homemade kefir and yogurt help me out....

[Henrietta23]

It sounds right to me. I was lucky enough to get dehydrated grains directly from Free. I wasn't sure I had the right results at first, but I did. Kitties and doggies enjoyed the first few days then I had my mid-morning snack!!

 

[Bethanial]

It sounds right to me.

And just to make sure I'm clear on this - once I take the grains out, does my kefir now need to be refrigerated if I'm not going to drink it immediately or thicken it for sour cream/cream cheese? How does that work?

 

[miss_thenorth]

Strain your kefir, put the grains in a new batch of milk, put strained kefir in the fridge. Tomorrow, you can strain it to make kefir cheese. At least that is what I do.

 

[CrimsonRose]

ok still waiting on my grains to arrive... but mean while I'm trying to make yogurt for the first time I found what looks to be an easy recipe using a crockpot so I hope it all turns out... Meanwhile... someone mentioned whey when making kefir? so it curds out like cheese does? or did I misinterpret that?

 

[miss_thenorth]

After the kefir is made, you can use a cheese cloth to strain the curds from the whey. I use an old cotton bed sheet, inside a container that I set in the fridge overnight. Once it has strained, yu can use the shey for lactofermenting, putting it in smoothies, use it when baking bread in place of the liquid etc. the curd part, you can flacour to use a cream cheese, sour cream etc.

 

[CrimsonRose]

oh ok! kinda like straining yogurt to make it thicker and yogurt cheese? if you do that then you have whey right?

but it's not separate on it's own... like curd solids floating on top of the liquid whey?

One more question... if I use honey to sweeten it, does the antibacterial properties of the honey kill the good bacteria in the kefir?

 

[miss_thenorth]

Not that I know of. Unless you heat it. We use honey quite often as a sweetner. I figured a double whammy of goodness.

 

[CrimsonRose]

awesome! that's what I was hoping!

another question... when making yogurt.... after you add the culture how long to wait before you can put it in the fridge?

I found several recipes some say keep it insulated for 8 hours then check... others say as low as 3 hours then check?

it's sitting on my counter wrapped in a blanket now as we speak... let's hope it turns out ok!

 

[miss_thenorth]

I wouldn't let it go more than 24 hours--it gets to sour by then. check it aftet 8, and see if it is thick enough for you. If it is not, let it go a bit longer. I have, (althoug it's been a while since I made yogurt) let it go 24 hours, but never longer. If is has gone long enough, you can alwasy strain it fo ryou-cheese(separating curds and whey) Mske usre your heat is still adequate ( I forget now what you are using-crockpot?) Add more hot water if you need to-- it needs to be warm.

 

[ORChick]

It sounds right to me.

And just to make sure I'm clear on this - once I take the grains out, does my kefir now need to be refrigerated if I'm not going to drink it immediately or thicken it for sour cream/cream cheese? How does that work?

I keep two jars going at all times; the first one has the strained kefir grains + new milk, and is in a jar that is loosely capped. The second one has the kefir from yesterday's jar in it, and the cap screwed on tightly. They both sit out on my counter. In the winter the temp. is around 64*, in summer between 76* and 78*. I find that the second fermentation (in the second jar) adds a tiny bit of fizz, and it seems to mellow out the flavor. I will admit here that I don't particularly like kefir; most of it goes to the chickens, and I try to remember to make a smoothie for me, because I know it is good for me - but I find that hard in the winter (smoothies don't do a thing to warm me up :/), and plain, without fruit, I don't like it at all. But the second fermentation makes it taste a bit more like buttermilk, which I do like, so its easier. I only refrigerate it if I will be away for awhile. I tend to treat it rather like medicine, and just close my eyes, hold my nose, and get it down as fast as I can, *for my health*