How To Make A Dandelion Bug
A dandelion bug starter culture is a probiotic fermentation of the dandelion root, which can be used to make delicious, fizzy homemade sodas.
Equipment
- 1 pint sized glass jar with a lid I use a mason jar with a simple plastic lid.
Ingredients
- Dandelion Root - Washed well and if necessary lightly scrubbed. unpeeled and sliced thinly
- Organic cane sugar - Great choices are unrefined evaporated cane juice, sucanat (panela sugar), or coconut sugar.
Do not use sulfured molasses, the sulfur will kill your fermentation critters. Honey is highly anti-microbial and is not a good choice for creating a starter.
- Filtered or well water - Chlorine in water kills the microbes that we need so do not use straight tap water or chlorinated well water.
Instructions
Day One:
- Add 1-2 tablespoons of the chopped dandelion root to the glass jar.
- Pour 1 cup of filtered water over the ingredients
- Add 1 tablespoon of sugar.
- Stir well to dissolve the sugar and screw the cap on fingertight.
- Set the jar out of sunlight in a warm place (70-80 degrees is ideal).
Day Two:
- Now you'll do your first bug feeding:
- Add 1 teaspoon of chopped dandelion root.
- Add 1 teaspoon of sugar.
- Stir well, recap, and set back in to your fermentation corner.
Day Three and onward
- Feed the bug just the same as on day two.
- By now you should see some bubbling and a notice difference in the scent of the bug.
- Observe your starter culture. It should start show some lively bubbling, look cloudy, and smell 'fermented'. This can happen anywhere between day 2 and 7 in most cases.
When is it ready to make soda?
- You can try to make soda once your dandelion bug is vigorously bubbling away. Sometimes it's fizzy in 3 days, but if you're not in too much of a hurry, I would wait till day 5 before you use it as a starter culture, as long as it bubbles vigorously. Sometimes it can take a week, if your environment is on the cool side.
Maintenance
- Keep feeding your new dandelion root starter culture once every day or two while you keep it on the counter. If you want to use it, remove what you need and replace the water, add one teaspoon of the dandelion root and one teaspoon of sugar. You'll have to remove some of the dandelion root pieces occasionally when your jar has too many in it. But otherwise this is all the maintenance your dandelion starter needs.
- Alternatively, when your jar has too many dandelion pieces in it, strain the liquid out into a new jar and give it a regular feeding of 1 teaspoon dandelion root pieces and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Use the pieces in your strainer as a compost accelerator.
- If you want to take a break from using the bug, you can store it in the refrigerator after feeding it. You can keep it in the refrigerator for a long time, but take it out occasionally, once every two weeks to a month, to give it a feeding. This will keep it healthy. I like to take my bugs out for a few days every so often just to regenerate them. But they will normally be fine even for several months without feeding or warming.
Notes
How To Use Your Dandelion Bug
This dandelion bug is a starter culture that will add probiotics and put fizzy carbonation into your drinks. It can be used the same as a ginger bug in recipes. Basically you can add about 2 tablespoons of the starter and 1-4 tablespoons of sugar to a pint of any liquid and seal it tight. If you use fruit juice, you don't need to add sugar or very little. I very much recommend grolsch type bottles with flip-tops for making sodas. They are best at sealing in the carbon dioxide so your soda develops some fizz. Let it sit at room temperature for 1-3 days. This is when the probiotic bacteria and yeasts multiply and feed on the sugars in the drink. They eat the sugars and produce lactic acid and carbon dioxide as a by-product. A very small amount of alcohol is also produced, about as much as you get from ripe fruit or yeast bread. This results in a less sweet soda that's full of probiotic activity. Just the thing you want to feed to your gut. And in the process you get a super refreshing fizz in your drink.Cautions:
Do burp your bottles once a day to release some pressure. It is possible for the bottles to explode if pressure builds up too high. So just to be on the safe side, open your bottles quickly to let a little of the fizz out and close them back up. Press down on the lid while opening. Probiotic sodas are considered non-alcoholic, but they have in fact a very low percentage of alcohol. Generally under 1 percent, which is no more than you find in yeast breads or very ripe fruit. They do have the potential for higher alcohol content if you add more than a tablespoon of sugar per pint of soda and let it ferment longer. This turns your soda basically into wine. The trick is to keep your sugar content on the low side and to refrigerate your soda once it has enough fizz. Refrigeration will almost stop the fermentation and the development of more alcohol.Making Soda From Juice Or Tea
To make your own soda, follow the instructions for fermented lemonade. For various flavor options, replace the lemon and water with your choice liquid, such as fruit juices. I would dilute them with a little with water and omit adding extra sugar if they are very sweet.
You can also use any kind of black, green or herbal tea.
Another possibility is to blend some fruits or infuse whole berries in water, add sugar and starter in a vented mason jar. Don't close the lid too tight, so gasses can escape, or use a fermentation lid. Now wait till it all starts to bubble. Then strain out the berries or pulp and pour the liquid into a fermentation bottle for a final ferment to build up the fizz, which should only take another day or two.
About Making Root Beer
If you are thinking of making a root beer, turmeric, or ginger beer, you'll want to prepare a simple syrup made by simmering the roots, rhizomes, or barks in water, add some sugar, and stir to dissolve (about 1-4 tablespoon per pint of liquid).
For precise instructions, follow my recipe for ginger beer and in place of the ginger, use the roots or bark and seasonings of your choice in the syrup.
Traditional Root and Bark Choices
- Ginger
- Turmeric
- Sarsaparilla
- Sassafras
- Dandelion root
- Birch bark
- Licorice
- Burdock root
- Chicory root
- Wild cherry bark
- Pine bark and pine needles