If you read about my unsupervised day at home, you know I left you with a cliffhanger. Two new flavors of pop, apple and black cherry, and one experiment: could I use way less ginger bug and still get the fizz?
The laboratory promised to report back. The laboratory is reporting back.
The Experiment
I’ve been using ¾ to 1 cup of ginger bug per bottle, following a recipe from another blogger (still no shade, her recipe is delicious). This round, I used just ¼ cup per bottle.
That’s a quarter of the bug. I fully expected a polite little fizz. Maybe a sad sigh. Maybe flat pop and a humbling blog post.
The Results
Holy lotta fizz.
Both flavors, the apple and the black cherry, went off like they’d been waiting all week for their moment. After roughly 40 hours of fermenting, I opened them up and got more fizz than my full-strength batches. Honestly. Less bug, more bubbles.
And yes, there was cleanup. The laboratory got a little sticky. Science is messy, and so is black cherry. There’s no video, because I was too busy grabbing towels. You’ll have to take my word for it: it was glorious.
What I Learned
You don’t need as much ginger bug as you think. A healthy, active bug goes a long way, and ¼ cup per bottle did the job just fine. That means my bug lasts longer between feedings, and I can make more pop with less.
And I learned to open the next batch over the sink.
Fizz Safety (the Leash Goes On)
Fizzy pop is pressure in a bottle, and pressure deserves respect. Use bottles made for carbonation, like swing-tops. Burp them during the ferment to let extra pressure out. Once they’re as fizzy as you like, move them to the fridge, which slows things way down. Open them slowly, pointed away from your face. And over the sink. Ask me how I know.
Your Turn
Have you ever had an experiment go better than planned? Or a fizz incident of your own? Email me at [email protected]. I want to hear about your kitchen messes too.
The laboratory is already planning the next round. Experiments shall be made.
— Granny
📸 real photo
