reopen was included. This was my first time making reopen and cultures for health insured my first time was a success. Thank you Cultures for Health.

Seems to work well, but a bit pricey

These were absolutely delightful. I was surprised by the spores that were in the packets. I made a tempeh with mung beans, rice vinegar, wakame & this starter wrapped in banana leaves. It tasted like a mix of porcini, chanterelle & portobello mushrooms once air fried, or roasted. I'm a little upset that I didn't have ikura, or truffles on hand to go with it. Would definitely purchase again. One caveat about this is that the directions stated that the fermentation process takes 72 hours. Would allow for more time in temperate environments (between 60-80F with no relative humidity) since it took between a week & a half to 2 weeks for the tempeh to ferment.

I'm experienced in making tempeh and I tried two seperate batches of this stuff and got none or very little white spores and I got green yellow and black mold. There is a product I used to buy off Amazon that had the same link (it's different as it worked AND was cheaper (7.99) and the packaging was different). I cant find that product anywhere. When that product dissapeared I decided I was going to make my own starter since this stuff is so expensive, but i need a successful batch of tempeh first. I've made tempeh successfully many times with other products and NEVER had this problem. After having a second wasted batch of soybeans due to this product, I bought a different brand of culture off an ebay store. Cheaper and more culture. Update. The other brand worked great and produced a beautiful batch of tempeh. I then produced my own starter culture which I just made another batch of tempeh from. Making your own is easy and waaaaay cheaper. (if you can make tempeh you can make your own culture). I recommend Google making your own which is what I'm doing from now on.

Great price

After a long trip to Indonesia I came back with a serious craving for tempeh in sweet sambal or Padang style curry. The mass produced tempeh from the local organic store was OK, but lacked a certain yumminess that real Indonesian tempeh has. I decided to experiment with Cultures for Health Tempeh Culture and the results were spectacular. I was a little concerned that nothing happened after 24 hours but then the next time I looked, bingo! Dense white mycelium! After another 24 hours I sliced up one of the blocks, marinated the pieces in sweet soy sauce and chili, fried it up and served it up with sliced red chili peppers. Delicious! Indonesian food craving temporarily satisfied until tomorrow!

While it works, it's terribly expensive. So the first thing I did was put together a starter, mixing freshly cooked rice with a bit of rice flour, then added one packet - all mixed well together. Into the incubator it went. Within 12 hours, I had mycelium starting. In 24 hours, it was covered in white fur. At 36 hours, it started to get the black/gray spots I was hoping for. At 40 hours, it had black all over with spores, and time to dehydrate, power in the coffee grinder, and mix with sanitized rice flour. Voila - 1 million dollars worth of starter (at this price). I tested the new starter culture, and it works find. Now it sits in my freezer in a mason jar, because it will take me years to get through all this. Although expensive, you only have to purchase this once per lifetime. I'll be sharing my new starter with friends and a few family members who have shown interest, so they don't have to spend the $30 like I did.

good tempeh starter, I would buy again!

Robust culture. Didn't even really do a great job with cleanliness when I used this starter and it had colonized the daylights out of my beans in less than a day

My first batch of tempeh turned out half- white and half black because I used Ziploc and poked holes in it with a needle from downstairs, where there's a possibility of mould spores flying around because of the flood. But the following batches I made using a glass tupperware with a ceramic wrap to cover the majority of the top with little slits on sides for oxygen circulation. I put the tray in the oven, turning it on bread-proof for 5min 3 times a day with the light on. In 48 hours it comes out white and fuzzy and tastes much better than the store bought tempeh.

Très bon Tempeh au final, mais la quantité par enveloppe est vraiment faible. Pour deux tasses de soya ça couvre a peine toutes les fèves et j’ai du attendre 60 heures pour que toutes les fèves soient couverte par le mycelium. Vu la quantité fournis vs le prix malheureusement je vais essayé de trouvé un autre fournisseur. Trop peu trop chère.