I Ballsed It Up?

[WeeManDan]

Screwed it up!

My Nutrafin kita arrived today, did exactly as the instructions said. Went to school/work got home, no bubbles!

Asked Mum, is it Sugar in the tub?
Answers No, its half and half


Went to the shops and got the real stuff, made it up about 30 minutes ago.

One question, how long till I should see bubbles?

WeeManDan

 

[Luke_e]

The sachets supplied with the kit are seen as useless.. Its basically yeast and bicarb.
This is what i do (thanks to help of people on here)
1) Fill sugar up to the first fins marks in the nutrafin kit.
2) Fill it 1/4 - 1/3 full with warm, not HOT, warm water. Put the lid on, cover the hole and shake it like a mad man. Check the sugar is disolved. If not shake it again. It doesnt need to be disolved 100%, just as long as most is.
3) Add 1/2 tbl spoon of yeast, (i add more but i have an over flow thingy) and follow step 2 again, if the water is hot it will kill the yeast, and the reason you should add warm to the sugar is so when you add the yeast it doesnt kill it too.
4) I dont add bicarb any more as i get more bubbles without, but you can add 1/2 tbl spoon which will control the output.
Hope this helps. You should see bubbles within 30 mins. Sometimes it takes longer.

 

[WeeManDan]

Shall I restart it again then, using the sachets as I cant get yeast right now and see if it will work, or shall I give it a little longer to see if it can be persuaded to start?

Cheers

WeeManDan

 

[Luke_e]

If you havent had no luck with the sachets during all today, you've got no chance really.
Best waiting till tomorrow until you can get some yeast otherwise you're wasting your time.

Np.

 

[WeeManDan]

I was thinking though, using the technigue of dissolving the suger first as you desrcibed?

Thanks for the help

WeeManDan

 

[Luke_e]

Worth a shot mate, but you'll get a much better co2 production via sugar and yeast. No harm in trying the sachets if your eager to get a bit of co2 on the go, but you'll be amazed at the difference (if you ever get co2 from the sachets) of yeast over the sachets.

 

[WeeManDan]

Cheers I'll give it one last go, where can I get yeast from seeing as I think I'll need it lol

Thanks

WeeManDan

 

[Themuleous]

Ditto what Luke said, you'll find it a million times cheaper getting your own yeast (normal baking yeast if fine BTW lots of UK people use the Allisons yeast in an orange tin, the tesco's at Cowley sells it, as do most shops! Depends where in Oxford you live )

The only slight disadvantage with DIY yeast mix is you'll need to change it every 7 days so keep the output constant (although the mix often lasts up to 10 days at a pinch), that can be a bit of a pain, but see how you get on

Sam

 

[WeeManDan]

Thanks for the advice, spoke to my Mum about the yeast lol

Does it matter if it is fresh or dry?

Apparently I'll find some yeast in the bakery section of Sainsburys, I'll look out for Allisons.

Presumably I will go through more sugar? As before it would last 4 weeks rather than just 1?

Not to bothered but just wanted to check I put the same amount of sugar in?

Thanks

WeeManDan

 

[WeeManDan]

Luke, thanks the mixture works but I have a new problem!
Surprise!

The CO2 seems to build up on the bottom step and rather than climb the ladder just fall off and go to the surface freely, presumably not very efficient, help would be very appreciated

Thanks

WeeManDan

 

[Luke_e]

Glad it worked.
This happened to me also. It seems to progress (i.e the point where it stops) up the ladder slowly, and then eventually it wont stop at all. It should be fine by this evening.
When it first happened to me, the bubbles seemed to build up on the 2nd step and then it would fall off and rise to the top, but the point where they fall off keeps moving up every so often and eventually it wont happen.

 

[WeeManDan]

Cheers for that, kind of a bedding in period?

Thanks

WeeManDan

 

[Luke_e]

Np. Yea its something like that. If it doesnt fix its self, just get a chop stick or something like that to move the bubbles this can help move it up and stop it from stopping lower down. But since i've been using it for 2 week, i've rechanged my mix 3 times and on the 2nd and 3rd time it didnt do it. So it might just be like that on the first time?

 

[WeeManDan]

Yeah, sounds like it

Cheers

WeeManDan

 

[AndyTaylor]

The sachets supplied with the kit are seen as useless.. Its basically yeast and bicarb.
This is what i do (thanks to help of people on here)
1) Fill sugar up to the first fins marks in the nutrafin kit.
2) Fill it 1/4 - 1/3 full with warm, not HOT, warm water. Put the lid on, cover the hole and shake it like a mad man. Check the sugar is disolved. If not shake it again. It doesnt need to be disolved 100%, just as long as most is.
3) Add 1/2 tbl spoon of yeast, (i add more but i have an over flow thingy) and follow step 2 again, if the water is hot it will kill the yeast, and the reason you should add warm to the sugar is so when you add the yeast it doesnt kill it too.
4) I dont add bicarb any more as i get more bubbles without, but you can add 1/2 tbl spoon which will control the output.
Hope this helps. You should see bubbles within 30 mins. Sometimes it takes longer.

You've been paying attention, Luke-e!!

The only thing i'd add is that if you mix the yeast up seperately with some warm tank water before adding it to the sugar in the Nutrafin it seems to help. Mix it in a mug, mash it up with the back of a spoon until all the yeast is dissolved and there are no lumpy bits left.
Don't add too much water to the sugar or you won't have enough room for the yeasty water!
Shake it 'like a madman' and then leave it with the top off for an hour or so. This helps the reaction to get started. You should see bubbles within 30 minutes of hooking it up.

Experiment with raw cane sugar, I found it lasts longer.

The ladder needs to build up a coating so don't worry if the bubbles get stuck for a while. Just leave it alone and it'll sort itself out...

Andy