Lost a whole batch of homemade tempeh last week because I forgot to poke enough holes in the ziploc bag

Ive been getting into making my own tempeh at home since its way cheaper than buying it and I can control the beans. Last Tuesday I set up a batch of black bean tempeh and left it in the incubator box I rigged up but I only poked like 3 tiny holes in the bag. By day 3 it smelled off and had this weird slimy layer on top instead of the white fuzzy mold. Had to toss the whole thing which was like $2 worth of beans and starter but still a bummer. Anyone else had their tempeh go bad from not enough air holes?

2 comments

2 Comments

dylanward1mo ago

Jumped into tempeh making with the same setup and yeah, those air holes are critical. Ngl, I poked like 5 holes in my first batch and it came out with that weird slimy top too. Now I poke at least 15-20 holes with a toothpick, spread out across the whole bag, and make sure the bag isn't touching the beans directly in spots. Also learned the hard way that if your incubator box is too airtight, the CO2 builds up and suffocates the mold. I pop the corner of the bag open just a crack after 24 hours if the holes seem blocked by condensation.

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the_gavin1mo ago

Is it just me or does the slimy top problem always come down to airflow? @dylanward nailed it with the toothpick trick, I use a thick sewing needle now and punch 20 holes minimum across the bag. And yeah, cracking the bag after a day makes a huge difference - I lost three batches before figuring out the CO2 buildup was killing the mold.