Bokashi and LAB fermenting - Do I actually need to culture LAB serum?

Ok, so this is a new thought that I’m playing with at the moment and would like to know your thoughts on my theory.

Here goes.....

So for Bokashi and KNF you can culture your own Lactobacillus Serum that you then add to kitchen scraps to ferment it before composting.

You can also cut up vegetables and meats, cover in water and lacto ferment them (same bacteria) just by covering with water and allowing the wild LAB cultures from the air to colonise it.

So theoretically, can you just skip the whole rice wash, milk saturation, LAB serum creation part (a 3 week process where I live) and just lacto ferment the food scraps directly, as if I was making a pickle?

Is there anything I’m missing? Some reason it couldn’t work? I really hate the smell (and the lengthy process of creating) the LAB serum, so if I could bypass it, I’d be very much in favour of that.

If any seasoned fermenters or just smart people in general have thoughts, I would be very grateful to hear them.

Thank you 🙏😊

That sounds a lot like making compost tea, have you tried that?

Here is a thread that explains:

https://permies.com/t/117604/Types-Compost-Teas-Exist-Favorite

Hi Anne, thank you for your response. I’ve heard of the weed teas and quite like the idea except for the “it stinks” bit. I garden in a small back yard with neighbours either side, so I don’t want to be doing anything unneighbourly. I am wondering if a sealed vessel might solve the issue tho. I mean, if it’s an anaerobic tea I’m making anyway, having a lid shouldn’t theoretically be an issue. Got some comfrey growing at mo anyway, so will have plenty opportunity to try it out this summer.

My thinking was mostly based on the lacto fermenting videos of people preserving food. It made me think that if you can just harvest the lacto from the air already, and it’s a food preservation method, then there shouldn’t be any unpleasant odours in the resulting ferment, or the necessity to use dairy.

In essence I think the weed tea is a similar looking process, only it goes on in an open bucket, not a closed jar in a kitchen.

I think some experimentation is called for. Thank you again for the link, it’s got some v interesting comments and videos on there 😊