Kefiring in Full Swing & an informative article

Our Kefir grains are activated and our first batches of Kefir have been produced.  On day 7 of activating the grains, I discovered that my normally liquid milk had become very thick and separated into curds and whey.  That meant the grains were ready to make Kefir.  Generally it takes 12-48 hours to make a batch of Kefir, all depending on the temperature of the room and the grains themselves.  Our first batch took about 24 hours.  I decided to try a Second Fermentation process.  This involves removing the grains from the Kefir, and then allowing the Kefir to sit at room temperature and continue to ferment for up to 12 more hours.  This is said to mellow the flavor of the Kefir and also increases the B vitamin content and makes other vitamins more bio-available.  This is also when you can flavor the Kefir.  I sliced up a few strawberries and let it ferment away.  And the results were interesting.  Like I have read on many sites, homemade Kefir tastes very different than commercial brands.  This is indeed true, and I have to agree that it is an acquired taste.  Needless to say, each and every batch will come out it's own way, and will not be exactly the same any two times.  So while that batch was in Second Fermentation phase, a new batch was fermenting with the grains.  While commercial Kefir is delicious due to the sugar flavoring, it only contains about 10 different bacteria that the company has chosen to culture.  Homemade Kefir may have up to 50 strains of bacteria!  Amazing!  I must say that the new batch that went through a single fermentation of about 12 hours, turned out much more to my taste preference.  It was much smoother and better flavored than that first batch.  I think I will stick with the single fermentation for a while.

While I am not an expert about Kefir, I am learning a lot.  I stumbled upon this very informative website today.  Kefir: A Wonder Beverage from the Ancient World.  It's a wonderful read and may inspire you to give Kefir a try.

Though Lady genevieve does not care for the taste of my homemade Kefir yet, my hope is to find a flavoring that both she and the Laird love.  She does not care for cow's milk, which has made weaning this 13 month old an interesting process.  Trying to find an alternative for my baby who don't like cow's milk, is how I discovered that you could "make your own Kefir", in the first place.  Some have suggested flavoring her milk, which is an option.  However, if I am going to go the route of flavoring milk for her, then why not flavor a probiotic rich drink for her consumption instead?  I flavored a small bit with some homemade raspberry jam, and the Laird humored me by drinking it.  He does not like commercial Kefir, and will likely not prefer mine either.  But one can hope that I will discover many ways to get this healthful probiotic food into my loved ones tummies.  Even a little bit a day, can make a difference.  I drank a small portion my first batch last night before bed.  A few hours later, I noticed a lot of activity and noise coming from rumbling in my intestines.  Having just finished up 10 days of antibiotics, I can only wonder if that Kefir was busy at work restoring all the good bacteria to my gut after having been wiped out by the antibiotics.

Got milk? Got Questions? Leave them in comments & I will respond.

Finished Kefir w/ canning lid (left) & new batch of Kefir (right) w/ coffee filter & rubber band

Culturing my Life- How to make your own Kefir

I discovered Kefir about a year ago, and absolutely love it.  It's referred to as the "champagne" of yogurt.  It isn't for everyone- the Laird isn't a big fan.  But I on the other hand, really love the sour-yet-sweet taste of this yogurt-like drink.  It is a probiotic drink, that adds beneficial bacteria to your system.  When taking antibiotics, it is important to also take probiotics to re-build the healthy bacteria throughout your digestive system that is depleted by the antibiotics.

Cultures for Health is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in pursuing healthy eating habits.  It is extremely informative and has articles, recipes, a shop and sections about Fermentation, Cultures, Cheese Making, Soy Cultures, & Sprouting.  The articles guide you through each process in detail, basically giving you everything you need to learn any of these practices/ topics.  Hours upon hours of reading material for any interested.  I hadn't ever really heard about Culturing or Fermenting, nor the health benefits associated with cultured foods prior to finding this website.

TOOLS:  Canning jar, plastic strainer, coffee filter

Cultured foods are good for our bodies because they add healthy bacteria to our systems & the nutrients in fermented foods are more readily available for use by our bodies.  It's an ancient method of food preservation, that actually preserves food in a living state.  The canning process of food preservation heats the food to temperatures that kill not only the bad bacteria that can grow in the food, but also the living properties in food as well.

All of it sounds so interesting, and I want to try to learn how to make Kefir... and yogurt... and ferment my vegetables....  But I am going to start small, and depending on how things go, we can expand from there.  

The Kefir grains are mailed in a freeze dried state and have to be activated for a number of days before they are ready to start making kefir.  To activate Kefir grains:  Add kefir grains to 1 cup of of milk.  Cover with coffee filter & secure with rubber band.  Allow to sit on counter for 24 hours at room temperature.  Strain grains and discard milk.  Repeat process every 24 hours for 3-7 days, until the grains are activated.  Activated grains will produce a batch of Kefir, with a buttermilk thickness, within 24 hours.  The Kefir grains look like little cauliflowers when activated.

We are currently activating our grains, and will hopefully be making Kefir within the week.  When a batch of Kefir is completed, strain off grains and store Kefir in refrigerator.  Then add milk to grains and start a new batch.  Kefir is can be enjoyed as a drink, in addition to many other recipes- Kefir cheese, ice cream, smoothies, dips....  I hear the options are endless.  The Kefir can be sweetened with fresh fruit too.  I like eating it over granola.  In time the Kefir grains will grow and multiply, so they can be shared with other people too.  One amazing thing about these grains, is that they can be used indefinitely to make your own Kefir!  

If this is something that you're interested in then check out Cultures for Health!