KEFIR grains-Mind if we give them their own thread?

[big brown horse]

I finally got some kefir grains today! I am so happy, I hope you don't mind if I make a thread just for kefir so it will be easy to reference.

I got my grains, they look like thumb sized white gooey brains. She told me to add raw milk (which I finally found a source for in the next town over ) and wait 24 hours.

Then from what I understood, I fish out the grains, drink the kefir and add milk to the grains to start over. Once the grains multiply I can seperate them and pass on to someone else.

My jar of kefir has a coffee filter secured with a rubber band and is being stored in the "fermenting closet" aka stinky closet.

Does this sound about right?

Do the grains need to be rinsed with filtered water before I add more fresh milk?

I also read that if you need to take a break on fermenting the grains you can rinse them off and store them in filtered water in the fridge.

I am sooo excited that I found someone who had the grains!

She also had kombucha starter with the scoby for me too!! But that is another thread...sorta. I read that you can somehow combine the two, when I figure out how to post a link, I will.

 

[Dace]

BBH how do you expect me to keep up?
I am just getting to fermenting girl and you already have a designated closet?
ARGH!

Edited to add my little on and DH are the only ones who will drink kefir but I buy the sweetened stuff or I don't think she (or anyone else here) would touch it with a 10 foot pole. Are you drinking it straight up?

 

[big brown horse]

BBH how do you expect me to keep up?
I am just getting to fermenting girl and you already have a designated closet?
ARGH!

Edited to add my little on and DH are the only ones who will drink kefir but I buy the sweetened stuff or I don't think she (or anyone else here) would touch it with a 10 foot pole. Are you drinking it straight up?

Yup straight up with a shot of vodka. Try it that way, perhaps the little one will like it. Just kiddin'. (Don't call CPS on me! )


I use the pantry really (it is more like a closet) but one shelf I have dedicated to fermentation...it always smells like pickles or sauerkraut!!

This is my first time to try kefir and it tastes like plain yogurt. I have been serving plain yogurt every morning (lately) with a swirl of "no sugar added" simply fruit jelly, yummy! I also thought about making smoothies tomorrow...everyone loves smoothies, right?

I gave my daughter (who enjoys being my guinea pig) her own "brain shaped" grain for her own jar of milk. She decorated her coffee filter lid so no one else will use her kefir. Anyway she is really excited about it.

I also explained that it is a good way to "keep" milk products without refridgeration, she thought that was cool. (Our power goes out a lot in these parts.)

 

[Dace]

Love it! Too funny

By the way, my little princess loves smoothies but only the ones from Jamba Juice. Why you ask when mommy can put in anything that her little her little heart desires? Mommy's smoothies have chunks.

 

[big brown horse]

Now I know why you call her "little princess"! Is she 8 years old now? What a cutie!

 

[delia_peterson]

Can you explain Kefir and how you use it? Where would I get it? It sounds cool. Lots of power outages here all the time...

 

[big brown horse]

Sure, I'm new at this, but here is the lady's blog (the lady I got my kefir from): http://kitsapkefir.blogspot.com/ It sorta explains it...supposed to be really healthy for your digestive tract...better than yogurt.

I found this lady on craigslist.com She is experimenting on dehydrating the grains for shipment. (Maybe I'll try that too, for my ss friends...I have a dehydrator, hmmm.)

 

[ORChick]

I finally got some kefir grains today! I am so happy, I hope you don't mind if I make a thread just for kefir so it will be easy to reference.

I got my grains, they look like thumb sized white gooey brains. She told me to add raw milk (which I finally found a source for in the next town over ) and wait 24 hours.

Then from what I understood, I fish out the grains, drink the kefir and add milk to the grains to start over. Once the grains multiply I can seperate them and pass on to someone else.

My jar of kefir has a coffee filter secured with a rubber band and is being stored in the "fermenting closet" aka stinky closet.

Does this sound about right?

Do the grains need to be rinsed with filtered water before I add more fresh milk?

I also read that if you need to take a break on fermenting the grains you can rinse them off and store them in filtered water in the fridge.

I am sooo excited that I found someone who had the grains!

She also had kombucha starter with the scoby for me too!! But that is another thread...sorta. I read that you can somehow combine the two, when I figure out how to post a link, I will.

BBH, I'm no expert by any means, but I have been taking care of a jar of kefir for about 2 years now, so here are my thoughts.

I do not rinse my grains (except under special circumstances, to follow). I pour the kefir with grains into a bowl, and use my (clean) fingers to fish out the grains. They go back into the jar, and are covered with milk again. The finished kefir goes in another jar, tightly lidded, and is left on the counter to use as needed. I change to a clean jar only every 4 or 5 days, though others might do so more, or less, frequently.

Rinsing grains: I do this only before I dehydrate them, which I do before sending them on to someone else (much easier than wet grains), and to keep a back up lot for myself (I've just started doing this; I'll dry a new lot every 6 months or so).

To take a break with my grains I cover them with about twice as much milk as usual, cover tightly, and put them in the fridge. Just recently we were away for 10 days; I had a quart of 1/2 & 1/2, which would have gone off if left, so I put the grains in there. Got back home to find the grains were just fine, and the 1/2 & 1/2 had turned into a very pleasant, though semi-liquid, sour cream.

I've posted these before, but maybe it is worthwhile to do so again. Anyone interested in the many aspects of kefir should take a look at these sites. This guy's writing annoys me, but he has a lot of useful information to impart.

http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/Makekefir.html
http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefirpage.html

Congratulations on finding the grains!


ETA: Raw milk is lovely, and desirable for many reasons, but if you don't have a source for it (as I don't ) don't despair. I use organic supermarket milk, and it works just fine. I'm sure regular supermarket milk would also work well. Use what you have, and don't give up if "straight from the cow" (or goat) isn't possible for you. The little kefir beasties will boost your health even so.

 

[big brown horse]

ORChick,

Thank you so much for helping me with all of that info! I hope I can keep mine alive as long as you have!

Now that I have the grains, I am going to visit those sites you so kindly posted again.

So they can be dehydrated? That is good to know.

And organic supermarket milk is fine too, that makes it a whole lot easier and cheaper too.

Glad to have your input!

 

[ORChick]

BBH, let me know if/when you reach the point of wanting to dehydrate some grains. I kept a record of how it went -- because I wasn't really sure that it would work . However, freemotion's enormously prolific grains started as some dehydrated grains that I sent her