I’ve been making kefir for about 10 years @Shirley Martin when I first started I watched a million YouTube videos well maybe I’m stretching the truth just a little bit .. All the videos I watched most said never use anything metal in processing / making / storing….Yet the main site I look at from time to time use metal spoons / strainers ..so I just make a habit of using all plastic stuff ..or glass bowls when straining. I’ve got a smallish silicon spatula I use / nylon strainer / plastic bowl and I use a 1 quart ball mason jar with a plastic lid for processing and a smaller pint size mason jar for storing. Just yesterday I put “extra grains” ( they grow / double up ) into a jar with a bit of milk and put it in the freezer for safe storage so if you “kill” your using stock you always have a back up supply. When I do a second ferment I love putting a couple of slices of orange in it .,it make a nice thick semi fizzy drink . NEVER ADD anything other than milk to your grains ….ONLY add flavouring / fruit to your strained drink
Last night I made my second batch of the kefir from the yogurt maker, and it turned out exactly like the first batch turned out, so I think that I will be able to reuse the starter culture to make quite a few new batches before I have to start over with a new culture packet. This works so well, none of the hassle of dealing with the kefir grains and leaving it sit out in varying temperatures on the counter until it becomes kefir. After two failures at making kefir with the grains, I am going to stick with using the starter packets. I know that they say it does not get as many live cultures as the grains make, but neither does it mutate like the grains did , and get a terrible taste and smell.
I harvested my first batch of kefir yesterday and had it for brunch today. I added two packs of sweetener and about a half cup of blueberries. It was yummy. The directions that came with my grains were simple and easy to understand. It's super easy to make. I only make one cupful at a time for now because it is so easy. @Yvonne Smith , the directions say that if your room temp is below 72º, it doesn't work as well. They recommend using some kind of heat pad to encourage it to work. They also say to cover the jar with a plastic lid, not a coffee filter like some people say. They say that when the air gets to the kefir, it can cause it to make yeast instead of kurds... ....or whatever it is supposed to be making. The yeast will cause an off taste.
I use the plastic jar lids, and usually loosen them a little occasionally, just to make sure they do not build up pressure while it is culturing. Mine cultures fine in the summer, but once the chilly weather set in, and our house is pretty cold (especially in the kitchen), then even leaving it sit out over 24 hours, it still didn’t culture properly. I read that you can culture it with the yogurt maker, so that is what I have been doing now, and it seems to be working fine; but I di not know if that would work when you are using kefir grains and not just the culture packets. I have been adding either yogurt or kefir in with my morning Bircher-Benner Muesli, and I really like it for breakfast, or even for dinner. Tonight I added a few frozen strawberries when I chopped up the apples for the muesli and it was almost like having strawberry shortcake.
@Yvonne Smith , I wonder if you can use it to make buttermilk biscuits? Mama used to make buttermilk biscuits so light and fluffy, you had to hold on to them to keep them from floating off.
I have used kefir for just about anything that you can use buttermilk for, and for some things where you might use regular milk. When I make the fiber cakes, I use kefir for the liquid, especially if it has gotten sour and I do not want to just drink it or eat it plain. I am sure that it would work just fine in a biscuit or buttermilk pancake recipe. One interesting thing I was reading is that you can use kefir to make sourdough, and then add regular yeast to make the bread rise, and you do not have to keep a sourdough starter. I have not tried this, but it seems reasonable to me.
When I was reading about the origins of kefir, it mentioned about the Nomads who used kefir. They had no way of refrigerating anything, and were always moving from place to place, so often the kefir cultured while bouncing along from a kefir bag on the side of a horse or camel. When they milked their goat or camel, or whatever, then they added that fresh milk into the bag with kefir, and so the bag of kefir was always in the fermentation process. I was wondering how it would work to just leave my jar of kefir on the counter, and when I use a cup of it, just add more milk, and let it be always culturing. Has anyone here tried that, or have any ideas about how this would (or wouldn’t) work ? It has been way too cold in the house for my kefir to culture, so I have just been using the yogurt machine and making yogurt instead for all winter. Now that we are having warmer weather again, I got out a packet of kefir culture and have a quart jar wrapped in a towel and sitting on the counter where I can check it now and then.
@Yvonne Smith , I don't think it would thicken properly. I have been doing the second ferment and it's thick and creamy like a milkshake. If you try it, let us know how it comes out.
Are y'all still making Kefir? I thought about this thread when I bought a quart of milk Kefir in my last grocery order. I'm not sure I'd drink enough of it to justify buying "equipment" to make my own.
I am. The only thing you have to buy is a nylon strainer (nonmetal) if you don't already have one. I'm sure most people already have a nonmetal spoon. Of course, you will need to buy the starter grains.
Is it cheaper to buy the grains or to just buy a quart of ready-made Kefir from the grocery store? Do you make milk or water Kefir?
Overall, buying the grains (if you are making a lot of kefir) or the starter cultures will get you more kefir than buying it from the store. Also, just like any other fermented food that you buy in the store ready made, it has been pasteurized after they make it; so then all of the live bacteria and yeast cultures are then killed by the pasteurization process. They do add some back in, but basically it is just like adding one of the probiotic capsules that you can buy, and not the actual living cultures from the kefir. I have been reading a new ebook called “The Kefir Solution”, and it completely explains the gut connection between IBS, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and how to use kefir to heal the issues. The lady who wrote the book raises goats in England, so she has fresh goat’s milk to make kefir with, which is probably much better than using store bought milk; but I don’t have a milk goat anymore so the store milk will have to do. Once the milk is cultured, it will have the same cultures growing in it, so what you are missing would be the enzymes from fresh raw milk. https://smile.amazon.com/Kefir-Solution-Natural-Healing-Depression-ebook/ Here is a little video by Dr. Berg, and he explains the difference between what yogurt does for you and what kefir does.
I agree ,almost anything you can make at home is usually better for you. Milk kefir, I'll keep this one too in case we can't find dairy milk. Almond, lowers blood sugar ,