PROBIOTICS for you and your chickens

[AndreaS]

Good morning my kefir making buddies!

Update: after a week, my kefir has gotten much smoother! Yay!

Aging it in the fridge for a few days is definitely the way to go! It is much mellower. I did some with vanilla extract, some with Ginger, and I plan on trying the orange Peel today.

Question: I think my grains are starting to multiply. My original grains are the typical, large cauliflower floret looking things. But the past few times I've strained it, I've had tons of little milky "chunks" or curds- are these the beginnings of new grains? They are very small.

Ginny, good luck with the colonoscopy! I shudder to think of when I have to start doing that!!

Andrea

 

[Miss Lydia]

Our grocery store had a sale on kifer this past week 2for 5 and I bought the reg. and also with strawberry, what I'd like to know is when I start to make my own when would the fruit be add to it?

 

[Ukyou]

Kefir can be made with almost any liquid. Coconut milk is commonly used as well as nut milks. I like to make keifer water with for ever quart of water I add 2 tablespoons of sugar and then whatever dried fruit I want to use. You can also use fruit juices. You can switch from milk to another substance by rinsing your grains in non chlorinated water and then starting new. It just takes a few batches before they really take of. Since I find mine double about every month, I have had fun playing with them. With the fruits and water it carbonates it so it is important to not put a lid on while fermenting, but once I strain it out, I close it up to preserve the carbonating.

 

[AndreaS]

Quote:
I believe you want to add fruit after your 24 hour culturing time. You remove the kefir grains and let the remaining liquid "ripen" with whatever flavorings you like. I've been doing this in the fridge but have read it can be done at room temperature

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thanks so next to get my order off....

 

[featherbaby]

YIPPEE! MY STARTER GRAINS JUST ARRIVED!!!! I got them from a seller on e bay. They came in a regular flat envelope. She had bagged them in a teeny ziplock and wrapped that in some thin packing foam sheet material. Unfortunately they were broken open and half out of the baggie and all messy in the packing foam. I scraped all I could off everything and put in a jar. I put warmed milk over it all. I am concerned that it may be contaminated with other germs, but I wasn't going to throw it away, nosirreebob! what do you think? Will it be safe to use? Should I try and start over with another shipment?

When I strain the milk off the grains and add more milk to start the next batch, should I warm the milk to room temp or is cold milk ok?

How many batches should I discard before drinking it?

Ernie, you are SUCH a help!!!! Keep up the good work!!!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

First thing I'd do is contact the seller they will probably send you new for no charge.

 

[elizabethbinary]

Quote:
Hi! I'm new to this thread but I make keffir all the time. When I want new keffir I drink about a cup of milk from a 2L bottle and use a funnel to put the keffir from my other batch into the cold milk directly, give it a little swirl/shake, and then just put it in a sunny window. Always works just perfectly for me!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Elizabethbinary, what do you put over top of the bottle?

 

[elizabethbinary]

Quote:
I just put the lid it came with back on. LOL am I not supposed to?

When I'm done I strain it and put the new keffir into a glass Staggio jar with regular lid.