Kefir?

[Chickerdoodle13]

Anyone here drink Kefir? I started drinking it after my mom let me try some of hers while I was home. I thought it was delicious and started bringing it with me to class for breakfast. I get the strangest looks and people make faces when I tell them what it is. Its so easy to pack though because I just stick it in a travel cup and walk out the door!

 

[peepacheep]

I have been making it for a couple of years, so much simpler than making yogurt. Great for making smoothies. Straining it then adding herbs makes a nice sour cream like dip for crackers.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

How do you make kefir? I didn't know you could make it at home!

 

[peepacheep]

Kefir is very easy to make, even more low tech than yogurt. Archeologist recently found evidence of kefir making going back 3,800 years.
Another BYC'er sent me kefir grains about 4 years ago. He did not want any money for them, but asked that I pass them along to others who want to make kefir. I would be happy to mail you some grains if you would like to make your own. They are very hardy and survive shipping.

I make about 2 quarts a week. The 'grains' are actually colonies of beneficial yeast and bacteria. They look like clusters of white jelly beans. Have read that there are more probiotics in kefir than yogurt. To make yogurt the cultured milk needs to be kept a steady warm temperature for a few hours. Kefir on the other hand can do its thing at room temperature, on the kitchen counter in a glass jar. I have 2 quart jars with about 1/2 c of grains in each jar. Every 24-72 hours I strain out the grains and kefir then add enough milk to cover the grains, screw the lids on loosely, then place a kitchen towel over the jars to keep sunlight out. Found the plastic strainers for canned veggies work great at this stage. Yogurt strainers can later separate the milk solids from the whey for making cheese spreads or sour cream substitute. Since the grains are feeding on the lactose I found both whole or 2 % milk works well. The kefir will become more tart the longer it goes unstrained as the lactose is used up. The link below has more info on kefir.

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

 

[BlessedCountry6]

thanks for sharing this link. I have heard great things about kefir but we can't have milk because of food allergies. It looks like there is a water kefir we can make.