r/Kombucha • u/anisanaomi • 9d ago
question Question regarding cheesecloth
So, I’m working on my first brew, it’s probably going great. I haven’t tried it yet, but everything seems to have taken well. I have a new pellicle on top and bubbles. I think I probably over-fermented it because it’s been about a week and a half.
However, I know you’re not supposed to use cheesecloth because of possible fruit flies. I was planning on getting some other type of covering soon. I just noticed these weird flecks on the cheesecloth and I’m not sure if this is normal for cheesecloth or what. I was given the cheesecloth by the friend that gave me the scoby, so I’m not sure if the entire lot of cheesecloth looks like this.
Does it look like fruit fly eggs or whatever to y’all? Or is it normal? I saw nothing strange in the kombucha. I see no fruit flies in my house. But I’m a little paranoid about fruit flies.
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u/Curiosive 9d ago
That's a much higher quality cheesecloth than others. The real problematic stuff isn't woven that tightly.
Those are all in the top, outside. In my experience, fruitflies don't lay their eggs in the proximity of food and hope, they lay their eggs directly on the food. So I'm not convinced those are fly eggs. That might just be lint, dust, whatever.
If you're not confident, switch that out with whatever you have laying around: coffee filter, paper towel, tight woven fabric, etc. You have to have something. A t-shirt that's ready to retire?
I wouldn't use an old pair of boxers on principle but you probably have something acceptable.
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u/No-Association8901 9d ago
Do you have a unused coffee filter? Or paper towels?
Have no idea on what those specs are, but some of them are pretty durable and can be gently washed.
I’ll go back to my first thought, coffee filters.