2020, Jul. 4
How can I remove mold
from my Miso?
After several months from homemade Miso making, what will you do if you found something growing on the surface?
If you are not sure, this page is for you.
(Short clip about this topic is on the bottom of this page.)
If you find mold or overgrowing yeast on the surface, please scrape them off. Then you can eat your Miso.
If you are not sure whether you see mold or yeast, please check this page.
Miso S.O.S ' Is this mold?' >>
If you also want to know about the causes, please check this page.
I hope I can help you understand more about your Miso.
How to remove
mold and yeast
from the top
of your Miso.
① Take a close look at the thing on the surface.
Is it hairy? Lumpy? Or, both?
Check this page first if you are not sure what they are.
Miso S.O.S ' Is this mold?' >>
② Prepare the tools below.
・A clean spoon
・Kitchen paper
・Wide bowl or anything like a container
( For placing the weight while cleaning.)
・Strong alcohol （More than 35%）
③ Scrape off the thing you don't need.
Have you checked what is growing on the surface on ①?
If you see mold and it has spores ( in general, it is on the tip of the hair and circular shape), put a wet kitchen paper on them and wipe them away first. Because spores can fly, and there's a risk of inhaling them. If you're not sure about the spores, it's good to apply this way.
Take the spoon and scrape the part you don't want and also a bit of Miso underneath. I know it's a bit spoiling, but it's good to give extra care if you have mold on the surface.
It's good to put the removed bits in a plastic bag to throw them away.
④ Clean the container and the weight.
If the thing on the surface touched the vessel, please wipe that part with strong alcohol. It's also good to clean the whole container where it doesn't contact the Miso.
When you leave some Miso bits like on this photo below, you may see some mold, especially if you place your Miso in a humid environment.
Usually, I use Japanese distilled alcohol called Shyouchu, which's like Vodka. So, something like 35% ABV is suitable for sterilizing.
Also, don't forget to clean or change the cover of the weight and the plastic wrap. If you think these touched the mold or yeast, it's good to clean that part.
⑤ Taste your Miso.
After finished cleaning, dig a bit of your Miso and taste it. What taste do you get from your Miso?
If you think the salt is still sharp, it's good to ferment more. I usually ferment my Miso for ten months and start eating.
If you think your Miso is already tasty, take some out from the container to use, and keep the rest in the vessel as it was before. If you ferment more in the room temp, it changes its taste but interesting to see the change.
Whatever ways you're going to take, please put the weight on the top. * If you keep your Miso in a fridge, it slower the fermentation, so you don't need to place it anymore.
I also made a short clip on Youtube about this topic. If you're interested in keeping fermenting your Miso with no-more-astonishing-surface on your Miso, please have a look.