I have recently purchased an Excalibur food dehydrator and am absolutely amazed at how easy it is to ferment foods in it. Almost all websites with recipes on how to ferment foods like amazake, tempeh, natto, etc. have directions on how to put together a makeshift incubator that allows for temperature control of the item being fermented. The Excalibur is the only food dehydrator I was able to find that allowed for a very low temperature (85 degrees, which is what's needed for tempeh). In addition, the trays can be removed, so that if you want to put a bowl inside - like when making amazake -, it's easy to do that. I'm convinced that if macrobiotic people were using this dehydrator over a long period of time, that many would begin making their own miso, and other fermented foods that require great control of the environment in which the food is being fermented. There are a lot of macrobiotic websites that sell pressure cookers and other cooking tools, and this item should be included with those, as it allows for the home production of a core group of macrobiotic foods. Sorry if this sounds like a commercial, but I'm surprised I haven't heard of it being used to ferment foods before!