Reply To: Doenjang

Well this is embarrassing. I realized yesterday that my math was wrong. I calculated 2 1/2 gallons in my previous comment. So the ratio I got for 3 1/2 gallons water (or 56 cups) to 20 cups salt is actually 2 4/5:1 so almost 3:1. Sorry, like I said , my husband is the math teacher, not me.;) So far my meju looks good. I like knowing the science behind recipes like this so, I researched more and discovered that mold and bugs go together so they are called fungus gnats that hang out around my meju. My solution was to hang fly tape nearby and that works pretty good. Also hydrogen peroxide helps but don’t spray it on your meju. I would spritz my walls and ceiling around it though. There is also a homemade vinegar, sugar, soap mix that actually works a little. I tried a cheese cloth but it only trapped the gnats in so I took it off once I knew my meju was dry enough that flies wouldn’t be a problem for making maggots. With all this experimenting I did find that having a fan with lots of circulating air is key, especially to reduce the smell (that’s a little bit like an outhouse to me). Not sure why photo came out rotated.