Tempeh

Ingredients: 2 cups hulled soy beans (if using beans with the hulls intact, see below for extra steps) 2 tbsp. Vinegar 3/4 tsp. Te peh !tarter Making Tempeh: "oil the soybeans for one hour to coo#. $iscard the coo#ing water and dry the beans (either using a towel to pat the dry or setting o%er low heat in the pot to e%aporate the water off the beans). &t is i portant for the beans to be dry to the touch, as too uch oisture can ruin the batch. 'lace the beans in a dry bowl and allow the beans to cool to a lu#ewar te perature (sa e te perature as your s#in). (dd the %inegar and ix well. (dd the te peh starter and ix well to e%enly distribute the starter in the beans. 'lace the beans in two %ented containers (or plastic bags with needle)si*e holes po#ed through for %entilation). The beans should be + ) +., inches thic#. &ncubate the beans at --./ (3+.0) for 24)4- hours. !ee below for ideas for incubating the beans. 0hec# the beans after +2 hours. (t this point in the process the fer entation will cause the beans to generate their own heat so you will nor ally need to reduce or e%en eli inate the external heat source. "e sure to use a ther o eter to chec# the actual te perature (see below). (fter 24 hours or so, the white yceliu will start to co%er the surface of the beans. 1%er the next few hours the white yceliu will grow through the beans and will s ell nutty. Tips for Making Tempeh: &t2s not unusual for there to be a bit of a learning cur%e when a#ing te peh. &f your first batch doesn2t turn out, 3ust try again. 4se a ther o eter to %erify the ongoing te perature of the te peh during fer entation. (( eat ther o eter with an alar often sold for ba#ing and for the ""5 are %ery useful as they will warn you if the te perature falls outside a set range.) &f you wish to free*e the finished te peh, stea the te peh o%er boiling water for 26 inutes to coo# then slice into patties and soa# o%ernight in salt water (2 tsp salt to one pint water). The patties can then be patted dried and fro*en for future use. Incubation Methods (Heat Sources) for Making Tempeh:

'roper te perature is %ital for the fer entation process. 7hile a te perature range of -,)8+9/ is technically acceptable, ideally the te peh should fer ent at --9/ (3+90). :egardless of which ethod you choose to #eep your te peh war during the process, be sure to %erify that the ethod you are using will achie%e and aintain the proper te perature and chec# the te perature often during the process. ;ere are a few possible ethods for aintaining the proper te perature< =arge cube)shaped dehydrator (i.e., >xcalibur or T!? $ehydrator) 1%en with a low te perature setting or with 3ust the light turned on (chec# the te perature of your o%en first as o%ens %ary in heat) 0upboard with a low)le%el heat source (li#e a high)wattage light bulb) !tyrofoa or plastic @cooler@ with war water bottles to aintain the heat =ow)le%el at such as those sold for reptiles ('et !tore) or to aintain spout seedlings (Aardening !tore). 'lease note, these ats generally #eep the te peh about +6 degrees abo%e the a bient te perature so they will still reBuire a rather war roo . This is not the sa e as a co ercial heating pad which nor ally runs far too war for this purpose &ncubate outside if you li%e in a war cli ate ( war part of your ho e during the su er onths (e.g., a non)cli ate controlled attic, etc.) Removing Soybean Hulls: The easiest way to a#e te peh is to use de)hulled soybeans but if they are not a%ailable you will need to re o%e the hulls prior to a#ing te peh. !often the soy beans either by soa#ing or boiling< !oa# the beans in C cups of water for C)+- hours 1: "oil the beans for +, inutes, turn off the heat and allow the beans to sit for two hours !eparate the hulls fro the soy beans< !plit the beans by sBuee*ing the with a #neading otion. The hulls will float on the water and can be s#i ed off 1: :e o%e the beans fro the water and place in a shallow ba#ing dish. 4se a potato asher to split the beans and loosen the hulls. (dd the beans and hulls bac# to the water so the beans will sin# and the hulls will float. The hulls can then be s#i ed off. Dou ay need to repeat this process se%eral ti es to re o%e all the hulls and it can ta#e approxi ately +6 inutes. "oil the now hulled beans for 36E inutes until they are coo#ed through (you can then s#ip the alternati%e coo#ing process in the abo%e recipe and proceed directly to drying the beans).