Cultures For Health Natto Starter Spores | Traditional Soybean Japanese Food | Great Source of Protein, Vitamin K, Probiotics for Digestive Health | Gluten Free Vegan Plant Based Meat Alternative

Using this product, I made natto for the first time a couple of days ago. While the product seems to work as expected, making your own natto as opposed to buying it from a Japanese grocery store is a lot of work. And I don't think that it really saves much money. I can buy ready-made frozen natto at the Japanese grocery store for about $1 for a 1.5 ounce serving. To make natto, you must first buy the soybeans and the culture spores. Then you need to soak the beans for about 24 hours before cooking them. I used an instant pot. Then you have to sterilize any jars, utensils, etc., that might come into contact with the beans. Then you'll need another 24 hours to ferment the beans.Maybe going forward I'll do both so that I always have natto on hand. My understanding is that freezing the natto (which is the only way you can purchase it at a Japanese grocery store) kills some of the bacteria. So homemade can be preferable.I have incorporated natto into my diet because it helps tremendously with IBS symptoms. I find that eating natto with some sauerkraut, which I purchase Cleveland brand from Walmart, helps significantly with the worst of the IBS symptoms.

I bought this starter to make black bean Natto. It turned out perfect. I made it in my Instapot. You need to leave the seal out and cook it on the yogurt setting. The price was good. And it was easy to do.

Every recipe for Natto calls for 2 Tbl of starter to 1 cup of soybeans and there is ONLY barely 1 tsp. of starter in each packet. I used the entire bag of starter and the soybeans did not ferment….nor even a little bit. Waste of $ & time.

Some reviews said that the potency was low and I was concerned it may not work. Worked excellent for me. Totally worth the money. Do each step of the process with dedication. Soak 8+ hours, cook to rice settings, make sure beans cool fully and ferment on a yogurt setting. My natto tastes great!

The spores seem to work well. I used them to make natto with canned black beans (no cooking required). However, the contents of a packet are far too much for one can of beans, or a small quantity. One packet will suffice for a very large quantity. The manufacturer should supply a small measuring spoon to use for making smaller quantities of natto.

This is the best starter for natto. It made my batch of black beans real stringy, like it is supposed to.

I bought this product and organic soybeans as another attempt to get my taste and smell to return (gone 19 months now).I make my own soymilk and have made tempeh previously, so am familiar with using soybeans and fermenting soybeans. I followed the instructions but added one step. After the 12 hour soak, I rubbed the beans to remove the hull. The hull may interfere with fermentation. Also, instead of using the the oven, I surrounded the casserole dish (covered with plastic wrap with small holes punched in it) with an electric blanket (on a spare bed) on medium for the 24 hours. Produced perfect Natto in 24 hours.

I thought we did a good job of following the instructions. I don't know if we missed something or the spores were no good.