Tempeh making machine on kickstarter

[Heinechan]

Every time I've tried getting into tempeh I was always put off by the prospect of having to build my own incubator.

I would just buy the stuff, but it's not that cheap (like $4 per pack where I live). I really do love the stuff though.

Tempehsure was supposed to start selling machines to streamline the process earlier this year. Unfortunately they're just now getting around to it and are putting it up on kickstarter. Kind of a bummer that they won't theoretically ship until October, but I'm still excited for this thing.

Makes 1.5 pound batches, price point looks like it will be $500 once they start selling them at retail.

I want it now.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/19 ... ero_thanks

[ThatNerdyScienceGirl]

Tempeh sucks.

[brimstoneSalad]

They actually posted here on the forum once, but they never followed up when questions were asked. So, kind of skeptical about that. Also a pretty high price point -- it would take a lot of $4 packs to justify that.

I like this in principle, but it doesn't necessarily make this practical for the average person.

When I made tempeh, I just used a rice cooker, fish tank pump, a cheap thermocouple, and a flat pan strainer to hold the beans. Worked like a charm.
If I built another rig, I'd make it much bigger.
The hardest part of making tempeh isn't actually the incubator (which can be built quite easily using random things), but preparing the beans for the batch.

[Aramiss]

That looks really awesome

[brimstoneSalad]

On a little further examination, I have more comments:

Pro: Pasteurization
For some, this may be beneficial if they don't cook and eat it quickly. A nice benefit of this is that you don't have to be ready to pull it out and cook it or put it in the fridge as soon as it's done. Eight hours late can be a little over-ripe, so auto pasteurization is a feature I approve of, and it's not something you can do with a DIY rig.

Con: Small Batch.
Batch size looks small -- at only 1.5 pounds. Not a fan of that. I wouldn't use or buy this, since I don't want to have to make a batch of Tempeh every day, I'd prefer to make a huge batch and keep that on hand for a week or two.

Granted it makes making Tempeh easier, so the small batch size is slightly compensated for by the ease of use, but there are still issues of cleaning, prepping beans, and operating it that are non-trivial in terms of my daily routine.

Make sure you're familiar with the process of preparing the tempeh to go in. That means soaking and cooking beans, then dehulling or cutting all of them (or using much more expensive beans as input that have already been dehulled), then drying, mixing with the starter, and putting in the cleaned machine.

[Heinechan]

They actually posted here on the forum once, but they never followed up when questions were asked. So, kind of skeptical about that. Also a pretty high price point -- it would take a lot of $4 packs to justify that.

I like this in principle, but it doesn't necessarily make this practical for the average person.
.

That's a shame. I just hope they follow through. I've been looking forward to this for what feels like years. I remember reading about how to make tempeh on one of the founders websites years ago. It's also a possibility that they won't reach the fundraising goal.

I'm disappointed by the 1.5 pound limit too, but that's like 3 standard packs, so not so bad. With the size of the machine i wonder why they didn't just add a second rack so you'd have two shelves. Still, 24oz is a week's worth for me at least. And if you figure one batch a week it should save you money in under a year compared to buying at retail. I'll be happy to just see a machine like this on the market tbh. It's baffling to me that there isn't already, or at least something simpler that doesn't require much diy work to make tempeh.

I'd never thought of a rice cooker, but was considering buying a dehydrator (something that could regulate it's own heat for a sustained period of time and be set with a timer) to make tempeh with.

As for dehulling the beans, could you use split beans like split peas or split red lentils that come dehulled?

[brimstoneSalad]

I'd never thought of a rice cooker, but was considering buying a dehydrator (something that could regulate it's own heat for a sustained period of time and be set with a timer) to make tempeh with.

Dehydrator could do the job too, but the thing is you want to keep it moist. Those have too much air flow, and they're meant for drying.

It's really not hard to build a tempeh making setup, though, if you have room for it.

You need something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Willhi-Wh1436-110 ... 00V4TJR00/

Just put that little probe tip (the thermocouple) near your tempeh in some kind of insulated box (or even not insulated, if you want), and plug in something that gets warm to it and set the temp. It will turn off when it's over the temperature, and on when under.

You can do anything from a heating pad to a water heater (in water under the tempeh) to a 60 watt bulb. Make sure it's not something that has a time shutoff though, and make sure it's something that's safe.

This would probably do the job: http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Immersion ... 000VK0DRY/
I like heating water, and then putting a fish tank air pump in the water. That suggested method works well to circulate warm humid air.

This should be appropriate, although I'm not sure what that air flow is:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AXNU25G

This isn't inherently necessary to make tempeh, though, this will just get you better/faster results. Ultimately all you need is a warm place that's not excessively dry.

If you do go with a water pump setup, you can increase the air flow to probably make it grow faster. I've only ever used one small pump, and it worked fine for large amounts of tempeh (a couple kilograms, I think).

I would use a stainless steel pan or large bowl of some kind to hold a gallon or so of water (a pot would work too), attach the heater so it is submerged up to just touching the plastic clip (maybe glue it on), attach the thermocouple to the metal pan, plug the heater into the thermocouple, put the fish tank air pump stone in the pan and plug it in elsewhere.

You can leave it at that and just put the thing in a trash can with your tempeh on racks above it if you keep it inside or it's not too cold...

But I'd put the whole thing inside a broken refrigerator or cabinet insulated from the inside and sealed so the humidity doesn't rot it (put it on the bottom), and you'll have an entire cabinet to make tempeh in with easy access from the side. To be safe, put the pot on an insulating ceramic tile (the sort you put a hot dish on to protect your table).
Make sure there's good air circulation inside from the bottom (where the air comes in) to the top. Ideally install a bunch of wire racks as shelves.

You may need to drill a couple holes for the wires and the air pump tube. You might also need to make a hole for the air to escape at the top (covering with screen so bugs don't get in).
Ideally, I'd put some visible thermometers inside at various places to make sure your temperature is consistent.
You can scale up the air pump to something more serious if you want, and even increase the heat with additional heaters, or a more powerful one, depending on the size of the fridge/cabinet.

A small setup could probably make ten kilograms a day for a hundred dollars in materials.

As for dehulling the beans, could you use split beans like split peas or split red lentils that come dehulled?

You could, yes, if you want that kind of tempeh.
You could probably also use TVP.