Every eco enzyme recipe you will read anywhere in the world resolves to three numbers: one part sugar, three parts scraps, ten parts water. This page is about where the numbers come from, why they are surprisingly forgiving, and where they are not.
sugar : scraps : water
What the numbers are doing
The sugar is food for the yeasts and bacteria. The scraps are the enzyme substrate: they contain the pectins, cellulose and plant acids that the microbes work on. The water is the medium everything happens in. Get the balance right and the fermentation is self-regulating.
One part sugar to ten parts water gives you a roughly ten percent sugar solution, which is high enough to feed a healthy fermentation and low enough that yeasts do not take over and produce mostly alcohol. Three parts scraps is about the maximum you can pack in while still keeping enough liquid to submerge them.
Weight, not volume
Measure by weight. A cup of loose pineapple peel and a cup of packed orange peel can differ by a factor of three. A litre of water weighs a kilogram, which makes the arithmetic easy: pick your water weight, divide by ten, and you have your sugar. Multiply the sugar by three and you have your scraps.
| Water | Sugar | Scraps |
|---|---|---|
| 1 L (1,000 g) | 100 g | 300 g |
| 2 L (2,000 g) | 200 g | 600 g |
| 5 L (5,000 g) | 500 g | 1,500 g |
Deviating on purpose
The ratio is a target, not a law. Small deviations are absorbed by the fermentation. Larger ones change the character of the batch.
- More sugar (1.2 or 1.5 parts): faster fermentation, sweeter finished liquid, more risk of alcoholic fermentation dominating.
- Less sugar (0.7 or 0.8 parts): slower start, risk of putrefaction if the sugar runs out before the acids build up.
- More scraps: denser, more concentrated liquid, but harder to keep submerged. Risk of mould on exposed pieces.
- Less water: same problem — scraps float, get exposed, spoil.
Do not push the sugar below 0.7 parts. This is where the community reports the biggest jump in failed batches. The sugar is not optional; it is what keeps the microbes fed until the acid environment protects the batch on its own.
Why not just eyeball it
Because the first month is where the batch either establishes itself or fails. Once the pH drops below about four, the batch is largely self-defending against contamination. Before that point, the ratio is what keeps the microbes you want ahead of the microbes you do not.
Once you have made a few batches you will develop a feel for it. Until then, use the scale.