Left – 1 teaspoon of yeast was added
Middle – 2 teaspoons of yeast was added
Right – Sludge from another matured enzyme was added (about 1/2 cup)
Good morning, dear friends 
All credit of this wonderful tip to shorten the fermentation period of the Eco or Fruit Enzyme for cleaning goes to visitor Jon Q, who had commented at my post earlier of Recipe For Eco or Fruit Enzyme for Cleaning.
Jon Q said,
This is a great idea! I’m trying it now. The reason it takes so long to ferment is that you’re relying on the tiny amount of natural yeast that lives on the citrus peels to reproduce and eat all that sugar. Since there isn’t much yeast at the beginning, it takes a long time to get the fermentation going.
You can speed it up considerably by adding a spoonful of yeast at the beginning. It should take less than two weeks if there’s enough yeast. Another way to speed it up is to save the liquid / sludge at the bottom and use it in your next batch, it will speed things up a lot. Try using a balloon instead of a lid, it will stop the bottles exploding.
If you look at the picture above, you will notice that the bottle with the enzyme sludge added has a more “mature” look in the colour of the enzyme. This shows that enzyme sludge is more effective in speeding up the fermentation process of the cleaning enzyme.
Hmmm….I wonder if the same concept (of using the slush) will work for drinking enzymes? 
With this method, I can now harvest a lot of cleaning enzymes in a shorter time, enough for me to liberally use the enzymes for cleaning effectively.
Happy Cleaning!
With best wishes,
choesf
P.S. Due to the feedback received from visitor, tt, that the bottle of enzyme exploded overnight – please exercise caution before you open the enzyme bottle in case it explodes and the bottle cap hurtles like a missle and may hurt you.
When yeast is added to speed up the fermentation process, the amount of gas buildup is multipled also, and you will need to check your bottles for tension more often.
Here are some tips to stay safe and not have to clean up a big mess :-
1) to test the extent of the gas buildup in the bottle, give the bottle a slight squeeze (if the bottle is not made from hard material) – the degree of tension or flexibility of the squeeze will tell you whether an explosion if likely or not
2) invert a plastic bag over the bottle before opening it – in the event of an explosion, the mess is contained within the plastic bag and the cap will not hurt you
3) to prevent an explosion – remember to check the bottles frequently by opening the caps daily (even a few times a day if time permits).
4) do not make the bottles airtight but keep the cap closed partially with just a couple of twists.
tt said,
September 20, 2009 @ 6:37 pm
Hi choesf,
Thank you so much for your posting on the cleaning enzyme….
I became very enthusiastic upon reading your articles and started making some batches past few days. The last bottle I made 2 days exploded yesterday in my kitchen after been fermenting overnight with a teaspoon of yeast. You should have seen my kitchen after that…. grapefruit and lemon pulp on the ceiling, wall and everywhere it landed on hahahaha!!!
I guessed I must have tighten my bottle too much, so needless to say this experience has taught me to be so very cautious when opening the bottles everyday to release the gas. The balloon trick sounds good to avoid the explosion (thanks to Jon Q) but my question here is…..
Do we really need to store the fermenting enzyme in a airtight container or can I poked some holes or loosen the lid/cap???
I can’t wait to harvest my enzyme and I’ve psyched myself to a total house cleaning once the enzyme is ready….
Thank you again for your great blog…
tt
Btw: I’ve made a potful of your watercress/honey date drink yesterday since I’m a smoker and it is delicious!!!! Thank you…..
happyhomemaker88 said,
September 21, 2009 @ 8:08 pm
Hi there and welcome, dear tt
Firstly, I am so sorry to hear of your “enzyme explosion” and I certainly empathise with you the fruity mess that you had to clean up. I had some cleaning to do, too, when my bottle shot out the stuff the second time I made the cleaning enzyme. I can’t remember who but a visitor also commented that his bottle exploded after a few days. Good news though – the spots where he cleaned up the fruit pulp? No ants went there anymore.
One thing I learned from there, before Jon Q gave the tip about the balloons – I now leave the bottle loosely capped and no longer tight anymore. This is so that a little amount of air or gas can escape during the fermentation.
I think poking some small holes in the bottle cap will do, too but they must be small or else the tiny fruit flies will enter the bottle.
Another idea I just thought of is to tie a piece of cloth over the mouth of the bottle as this will allow the enzyme to “breathe.”
Before I learned to cap my new enzyme bottles loosely, I would invert a large plastic bag over the bottle first before opening it. Just in case there is any explosion, the mess will be contained within the plastic bag.
Heheh, my youngest son had fun after that opening up all my enzyme bottles inside the plastic bags and he got to see mini explosions.
Thank you for trying out my lung cleansing watercress soup – it tastes delicious for a natural remedy for lungs. I just made a large pot of it last week and we drank it over 2 days. If the weather is too hot, this soup is good to cool down the “heatiness” in our body.
I am looking forward to hearing your experience with this enzyme when you cleaning starts..
Happy Cleaning!
With best wishes,
choesf
Guet said,
September 25, 2009 @ 11:36 pm
Hi Choesf,
How do I know when the enzyme is matured?
Thanks.
Guet.
happyhomemaker88 said,
September 26, 2009 @ 9:56 am
Hi there, dear Guet
If you use this method, the enzyme is ready for use after 2 weeks.
The colour of the enzyme turns yellowish when ready and after a few months, the colour turns a clear yellow. You can see the enzyme colour of the right bottle in the picture above…that one, I put in the enzyme sludge to hasten the fermentation and it is in a more advanced stage of fermentation that the other 2 bottles…so the enzyme colour is different.
With best wishes,
choesf
Guest said,
September 30, 2009 @ 4:08 pm
Can a glass bottle be used instead of plastic? With your measurements, what is the total amount of enzyme produced?
Thanks.
happyhomemaker88 said,
October 1, 2009 @ 9:20 am
Hi there and welcome, dear Guest
The plastic juice bottles here have a capacity of 2 litres each…1 bottle will yield about 1.5 litres of enzyme (more or less depending on the fruit peels used). It was recommended at the other sites where I learned to make the enzymes that we use plastic bottles because there will be a gas buildup inside the bottle and the plastic material is more flexible. The glass shards may be dangerous if the glass bottle explodes with the force of the gas buildup inside it. Safer to use a plastic bottle instead. Be sure to keep the bottle cap loosely closed to let gas out slowly.
With best wishes,
choesf
Guest said,
October 2, 2009 @ 4:56 am
Thanks again.
Lia said,
October 12, 2009 @ 4:26 pm
Just started trying out the recipe today. U have to cut the pieces smaller right?
http://twitpic.com/l7ozs
hope its enough water etc..
happyhomemaker88 said,
October 12, 2009 @ 4:42 pm
Hi there and welcome, dear Lia
It is okay if you don’t cut the fruit peels smaller. Mine was smaller because I had to put them through the small opening of my plastic bottles. Last week, I made a huge bucket of cleaning enzyme and I didn’t cut the peels smaller.
The water amount is about 3 times the amount of fruit peels…but an estimate is alright, too.
Be sure to keep your container loosely covered if you are cutting down the fermentation time with yeast as the gas buildup will be very fast…so, better avoid a possible explosion and a messy cleanup!
With best wishes,
choesf
SK said,
October 18, 2009 @ 12:08 pm
Hi, I used the leftover fruit from my harvested fruit enzyme to cultivate the cleaning enzyme (20% of the required volume). Faced the same problem of fast buildup of gas. It only started after the second day and in fact I need to open the cap nearly every hours the next day to release the gas. At the end, I just put on the cap without tightening the cap. Today its the 4th day and I wondering if the enzyme can mature by 2 weeks. Thanks for the forewarning though.
happyhomemaker88 said,
October 18, 2009 @ 7:49 pm
Hi there and welcome, dear SK
Yes, the leftovers from the harvested fruit enzyme are considered as “starters” and can help to accelerate the fermentation of the new batch of enzymes. These days, for my drinking enzymes, I also use the leftovers from the older drinking enzymes to make a new batch….as I have to catch up with the demand from my family members all drinking enzymes daily. We finish about 1 litre of enzyme per week!
You can try using your enzyme after 2 weeks and test out some cleaning, like on your floor tiles or to wash a small area of your kitchen or bathroom, e.g. the sink. On 01 Oct, 2009, I had made a large batch of drinking dragon fruit enzyme and I put the leftover peels into a large plastic pail…poured in some brown sugar, leftover cleaning sludge/fruit pulp (about 1 kilo from 3 bottles) and I noticed that the fruit peels have gone mushy faster and the reddish/purplish colour of the liquid (from dragon fruit) has gone lighter…a sure sign that fermentation is faster than if left to ferment with just sugar.
I have not tried this “shortcut” cleaning enzyme yet after 2 weeks (because I had a lot of older enzymes left then), but I have tried it after 1 month of sped up fermentation with excellent results.
I’m sure many visitors here would like to know how yours will turn out – it would be wonderful if you can share with us your experience here.
With best wishes,
choesf
SK said,
October 24, 2009 @ 5:14 pm
Ok will try my best. ANyway I have done another 2 bottles and based on my observation, the gass will built up after the second day. So for those who wish to try, be careful after the second day.
happyhomemaker88 said,
October 24, 2009 @ 6:56 pm
Thank you for sharing your experience, dear SK. So, be forewarned, everybody….keep a watchful eye on the SECOND DAY of fermentation.
With best wishes,
choesf
SK said,
November 2, 2009 @ 12:56 pm
Hi Chooesf,
Harvested part of my 16 days enzyme for cleanning last Saturday. Observed that it did not perform as good as the 3 months old. Old water stain still appeared at the wall tiles in comparison. Poured both the cleaners next to each other for results. Even though scrubbed both sides with the same strength (hahaha), the side with 16 days old enzyme have poor results, Even with mopping, the floor did not have the same superb squecky clean feel but still OK. I think it could be the enzyme is still ‘young’ and needs more days to be matured. Will try the results after 1 month of maturity and see if it’s perform better.
Regards – SK
happyhomemaker88 said,
November 3, 2009 @ 11:02 am
Good morning, dear SK
Thank you so much for your feedback on this “shortcut” enzyme. Wow, you really took the time and did a test using both the mature and young enzymes on your wall tiles. Good! I also learned from you there! So far, because I had a lot of enzymes prepared in batches, the shortest time that I harvested my enzyme (following the shortcut of yeast or sludge method) was 1 month. Also, I didn’t notice any difference because I didn’t compare the results like you did.
But I also felt the mature enzyme works best because the colour of the enzyme when it is ready fermented thoroughly is when it turns a clear brownish yellow…compared to yellow from lemons/oranges or reddish from dragonfruit/beetroots, etc. So, this is like comparing to ginger…old ginger has more zing compared to young ginger!
Can’t wait for your next “report”!
With best wishes,
choesf
SK said,
November 14, 2009 @ 2:36 pm
Hi Chooesf
As agreed, used my 1 month old accelerated enzyme again today for comparison results with my 3 months old enzyme. Done the side to side experimental test and scrubbed both side of the floor and discovered that the one month enzyme worked almost as good as the 3 months old but not entirely as clean as the 3 months old. Actually have problem to identify areas to do the test. Hahaha. Yet to mop my floor with the quick enzyme. Will do it maybe tomorrow.
So for those who couldn’t wait for the 3 months period, you can put the fruit enzyme leftover to reduce the time. I used 20% of the total required portion.
Since last month, I been using the leftover as starter for the new batch. Discovered the fruit peels sank down faster (after 2 weeks) compared to those without the starter.
Hope my test results will benefit those who wish to venture into it.
BTW, been distributing bottles of the cleaner to my frienda and relatives. Managed to generate some interests to start to do it themselves.
Regards – SK
happyhomemaker88 said,
November 18, 2009 @ 10:08 am
Good morning, dear Sk
I’m glad you are able to share with us your “research” findings….so, we can conclude that :-
1) for best results – use fully matured enzymes (3 months old)
2) the shortcut taken to ferment the enzymes – best to use after 1 month, instead of just 2 weeks
Heheh, I am finishing my enzymes too fast and making so many bottles often that I have lost touch with the “timing” of the enzymes. I just take a look at the enzyme colour (usually a pale yellow colour recognisable from mature enzyme” to know if it is ready. Also, I have been mixing old enzyme sludge to new ones and that throw off the timing/duration to ferment the enzyme because the shortcut makes some faster than others.
Thank you for your valuable feedback! I’m glad you are promoting this eco-friendly concept to your friends! These days, I no longer buy floor washes, bathroom cleaners, glass cleaners, fertilisers…and I am saving some money every month!
With best wishes,
choesf