Mold fermentation is the process by which food become moldy in a controlled manner. This changes the colour, smell, taste and shelf life.

Moulds are multicellular microorganisms and are everywhere; in our body but also in nature, the air and actually everywhere around us. With this fermentation technique specific moulds are used, which you do not obtain straight from nature. 

Moulds are everywhere; in our body but also in nature, the air and actually everywhere around us. But with mould fermentation specific moulds are being used, which are mostly cultivated and not obtained straight from nature. You can buy these moulds in a special fermentation webshop e.g. www.startercultures.eu Or simply use a bit of mould from a previously fermented product, for example a piece of crust from a blue cheese. 

This differs per culture. In western countries cheese is the best-known mould fermented product. Furthermore miso, tempeh and soy sauce, for example, are also fermented on the basis of moulds.

Mould onoculation is done to transfer a mould to a new material and let it grow. This happens under specific conditions. A small amount of mould is being mixed with the food to be fermented. The temperature is the most important factor and differs considerably per kind of mould. Furthermore, relative humidity is of great importance and the fermentation time varies from a day to even months or years. 

The temperature at which moulds can be inoculated differs considerably per type of mould. For example, we inoculate cheese molds on average around 10°C, but tropical molds such as koji between 30°C and 32°C.

m