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Fermentation Atlas

Fermented milk from Kazakhstan

Shubat / qymyranшұбат

sour, white, fizzy camel-milk drink. Grades: weak (1 day, 60–80 °T), medium (2 days, 80–105 °T), strong (3 days, 106–125 °T). Made in 3 steps over 34 h – 2.5 days. The longest step, ferment 1–2 days (modern - knead 20–30 min, then 3–4 h at 20–25 °C to 60–70 °T), takes 24 h – 2 days (The main features and microbiota diversity of…) and runs at 20–25 °C (The main features and microbiota diversity of…). Lactobacillus helveticus and L. delbrueckii do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step24 h – 2 daysReported[camel24][pmc11989172][emu]Ferment 1–2 days (modern - knead 20–30 min, then 3–4 h at 20–25 °C to 60–70 °T)
Temperature20–25 °CReported[camel24][pmc11989172][emu]Ferment 1–2 days (modern - knead 20–30 min, then 3–4 h at 20–25 °C to 60–70 °T)
AciditypH 4Reported[camel24][pmc11989172][emu]Bottle and ripen cold

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedWhat goes in. No source gives amounts for this ferment.
raw or boiled Bactrian or dromedary camel milk
Starter: backslop (previously soured shubat) | mother culture (modern)

Total time across the recorded steps: 34 h – 2.5 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
pH 6.5shapes, not to countLactic acid bacteriaYeasts

What changes: Fresh camel milk is mixed with old shubat

Step 1 of 3
Mix fresh camel milk with old shubat
Time
milk added through the day
Unconfirmed
Temperature
room temperature
Unconfirmed
Salt
None given
Acidity
pH 6.5
Typical
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Yeasts
Lactobacillus helveticus
L. delbrueckii
L. kefiri

Output: inoculated milk.

Flavour
salty-sweet camel milk
Texture
thin
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

backslop LAB and yeasts

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

Variants

  • QymyranSouthern Kazakh name for shubat from boiled or pasteurised camel milk, or summer shubat that is more liquid and low fat.
  • Chal (Turkmenistan, also Karakalpakstan)Turkmen fermented camel milk, made like shubat (no process detail found this round).
  • Modern pasteurised shubatMilk pasteurised at 63–90 °C (5 min to 5 h), cooled to 30–35 °C, then 1 part mother culture to 3–4 parts milk.

Safety

Spontaneous raw-milk production. Researchers propose native-strain starters for safety.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Soviet-era standards (1980s) defined soft, medium and strong grades.

  1. [camel24] The main features and microbiota diversity of fermented camel milk, Foods 2024paper
  2. [pmc11989172] Metagenomics of shubat, PMC11989172paper
  3. [emu] Yeasts of shubat (Estonian Univ. of Life Sciences)paper