PROBIOTICS for you and your chickens

[AlabamaChickenLady]

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Hello and welcome Redley!!

I'm was just like you.... stumbled on this thread and just had to try it. It's amazing. I really do enjoy it. I use whole milk from the store to make mine. I think the Kefir grains feed off the fat in the milk to grow and multiply. I don't think it really matters what kind of milk you use as long as you stay away from the "Ultra Pastureized" as it is called dead milk. Now the goats milk will be perfect. I want to get a goat or 2. Maybe by next year some time.

Anyway, welcome and have fun with the kefir making.

 

[leenie]

SOOoooooo just to confirm

I can drink the kombucha tea that has been under my scoby for the last three weeks?

No time limit?

 

[brandislee]

Taste it- if it doesn't taste like vinegar, it's probably fine (and if it does taste like vinegar- use it wash your hair!).

I didn't realize that kefir was so much better for you than yogurt... I was making it a while back, but no one was consuming it even at the meager rate I was making it (like a pint a day). I didn't really care for the taste that much, and my kids were at the time allergic to dairy (they're over it now). Maybe once I have my chicks I'll try it again- having it for the chickens would be a good excuse to have it around and keep trying it, then maybe we'll develop a taste for it!

 

[brandislee]

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Ok. Thanks! I just wanted to do it right and didn't think the tea or sugar first should really matter but after last time with it molding just want to make sure all my details were right.
It was totally cooled before I put the scoby in.
And thanks to Ernie I have the jar in a cooler with a night light so the temp is right!

Yep the cooler trick works everytime! I dont remember where I came up with that Idea but it will keep mines temp at about 82 degrees even if the temp drops to below 70
in the house!!

Ermie

One of the websites I've read about kombucha making (seriously, an entire blog about just kombucha...) says to leave the culture at 65-75 degrees, and that fermenting between 75 and 85 degrees increases the amount of yeast in the ferment and decreases the amount of beneficial bacteria. I know that kombucha relies on a balance of bacteria and yeast, thus it does need some yeast, but the bacteria is really the beneficial ingredient for us, right?

lets see if I can post a link yet... yeah I can! Here's the link to the kombucha site.

 

[leenie]

OK not to be thickheaded or anything but is it ok to consume even if it tastes like vinegar? We drink shots of ACV so what I tasted wasn't as bold as that but getting close. At that point is it ok or really bad for you?

 

[WisconsinChickenWhisperer]

I don't think I have read anything about not drinking your tea if it tastes like vinegar, but maybe try the link that was posted above and see what it says?

I use 2% milk for my Kefir. I started out with maybe a tablespoon of tiny grains, and now I have close to a cup of big, fat, juicy grains. I can produce a quart in about 24 hours, but then I refridgerate for about another 12-24 before I strain out my grains. I have found that this way produces less whey, and makes my kefir creamier. I give my leftover kefir to my dogs, my cat, and my chickens. They all love it!

 

[vmdanielsen]

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I drink my tea anytime after one week. I happen to like it older, 3-4 weeks. As long as there are no funky things growing in it.(bugs [I had fruit flies one summer] or mold) I always have two going in case one should become contaminated with something unwanted. I have read conflicting reports on the amounts of beneficial "bugs" and the amount of time fermented. Frankly, I just try and drink some everyday. I haven't had any that I didn't like, just a preference on my own taste! Keep tasting and drink what is your own preference! Mine gets stronger in the summer. Mine is mellower in the winter. I like them both just fine!
Ginny

 

[brandislee]

I like mine much stronger and more acidic as well (less sweet- have never cared for sweet drinks). And I think you can drink it as tart as you can handle it. I can't imagine that anything growing in it could be "bad" UNLESS (and I don't remember how the acidity affects the balance- is more acidic = more bacteria or more yeast?) the yeast activity has gone a little nuts AND you have a sensitivity to yeast. That's the only reason I could see it being bad. I, too, shoot some ACV from time to time and can't imagine it being any different.

I just assumed before that most people wouldn't like it that... cooked? Wrong word, but I know what i mean One time I was drinking some kombucha (GT or something probably, and I think it was the one with the spirulina in it...) and my mom was like "what's that." I explained it to her and told her how much I loved it, so she asked for a drink. I thought she was going to die... she acted like I had made her drink acid or something. It was kind of funny. I think she smelled it before she took a drink (and I'm sure the green-ness of the spirulina didn't help).

 

[vmdanielsen]

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Yeah, back before I made my own I usually drank plain gt's. One time I got mango. It was ssooo sweet. I was commenting on how sweet it was and someone wanted to try it. When they tried it they almost fell over, they thought it was so vinegary!! It's all a matter of taste!!
!!

 

[emarble]

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Just checkin in and found someone new and wanted to say

welcome to the greatest thread around!! Yea I am a little prejudiced (81 pages and 810 post and about a dozen receipes)but thats ok! Anyway welcome to BYC and welcome to the Probiotics thread!!

Ernie