making tempeh!

I've been trying to document my tempeh making in case anyone else is interested in making some...tasty and nutritious food!

I'm using organic soybeans here but the possibilities are limitless as many kinds of  organic beans and grains will work, even bits of vegetables and herbs, nuts and seeds.

Do not use corn or coconut as explained here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bongkrek_acid?fbclid=IwAR33hcprVe1O-pxAAQ_P_aD6fI3y2jN3OXEKYd-xubCXQBhniS1h3_97UYY  ...we all can do our research and use trusted ingredients and starters.

I belong to an international group that has expanded my view of this food tremendously.

I buy tempeh starter from the Farm, The Tempeh Lab because it's as local as I can get here in the USA....there are many sources available in many countries.

I'm just going to give a brief description and then if someone wants I'll go into more detail...there are instructions that come with the starter and each is particular to that company's starter.

For us the biggest game changer was using our old Corona mill to split the beans....before that we soaked overnight and then squished forever to remove the hulls and try to split all of the beans.

...there are a few more pictures and info in this thread https://permies.com/t/18632/kitchen/Tempeh-Koji-Miso-Making#1102525

I use our toaster oven as an incubator.  I don't turn it on, just use pans of hot water to warm it...depending on the house temperature I reheat the pan of water once or twice until the tempeh itself is producing heat.  At that point it's important to watch that it doesn't get too hot and adjust accordingly...pulling out the towel insulation and water, flipping the cake and even over the summer cracking the door to the oven.

Thanks for posting this!  I love tempeh and making my own is on my to-do list.

Mk Neal wrote:Thanks for posting this!  I love tempeh and making my own is on my to-do list.

Mk, you are welcome!
If you've only had store bought you are in for a real treat...homemade is even better.

There are a lot of ways a batch can go wrong.....too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry, not mixed well, not enough hulls removed and beans split, bad starter,....and all easy to avoid with a thermometer, a practice run with the 'incubator', towel drying, covering to prevent moisture loss, stir, stir, stir in the starter, crack the beans in a grinder.....and buy starter from a reliable source.

Looking forward to hearing about your experience....

Thanks for the grain mill tip :thumbup: Is this a cup of beans or a pound in the first pic?

Burl Smith wrote:Thanks for the grain mill tip Is this a cup of beans or a pound in the first pic?

I use 2 1/2 cups of beans for the batch but in that photo it might be just a cup or so in the grinder.  Two and a half cups (I think that is a pound?) is what the Tempeh Lab recipe calls for although their starter is so active, I'm only using 1/2 tsp instead of the whole tsp they recommend (I asked about this and was told that it loses potency with age, so I'm watching for that...so far so good.  I keep it in the freezer) and sometimes I approach three cups dry beans because by the time I've dehulled I feel like I've lost some of the original measurement?

To split them in the corona I have to open the burrs to the limit...and the beans split and bust into chunks that all seem to work well.  What we don't want is flour or meal.

Judith Browning wrote:
What we don't want is flour or meal.

Hmm...I see the starter comes mixed with rice flour, perhaps I'll try making a batch with brown rice flour to discover why we don't want it

Wow! The taste is reminiscent of cheese! Something the lactose intolerant could enjoy.

I floured rice in a processor then double-boilered it, course I couldn't pat it dry and it took twice as long to firm up but now I have starter drying and I've been adding this 'cheese' to my soup for days and I've got a bag full in the fridge and another batch on the way. Awesome addition to my diet, thank you very much!

Burl Smith wrote:Wow! The taste is reminiscent of cheese! Something the lactose intolerant could enjoy.

I floured rice in a processor then double-boilered it, course I couldn't pat it dry and it took twice as long to firm up but now I have starter drying and I've been adding this 'cheese' to my soup for days and I've got a bag full in the fridge and another batch on the way. Awesome addition to my diet, thank you very much!

I'm wondering at the cheese flavor rather than mushroom.
Was this using the Tempeh Labs starter, Rhizopus oligosporus ?
Did you get a solid white sliceable cake?
What you have dried for future starter was allowed to turn black with sporulation?

...would love to see some photos.

There are those who make tempeh with okara, the pulp left from making tofu, and have some challenges fermenting it as the beans are in small pieces and don't have the air space that allow the mycelium to form in and around the beans.

I haven't heard of any other successes with flour or meal of any sort though...interesting that you tried that first

I used the Ragi Tempeh starter:



It arrived as a white powder, but no, there was only a little darkening visible when I smeared it onto cardboard and placed it in the oven to dry over the pilot light (@ 80 F)

The second batch of rice I didn't grind and I squeezed out some moisture thru a cloth before adding vinegar and starter so maybe that will be different.

I'll give you a picture of the 'Cheese Substitute ' on Rubino's Pizza tonight (altho Wheaton's Fry Bread Recipe makes a better crust in my opinion)

Rubino's pizza topped with home-grown ingredients including 'Tempeh Cheese'

Very interesting thread! I guess I should try tempeh and see if I (and family) like it.

By coincidence I had an article in my FB feed on making your own Tempeh.
There are online shops who sell Tempeh, starter for Tempeh, Seitan, Sake etc.

Apparently there is an organic soybean grower here in Bavaria, and one of the linked shops is located in Germany, the other one imports from Indonesia.

The article says it can be a bit tricky to cultivate your own starter but I guess you just have to be cautious and also have some experience.

The article says it can be a bit tricky to cultivate your own starter but I guess you just have to be cautious and also have some experience.

That is what I understand...To make ones own starter use the most perfect batch of tempeh and allow it to sporulate, turn almost black with spores, then slice very thin and dry at a low temperature.  Once dried it is ground and mixed with a fine rice flour.

I've read a lot about it and never tried to make as the really good starters are fairly inexpensive and reliable.

The sporulation happens sometimes at the end with nice ripe tempeh but much past there will be an ammonia smell and taste that most of us do not like.  

For edible tempeh, I like letting the beans go until the cake is solid white with a faint bit of black on the edges as that is when the mushroom flavor of good tempeh really comes through.

very interesting thread! I guess I should try tempeh and see if I (and family) like it.

By coincidence I had an article in my FB feed on making your own Tempeh.
There are online shops who sell Tempeh, starter for Tempeh, Seitan, Sake etc.

Anita,  If you can, try to find some fresh tempeh to buy...the plastic packaged tempeh most stores sell has been pasturized to death and does not have the good flavor of fresh and homemade.  I had only tried tempeh once and was not impressed until I started making my own.

If you are already on fb there is a wonderful international group that is all about making it and have professionals to beginners in the conversations....lots of help available there.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/551020808568378

Mushroom flavor does well with pizza; I'm intrigued. My next attempt will be with beans

Judith Browning wrote:
Anita,  If you can, try to find some fresh tempeh to buy...the plastic packaged tempeh most stores sell has been pasturized to death and does not have the good flavor of fresh and homemade.  I had only tried tempeh once and was not impressed until I started making my own.

If you are already on fb there is a wonderful international group that is all about making it and have professionals to beginners in the conversations....lots of help available there.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/551020808568378

Thanks, will keep that in mind!

Burl Smith wrote:Mushroom flavor does well with pizza; I'm intrigued. My next attempt will be with beans

I like your enthusiasm!
I've heard of using many different kinds of beans either separately or a mix.

There is an on going discussion on whether to hull and split them or not.  Most traditionalists and those who market tempeh remove hulls and split or 'chunk' the beans in some way.  Others are experimenting with whole beans.  
I like to split them and remove the hulls as I like the results when done that way and have understood that the hulls can prevent the mycelium from easily entering the beans and only makes a 'covering' with the beans often left untouched.

I've been making tempeh frequently for many years (maybe around 1986!?)  I've basically followed the directions in the old "Book of Tempeh" from the '70's and pretty similar to what you do.  Usually I just trample on the soaked, briefly cooked beans in a bucket barefoot to separate the hulls and break the beans in half, and then slurry them off with repeated rinsings.  I often pre-ferment mine then, in a pot with water to cover and set somewhere warm for 24-48 hours more....sometimes I add a bit of kefir, homemade wine, or sauerkraut juice to this as s starter.  This prefermentation naturally acidifies the stuff so you don't need to add vinegar, and it can improve it's nutrition also.  Then I boil this up for 45m to an hour and proceed as you show.  For an incubator I have small brooder heater in a cardboard box with some racks rigged over it....this has the advantage of a thermostat so I can basically set it and leave it till I think to check it.  I have done pots of hot water in coolers and ovens and moving tempeh closer and further from woodstoves and things like that too.  Been getting my starter from temephstarter.com direct from Indonesia...prices are good and several kinds available, but I also do my own starter and usually get several generations before it begins to degrade.   Lately been playing with making it out of fava beans, since these grow easier in my climate....

Alder, I'm glad to hear your experiences with tempeh.  
I'm getting my starter from the Tempeh Lab at the Farm.  It seems good and the price for bulk economical and I like it's origins.

For a long time we soaked the beans and squished by hand to split and remove the hulls...your feet in a bucket method never crossed my mind.
I'm not telling my guy or he will want to try that.  
I'm happy with using the corona grain mill myself

I've heard about soaking the beans to acidify, a lacto ferment I guess? Have sometimes inadvertently left for a couple days on the counter and have some bubbles...have not tried leaving out the vinegar though.  We have been eating it so often I hate to experiment with a batch.  Will have to try some larger batches or make it three times a week with one as the try something new batch.  I've been stuck in cracked soybean mode and haven't even done black beans recently although a while back I added some soaked sunflower seeds.

Back in business...had a short few months lull where I had neither starter nor beans...we missed our fresh tempeh
The tempehlab https://tempehlab.com/the-tempeh-lab-summertown-tn/tempeh-lab-starters/ at the farm has wonderful robust starter for an economical price and Azure  
https://www.azurestandard.com/  had the organic soybeans in bulk...they have gotten expensive but even so it's an economical healthy food.


And I am 'acidifying' the beans deliberately now and skipping the vinegar and it's coming out great.

I've heard about soaking the beans to acidify, a lacto ferment I guess? Have sometimes inadvertently left for a couple days on the counter and have some bubbles...have not tried leaving out the vinegar though.  We have been eating it so often I hate to experiment with a batch.    

Each time I buy a new batch of starter it seems like it has it's own particular quirks.
Nothing drastic but it keeps me on my toes.
This is the fourth batch from this particular starter and it came out perfect!
The others were fine but tended to heat up quickly so that it was the middle of the night when I needed to remove some of the towel insulation.
Now I've learned by incubating by 7am I can remove towels early evening even though in the past that cools it down too much...flip the next morning at 4am and a perfect cake of tempeh at 1pm. 30 hours exactly

The gray is sporulation....it's good! And it is where the best flavor comes through.
Too much past a nice marbled gray though and an ammonia smell begins...caught early, no problem...left too long and it's inedible.