For those who grow your own kefir.....

[nab58]

how do you keep it warm enough in the winter? I got some starter grains in-line less than two weeks ago. I realize the temperature in my house is around 58-62. Too cool for kefir to grow.
I contacted the company and they suggested putting it in the oven with the light on. I'm trying that right now but hate to waste the electricity, plus I'm afraid someone will accidentally turn the oven on.
They also suggested putting it on top of a cable tv box or wifi router. I'm checking the temp of what I have to see if its warm enough.

anyone else have any creative, inexpensive ideas on keeping a consistent, warm temp?

 

[Fawn and Fam]

Sorry I don't have any ideas off the top of my head however I wanted to give you a heads up on something.....I used to grow my own until I had a gruesome experience. I always added a few slices of banana to it (I'm not sure what type you are growing). If you see fruit flies being attracted to it BEWARE! I would loosely drape a piece of plastic wrap over the top to keep most away but they could still get in if they wanted. It is important for it not to be closed off so the gases can escape. Well I got 2 days behind schedule I believe and went to change it and almost didn't notice the tons of microscopic see through larvae crawling out of the glass, on the counter, and who knows where! I always wondered how fruit flies multiplied, now I finally witnessed it- EWW

! Unfortunately I couldn't stomach growing it for fear of that happening again. In short, DON"T GET BEHIND SCHEDULE!!!

 

[nab58]

That's is SO disgusting!!!!

I've had a paper towel with a rubber and around the top of mine. I can see the fruit flies being a problem in seasons other than winter.

I kept mine inthe oven with the light on yesterday. Today, it definitely looked different. Sort of foamy and curdled. I tasted the milk and it tasted kind of sour.

I'm beginning to think this is more of a hassle than what it's worth.

 

[pdirt]

Our solution to incubating things in the oven with the light on is to put a sticky note over the oven controls to stop/warn someone to check the oven before turning it on. It's saved us many times! The cable box or router idea is a good one...if you put the kefir jar next to the box with a cardboard box over both, that might create a warm enough climate for the kefir to grow.

Our girls really liked the kefir while we were growing it. One gal laid soft shelled eggs and a couple months of kefir seems to have cured her of that. Don't know if it was the calcium or the probiotics in the kefir that helped most, but she gobbled the stuff down as if her life depended upon it!

 

[Fawn and Fam]

@ nab58: I used to make water kefir, I never tried milk. The water kefir tastes like fruity alcohol when it is ready

.

@pdirt : Great idea w/ the sticky note! I'm definitely going to use that for myself since I'm the only one who turns on the oven and can't seem to remember when I have something in there that I shouldn't. Once I made brownies, gave the children one each, then found a good hiding spot in the oven for my 9x13 pan. Being a good mommy of course I wouldn't want the little ones to have too much sugar....we parents would just have to do them a favor and eat them all ourselves, lol! I of course forgot about my scrumptious brownies

and preheated the oven and wondered what that awful chemical smell was. Much to my dismay the plastic lid to the glass pan had melted all over the top of my mouth watering brownies! I guess I had it coming to me for my stinginess

.

 

[nab58]

This morning my kefir experiment resulted in a sour, curdled, separated mess (see pic). We'll give the chickens the curds and whey and try again today. I've been In contact with the company I bought the grains from and they think the grains are 'adjusting' and on their way to making kefir. I'm not sure I'll ever have the stomach to consume this stuff.

 

[Fawn and Fam]

If you don't like the end result of the milk kefir maybe you'll want to give water kefir a try.