Kombucha: care for him, instructions and rules of maintenance

Caring for kombucha is not so difficult. It is enough to follow a few simple rules, ensure sterility, and kombucha will thank you with a tasty, healthy drink.

How long does kombucha live

Chinese healers call the kombucha drink an elixir of health. It really helps to get rid of many diseases, contributes to the overall strengthening of the body. Outwardly, the medusomycete does not look very pleasant. The body resembles a slippery jellyfish in beige, pink or light brown.

Growing medusomycete resembles gelatin pancakes

Kombucha lives on nutrients (sugar, tea). If you provide constant care, follow all the rules, feed, the tea jellyfish will grow and produce a carbonated drink indefinitely. Under industrial conditions, the medusa mycete can grow up to 100 kg. At home, the mushroom lives in a jar. With growth, it is divided. Flat cakes are shared with their friends or increase the amount of drink.

If the tea jellyfish has grown to the entire jar, without dividing it will disappear

It is proper care that determines the life span of a tea jellyfish. You can’t be greedy, acting on the principle – the larger the mushroom, the better the tea drink. If the jellyfish fills the entire jar, then it will disappear. Failure to comply with sterility, temperature, storage, feeding will similarly shorten the life of kombucha.

Basic rules for caring for kombucha at home

When deciding to start growing kombucha, you need to remember the basic rules of care:

1. Kombucha living in a jar should not be tightly closed with a lid. Instead, use a breathable fabric, a napkin, or several layers of gauze. The cloth cover will allow access to oxygen, but will block access to flies and other insects.
2. In order for the drinking tea mushroom to live and work for a long time, you need to take care of it properly. Kombucha is placed only in ready-made tea leaves with dissolved sugar. It is made from boiled water. Raw water cannot be added due to the high salt content.
3. It is unacceptable to pour undissolved sugar into a jar, pour tea leaves with tea leaves. Solid particles stick to the body of the jellyfish, leaving burns.
4. During the preparation of tea leaves, it should not be made too strong. From a high concentration of jellyfish will slow down growth.
5. Do not place kombucha in hot liquids. Flavored teas with fruits and other additives are not suitable for dressing. It is optimal to use pure large-leaf tea, which has not expired.
6. One of the important rules for caring for kombucha is the observance of the frequency of washing. The jellyfish is placed under running water. In summer, the procedure is done more often, in winter – less often.
7. If the body of the jellyfish has changed color, brown spots or mechanical damage have appeared, this area is removed. Kombucha is washed, placed in a new resuscitation solution.

It is important to remember that in summer, at high air temperatures, kombucha works faster than in winter. It will often have to pay attention, provide proper care.

Tea jellyfish care requires sterility and accuracy.

In the video, caring for kombucha, the beneficial properties of the drink:

How to keep kombucha at home

After mastering the basic rules of care, it is necessary to clearly understand other equally important recommendations regarding the content of tea drinking fungus:

1. In the process of life, the medusomycete produces acid. Kombucha should not be kept in aluminum containers. Stainless steel will do, but the best option is a 3 liter glass jar.
2. A container with a tea jellyfish is placed in a slightly darkened place where sunlight does not fall. A jar cannot be placed on the window.
3. Kombucha will thrive in a room with good ventilation, clean air at a temperature of 24-25 ^оC. If the inside of the room is below 17 ^оC, the growth of the jellyfish will slow down, algae will appear. Harmful increase in temperature above 25 ^оC.
4. You need to carefully monitor the kombucha, drain the drink in a timely manner, and make a new tea leaves. If the medusomycete changed color, sank to the bottom, or other unnatural signs appeared, then something went wrong. It is necessary to reanimate the jellyfish, fill it with new tea leaves.
5. A warm place for a tea drink does not mean an area near the battery. The jar should not be placed near heating devices.

Kombucha is placed in a jar with ready-made tea leaves

If you follow simple conditions of detention, kombucha will thank you with a tasty and healthy drink.

How to care for kombucha

The general rules of care and maintenance are clear. However, there are many nuances associated with jellyfish. It is important to consider step by step how to properly care for kombucha if you have a desire to start breeding it.

A healthy jellyfish always floats on the surface of a liquid.

The importance of cleanliness

Sterility must be observed from the very beginning of breeding kombucha. A jar for a drink is used sterilized. The tea drink is kept in a clean room, where there is no burning, tobacco smoke, mold on the walls. Dirty dishes, houseplants, and food should not be placed near the jar. It is important to limit access to pets.

During the service of tea jellyfish, a person must be in clean clothes. Wash your hands well, and it is better to wear medical gloves.

How to care for kombucha in a jar

When the kombucha grows in a jar and the drink is ready to drink, it is drained. Two glasses of liquid must be left as a starter. For a new dressing, large-leaf tea is brewed. For 1 liter of water take 2 tsp. tea leaves and 5 tbsp. l. Sahara. Insist refueling for 15 minutes. The liquid is cooled to room temperature, filtered through gauze from tea leaves. Pour the remaining 2 cups of sourdough into the dressing. The finished liquid is poured into a jar. Medusa is taken with clean hands and placed in a dressing. Initially, it may sink to the bottom. There is nothing terrible. The neck of the jar is covered with a clean cloth, pressed with an elastic band, and a new tea drink is expected.

How to care for kombucha

If a young mushroom is obtained independently from tea leaves, then after 1,5 months from the moment of its inception, it is pulled onto a dish, washed with a weak solution of apple cider vinegar, put in a jar with new tea leaves, and further development is expected.

When caring for a young mushroom obtained by separating a large tea jellyfish from the body, a new jellyfish is poured with tea leaves containing 1/10 of the old sourdough from the total liquid volume.

How to properly contain “sick” kombucha

If the care technology is violated, the tea jellyfish gets sick. The first signs of the disease are a change in color, the appearance of mold, and the jellyfish sinking to the bottom of the jar. You can’t drink this drink. If the first signs appear, you need to establish proper care for the kombucha, but first it is rehabilitated.

The jellyfish is removed from the jar, the damaged parts of the body are removed, washed under running water or in apple cider vinegar, depending on the type of disease. The container for the new drink is sterilized. A new dressing is brewed, a mushroom is placed in it. At first, the jellyfish will float on the bottom, which is considered a normal action. When the body recovers, the tea jellyfish will float to the surface.

Proper care of kombucha after splitting

Over time, the medusomycete grows and requires division. New cakes can be given to friends or used to increase tea drink production. The jellyfish is divided when it begins to flake off. A young cake is placed in a sterilized jar, poured with fresh tea leaves, adding 1/10 of the old sourdough from the total volume of liquid. After three days, kombucha will grow and begin to produce a drink. However, it will reach the highest quality after 2 months.

How to drain kombucha

Kombucha is grown for its medicinal drink. When it is ready, you need to drain it in a timely manner, but do it in the same way, observing the rules.

Kombucha drink is good for the elderly

After how many days to drain kombucha

Approximately on the seventh day after pouring a new dressing, the drink is tasted. Determine its readiness. If the tea drink is pleasantly sweet and has astringency, it is time to drain it. However, the turnaround time may vary depending on the season. In summer, kombucha works faster. The drink will be ready in 2-5 days. In winter, they are drained less often – after 6-8 days.

In addition to draining the drink, the mushroom itself must be periodically washed under running water. Here, too, there are deadlines. In summer, washing is carried out once every 1-2 weeks, and in winter – once every 3-4 weeks.

How to properly drain kombucha

The readiness of the tea drink is tried carefully, without lowering metal cutlery inside the jar. If it is time to drain, the kombucha is removed from the container and placed on a clean plate. Immediately, 2 cups of sourdough are drained separately for a new portion of tea leaves. The rest of the drink is poured into glass bottles, sent to cool in the refrigerator. Optionally, you can add honey, pieces of fruit or natural spices.

Common mistakes in the care and maintenance of kombucha

Even an experienced person who knows how to care for kombucha in a jar is not immune from mistakes that lead to negative consequences. However, most often they are allowed by beginner kombucha growers.

The medicinal properties of the drink are preserved with proper care of kombucha.

The most common mistakes are:

1. Drinking an unripe drink is not beneficial. In addition, early draining does not give kombucha the strength to grow.
2. The burning of the body of a jellyfish comes from grains of undissolved sugar, poured into a jar.
3. Turning the cake over inside the jar, breaking off the lower fibers, leads to the fact that the drink does not ripen. It is the yeast threads that are responsible for this function.
4. With a rare change of dressing, the drink becomes vinegar, which destroys the jellyfish.
5. The use of metal utensils instead of a can leads to the oxidation of the liquid, which ends with the death of beneficial organisms.
6. The use of hot tea for a new dressing ends with the death of the fungus.

Avoiding common mistakes will help a beginner kombucha grower get a healthy and tasty drink all year round.

Conclusion

It is necessary to take care of Kombucha constantly. If for some time it is not needed, you can pause it, send it to be stored in the basement. After a while, when the need arises, kombucha is poured with a new dressing, brought back to life.