So this is a SCOBY and it is the secret behind kombucha.
As you can see, it looks like a weird jellyfish
that floats around in your kombucha jar.
But guess what? No two SCOBYs are the same.
They can each vary in their texture, color, and smell.
And whenever my clients start to make their own kombucha,
the first thing they usually ask is,
"What does a healthy SCOBY actually look like?"
Well, in this video, I'm going to answer this,
plus your other most popular questions
about kombucha SCOBYs.
Let's go.
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Okay. Let's get the easiest question outta the way first.
How is it pronounced?
A lot of people actually come to me and say,
"Isn't it called Scooby as in Scooby-Dooby-Doo?"
But I'm here to settle the debate with my little friend,
Merriam-Webster dictionary.
It's actually pronounced SCOBY.
So a SCOBY is a collection of good bacteria and yeast
that we used to ferment sweetened tea
and turn it in to kombucha.
Basically, it works similar to how kefir grains work
for kefir which I talk about in the video above.
Now, the name SCOBY is actually just an acronym
and stands for symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast.
You might also hear a SCOBY referred to
as a kombucha culture, mother culture, or tea fungus,
although that just does not sound appetizing.
And here's the cool thing,
when you place your SCOBY in a sweetened tea,
your bacteria and yeast buddies will get to work
and feed on the sugar to create beneficial probiotics,
enzymes, and lots of helpful acid like these.
A lot, right?
Best of all, these can help with everything
from antioxidant support to balancing the bacteria
in your large intestine.
In other words, your humble little SCOBY,
it's a bit like Harry Potter.
It has these magical powers
to transform simple sweetened tea
into a fizzy, healthy, carbonated beverage.
I mean, armed with a SCOBY,
you can make your own gut nourishing kombucha at home
for next to nothing.
For all the benefits of kombucha, check out the video above.
So I think the easiest way to explain this
to you is to show you a healthy SCOBY I have with me.
I have two in the brewing containers and one right here.
And you can see, they're all kind of lightish in color.
The two in the container have grown to the edges
of the brewing container.
And that's really important to know because it means
that the SCOBY is protecting the liquid from the air.
And you can see that they all range in thickness.
Now, they all were one SCOBY
and I separated them into to each containers.
But the growth of the SCOBY,
that's a good sign that it's in good health.
On the top of the surfaces,
they have more of a wet and shimmering surface.
I know it's not particularly attractive
but that is the SCOBY letting us know it's hydrated
and being fed well.
Now, the camera is not going to pick up on this
but there are some small bumps and bubbles
on the surface of the SCOBY.
This means fermentation is taking place
and gas is being created, another sign of a healthy SCOBY.
Now finally, the smell test.
A healthy SCOBY smells sweet, sour, and slightly vinegary.
This means the bacteria are live and fermenting away.
I have to laugh when my clients send me photos
of their SCOBYs and ask, "Has it turned bad?
Am I bad SCOBY parent?"
Thankfully, it's pretty easy to spot an off SCOBY.
In fact, let's take a look at one now.
So as you can see, is it turning black in color?
Has it in fact, stopped growing?
Does it look a little bit dry?
Most of all, are there visible signs
of dry and fuzzy mold on top of the SCOBY?
Now, depending on what type of mold is growing,
it can be either blue, green, white, or black in color
or if you're really lucky, a combination of all of them.
And finally, there is that smell test.
You see, a bad SCOBY will smell terrible.
It might give you hints of feet, cheese,
and even a waft of a boy's locker room.
Oh, all the stuff you never want to smell from your SCOBY.
And it should go without saying,
if your SCOBY ever acts like this, get it out,
throw it away along with all the liquid that's in there.
To prevent mold growth on your SCOBY,
there are four main things you can do.
First up, keep your SCOBY submerged at room temperature.
Ideally between 68 to 78 degrees Fahrenheit
or 20 to 25 degrees Celsius.
That's important because if it gets too cold,
fermentation get slow down
and give mold an opportunity to grow.
And if its too hot, it could kill your SCOBY.
Next, make sure your SCOBY is in a brewing container
that has a cover on top
and that's to avoid exposure to contaminants
like smoke, dust, fruit flies, even dog hair, et cetera.
Just as importantly, the cover needs to be porous,
meaning it can allow oxygen through,
something like a coffee filter
or even a paper towel can work.
But for my own personal experience, I use a kitchen towel
because the weave is large enough to let oxygen in
while being small enough that the bugs can't get in.
Finally, try to avoid touching
or otherwise disturbing your SCOBY.
A continuous brew setup will help with this
which I have here.
And if you ever have to touch your SCOBY,
make sure your hands, nails, and utensils,
and jars are clean.
Now, I personally don't do this
since I've been brewing kombucha for so long,
but if you want to really protect your SCOBY,
then test your kombucha regularly with pH strips,
kind of like you would test a swimming pool
to see if it's safe.
Ideally, want to see a pH range between 2.5 and 3.5.
This means your kombucha is nice and acidic.
Unless you have kombucha brewing buddies nearby,
the easiest way to get your hands
on a healthy SCOBY is online.
Website selling SCOBYs will either ship the SCOBY
in a starter liquid or in a dehydrated form.
I prefer the starter liquid option
because it's ready when it arrives.
It has less chance of growing mold.
And you can use a starter tea it comes in
in the first batch.
The other option would be to head
to your local health food store or farmer's market
as they sometimes sell SCOBY submerged in a starter tea.
And the great thing about local stores
and markets is they usually have someone
with kombucha brewing expertise
who can answer any questions you might have.
We geeked out on this question
because it is pretty amazing, right?
We're talking about fermenting tea
and growing a baby SCOBY without having a mother SCOBY.
Anyways, we put our mad scientist hats
and tested out for you.
So what we did was we took some kombucha
from a previous batch
and you can even use unflavored store bought kombucha.
This formed the basis of our starter
and provided the source of bacteria and yeast.
Then we added sweetened tea to it
and let it ferment away for a few weeks.
During this time, a very thin and almost clear colored film
of SCOBY formed on top of the liquid,
which you can see in the picture here.
And this was our new baby SCOBY.
As it continues to grow into a mother SCOBY,
it will become more opaque, thicker, and of course,
better at turning fresh sweetened tea into kombucha.
If you want our detailed recipe
for growing your own SCOBY at home,
check the link in the description below.
So let's have another look at our SCOBY friend here.
As you can see, there are some layers forming.
and over time, more and more layers are going to appear,
kind of like this.
So when it gets to this point,
the big question is what do we do?
Well, if your SCOBY gets too big,
then it will start blocking oxygen from reaching your tea.
And this will hurt the fermentation process.
So every three to six months,
just like you would go to a hairdresser or a styling,
you should take your SCOBY out and trim it.
You usually wanna reduce it by half, depending on the size.
And you can do this with sterilized scissors
or serrated knife or simply tearing apart
with clean hands which I'll demonstrate now.
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Once done, you can return it to its container.
As for the excess SCOBY,
you can either set up a second fermentation container
or if you're feeling generous, give it away to a friend.
Well, the good news is our beautiful little SCOBY can be
used indefinitely.
If you wanna turn your SCOBY into a lifelong friend,
here's what you need to do.
Keep feeding it sweetened tea as this is what it lives on.
Keep giving it enough oxygen
as this is what it uses to ferment.
Keep it at an even room temperature
as this ensures it grows steadily.
Protect it from any contaminants like dust, dirt,
smoke, or mold.
And finally, if you wanna flavor your kombucha with fruits
or use non-caffeinated herbal teas,
do this as a second fermentation
in a separate brewing container away from your SCOBY.
Now, unless you're going to go full "Breaking Bad"
and turn your kitchen into a pristine fermentation lab,
your SCOBY is probably going to struggle
to get this level of love
and it will likely degrade slowly over time
and eventually go bad.
At which time, you will need to say some nice parting words,
thanking your SCOBY friend
and letting it go to SCOBY heaven.
But you can usually replace them with the little baby SCOBYs
which are the new layers of SCOBY that grow on top.
When you first saw our little SCOBY
at the start of this video, I bet you thought,
"I am not having that weird jelly fishy thing
anywhere near my kitchen."
But as we started diving
into how this colony of good bacteria and yeast works,
how it can keep transforming simple sweetened tea
into fizzy and delicious kombucha, we kind of fell in love.
It really is magical.
So if you wanna make your own kombucha
and save a lot of money
on that crazy price store bought kombucha,
then get your SCOBY game on
and enjoy the fizzy freedom of homemade brew.
We have a question for you,
have you tried to make kombucha at home?
And if so, what are your best tips?
And if you enjoy this video
as part of our fermented food series,
I'd love for you to join our Essential Stacks community
by clicking the subscribe button below.
We research the most important ways you can improve your
digestive health so you can love your gut again.
Bye for now.
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