Adventures in Kefir

I have gotten the Fermentation Bug! I started with kombucha and am enjoying it so decided to try kefir. I purchased grains and today it seemed they had finally rehydrated enough to do their thing.

The last milk they were in that was the first that actually turned thick, tasted pretty bad... I have had store bought kefir and enjoyed it- what does home made taste like? It shouldn't be horrendously sour right? Is it possible this one just over fermented rather than went "bad"? I threw it out and place the grains in fresh milk that again I left on the counter.

Update..
Overnight the container developed a thick white froth that I then strained. I removed the grains and placed in fresh milk. The thick curd-like substance I shared with my mom and weboth enjoyed it. It had a slightly sour taste but not as if it had gone off. It was quite thick. I am hoping that as the grains reproduce, I will get more of this - whatever it is. The milk I covered and left back on the counter for the recommended additional curing. We shall see how that fairs tonight.

Been studying making kefir, keep us updated.

I've been making kefir for a while now. It is FAR more funky than store bought kefir. Intensely funky, almost like a mix between cottage cheese and plain yogurt, with its own additional unique flavor. It's an acquired taste. I usually make a smoothie with it.

I only make small amounts, about 12-16oz and usually drink it every other day. On the 48 hour schedule I find it to be at my ideal level of fermentation. However, with summer temperatures fast approaching where I live, I think i'll soon be on something closer to a 24 hour schedule. I've noticed that the grains have been reproducing more quickly as well.

Another thing to note is that I was having moderate digestion issues prior to making/drinking kefir, and though I can't necessarily isolate all the variables, I am almost certain that it has helped tremendously in this regard.

Yea homemade is much more sour than store bought, you can sweeten it though if you want. My wife likes chocolate banana smoothie made with it. At first the sour flavor was to much for me but I kept drinking it because of how awesome it made me feel after only a couple days, I experimented with all kinds of sweeteners and smoothies and secondary ferment but eventually grew to love the plain sour milk kefir and that's the only way I drink it now.

My wife is trying to learn to make kefir - but it's called water kefir - where do you get the grains for milk kefir .... or for water kefir as well. I'm the one with the stomach problems, but she's the one who loves me and takes care of me ... greatest wife a man could ask for .....
Is this kefir thing going to interfere with my beer brewing and drinking - that would put a quick end to me doing anything with kefir!

They're is no reason for it to interfere with brewing, you just put your grains in milk in a main jar on the counter with a coffee filter on top to keep dust out and every day or two transfer the grains to fresh milk and drink the fermented milk they came out of. Same thing with water kefir, milk kefir is much better for you but a lot of people hate drinking sour milk. It is kind of like plain yogurt but much more sour.

You could check a local natural/health food store. That's where I got my water kefir grains. I haven't made it in a while though. I do really enjoy milk kefir. The same place also had milk kefir grains. I haven't tried making it yet though. It's like drinkable yogurt. You might be able find finished milk kefir at your grocery store. We have found it at w@lm@rt for a good price. I have also seen grains on amazon from independent sellers, or in local classifieds or craigslist.

I bought some Strawberry milk kefir from Aldi's the other day .... like truvr says, it's like drinkable yoghurt, but the price????? wow!!. I'll see what the wife can come up with . We buy fresh raw milk here, so it's gotta be better for you than store-bought! I believe I read somewhere in the past that you could make kefir from using commercial kefir to make a starter culture, is that true or not; and if it's true, how would you go about it? TIA

Store bought is not made with grains I believe you can use it once our twice to make more like you can do with the powdered culture kefir but you need grains to keep making it. I'm not 100% sure on that though. Kefir from grains is completely different from what you buy in the store.

Well, since my past comments about kefir, I've been drinking milk kefir every 2 or 3 days, and water kefir once or twice, water kefir soda pop more often than that My wife is really good at this kefir stuff! The milk kefir reminds me a lot of the buttermilk we drank as kids .... we milked our own cow and made our own butter .... it's a little thicker than our original buttermilk, but very tasty, and since I like my food heavily salted, the 'sourness' of the milk kefir suits me just fine!

The one thing I would warn newcomers to milk kefir ..... start out in small amounts - maybe the equivalent of a double-shot per day for the first few days, then increase to whatever you want - I drink it by the beer glassful - I tried to drink a glassful when I first started drinking the homemade stuff and had the 'Jerusalem Jog' for 3 days (as an "intestinal cleanse" it can really do the job!). Now I can drink as much per day as I want.

BTW, I've had stomach problems since I was a kid ..... Doctors could never decide what the problem was - ulcer, excess acidity, haityl(sp) hernia just to name a few - but since I've begun drinking the milk and water kefir, I've got no stomach problems at all, guess I can throw all my Tums, Maalox, and baking soda away now !

I just got married to a Russian woman in January and she has turned me on to kefir. She says they drink it all the time in Russia and she missed it and the store bought stuff is not the same (store bought is more like a yogurt smoothie than real kefir). I ordered some grains online for her and she has been growing them and making kefir for us and she drinks the stuff every day. I've been drinking about once a week. She says I should drink it every day because it is good for your digestive tract and has probiotics and such. Her and the kids love it! I was very surprised the kids drank it (2yrs old and 4 yrs old) but that's how they do it in Russia so it is normal to them. When she mixes in some fruit and blends it like a smoothie, it is pretty decent.

She also makes a cheese from the kefir called "tvorog" but I haven't been too keen on that yet. She made some kind of Russian cake type thingy from the tvorog that we ate with honey and it wasn't too bad. She usually eats the tvorog with sour cream and sugar. She said she makes tovorog "pancakes" but she hasn't cooked them yet...

Edit: She has been making kefir with store bought whole milk but she says raw milk is better. It is illegal to buy raw milk for human consumption in Alabama so the nearest place I found raw milk for sale is in Southern Tennessee for about $5 a gallon on some farm. Haven't driven up there and bought any yet but I would like to. I have read that organic milk is better than straight up commercial whole milk but the organic stuff is ridiculous at $7 per gallon for generic walmart organic whole milk! What do most kefir makers on here use for source milk?

I was making kefir for a while. I've pretty much forgotten my grains in the fridge for quite a while now. I'm going to try to revive them.
I just use regular whole milk from the store. Tried it once with some raw milk, but I didn't like the taste.

Ive been making it for a few weeks using organic, full fat milk. I read that the traditional way of making it was filling a big goatskin bag with fresh milk and the kefir grains. The skin would get shaken up a little bit 2x a day or so and after 24-48 hours the kefir would be strained from it by forcing the grains into 1 corner of the bag and draining the rest.

More raw milk would be added to the bag containing the grains while the freshly drained kefir would go into an anaerobic container for a secondary fermentation, sometimes with some added snow rose.

Btw, what would be the closest thing to duplicate the conditions of a goatskin bag? An airlock? Or a jar with a cloth folded over a few times held tight by an elastic? Something else?

Sal said:

Ive been making it for a few weeks using organic, full fat milk. I read that the traditional way of making it was filling a big goatskin bag with fresh milk and the kefir grains. The skin would get shaken up a little bit 2x a day or so and after 24-48 hours the kefir would be strained from it by forcing the grains into 1 corner of the bag and draining the rest.

More raw milk would be added to the bag containing the grains while the freshly drained kefir would go into an anaerobic container for a secondary fermentation, sometimes with some added snow rose.

Btw, what would be the closest thing to duplicate the conditions of a goatskin bag? An airlock? Or a jar with a cloth folded over a few times held tight by an elastic? Something else?

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You could always get a goatskin bag if you're shooting for true authenticity! However, I am not sure where you might procure such a vessel. I would imagine that the the bag itself, over time, is colonolize by nifty beneficial bacteria and yeast colonies. At least, I would hope they are beneficial!

I always just used a glass jar with a cloth top held on by an elastic. Easy to procure, easy to clean, and it is easy to see when the kefir has fermented the milk to the level that I like.

The milk from my goats is raw when I use it for whatever. The milk is not organic, but they're pretty happy goats!