Does natto really need to be fermented at body temperature?
I want to make natto, and recipes say that it should be fermented at ~38°C/100°F. My oven doesn't have a bread proving or defrost setting, and previous experiments with just the oven light on haven't reached that temperature. I keep my sourdough starter and kombucha at room temperature (~21°C/67°F) and it works well / I like the result. Will that work for natto?
Best Answer
From my research, the problem with fermenting natt? at lower temperatures is that it doesn’t inhibit the growth of other bacteria which can either inhibit the growth of the target bacteria, bactilis subtilis, or potentially introduce and incubate pathogenic bacteria which can harm your health. Natto bacteria are very comfortable with high temperatures and you should aim for between 38 and 42 degrees for a full 20 hours.
Try looking at Natto Dad - he has a blog and YouTube videos which were very helpful to me. My second batch of natt? is currently fermenting.
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What temperature does natto ferment at?
Natto fermentation temperatures range between 38 and 45\xb0C (100 and 113\xb0F). You can use a low temperature set oven, a large dehydrator, or a yogurt maker. Also, be aware that it will smell strong, so choose your incubation room carefully.How do you keep natto warm?
As long as you can maintain the temperature between 37\xb0C (99\xb0F) and 42\xb0C (108\xb0F) you can use any method such as a "cooler box" kept warm with a few water or soft drink bottles filled with hot water. One lady told me she has a good result using a jaccuzi (hot tub) to keep natto warm.How long does it take to make natto?
Place in a yogurt maker, fermentation box or a warm area at 40 C for 24 hours. The next day, place into the fridge and continue to ferment for another 24 hours. The natto is complete!Can you make natto without starter?
She makes Korean bean paste which is basically Natto until she mashes it into a paste. She does it without any starter. If you want to make it with chickpea maybe make it with soybean first then add some of the soybean to some chickpea as the starter.Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Julia Volk, Alexey Demidov, Ron Lach, Karolina Grabowska