Kefir is a drink that most Russian folks consume several times a week. Kids start drinking it probably at the same time as they begin solid foods. The stuff that was sold at the stores was great quality, made with real kefir grains but a lot of people knew how to make kefir at home. It was a part of my life growing up, as everyday as bread, butter and soup, and I remember being surprised when I first moved to the States that nobody I talked to had ever heard of it. How do you live without kefir, people..? At that time I didn’t know about the wealth of its health benefits (1), but looking back – I don’t remember ever being sick throughout my school years, and I have to definitely say there were no overweight kids. Not one. Anywhere. And I lived in a big city. I also did not know anyone who had asthma or allergies. Not a single person. I’m sure it was due to a whole number of factors, including very little processed food, but I firmly believe that drinking kefir regularly along with eating sourdough rye bread significantly contributed to our wellness (2).
What is kefir?
Kefir is a fermented dairy drink made with milk and kefir grains, which are a combination of lactic acid bacteria and several strains of yeast. Lacto bacteria break down milk lactose into lactic acid. Lactic acid, in turn, is further metabolized by other bacteria and yeasts to create sour, slightly carbonated beverage similar in taste to yogurt. The exact combinations of bacteria and yeasts vary between kefir cultures.
Why is kefir good for you?
- It is beneficial to the gastrointestinal system. Kefir acids inhibit direct pathogens in the intestines, and exclude some pathogens through competitive survival. Basically, kefir bacteria and intestinal pathogens feed on the same stuff – sugar – and in that food flight the stronger guy (kefir), wins. In Russia, kefir has been used by researchers in the treatment of peptic ulcers in the stomach and duodenum of human patients (3)
- It has strong antimicrobial properties. Some strains of lactobacilli are able to completely inhibit such harmful bacteria as Salmonella, E.Coli, Shigella and Staphylococcus aureus among many others (4, 5).
- It is healing and anti-inflammatory. There’s been research that topical application of kefir cultures improves outcomes in severe burn victims (6) and has superior protective effect on skin connective tissue compared to current accepted treatments (7).
- It can prevent and treat cancer. Kefir bacteria are able to activate functions of the immune system to fight pathogens and to delay the activity of the enzymes that convert carcinogenic compounds to carcinogens (8, 9, 10, 11).
- It helps people with allergies. Kefir may help prevent allergic reactions, including those in food allergies (12). Probiotic bacteria help to reinforce the barrier function of the intestinal wall, preventing the absorption of some antigens (13).
- It can be consumed by people with lactose intolerance. Kefir contains very little, if any, lactose, plus it contains an enzyme, β-galactosidase, that helps with the remaining lactose digestion (14 and 15).
- It is far superior to yogurt. Yogurt bacteria are transient, which means they can only do their job while they are passing through the digestive tract (16). Even though yogurt is very beneficial, you would need to consume it regularly in order to keep consistent levels of probiotic bacteria in your gut. Kefir cultures colonize the intestines (17), meaning they when they get in – they stay and will multiply if fed properly (18).
- It lowers blood pressure. A couple of anti-hypertensive peptides have been identified in milk fermented with Lactobaccilus helveticus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (19), a lacto bacteria and a yeast found in kefir.
Resistant starch, and why it pairs perfectly with kefir
Resistant starch is a starch that, well, resists digestion. It passes through the digestive system unchanged. Most starches are broken down in the small intestine, while resistant starch makes it all the way to the large intestine (colon) where it feeds the friendly bacteria. It has an amazing list of health benefits (20), and deserves its own website. But in a few words, it is the perfect fuel for the gut bacteria, which is important for all the reasons listed above, plus it lowers blood sugar and improves insulin sensitivity (21 and 22). Insulin sensitivity is one of the most important things when it comes to your health, because decreased insulin resistance is the cause of the most serious diseases – Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s.
Good sources of resistant starch are raw potatoes. If you never tried raw potatoes – they actually taste pretty good, you just need a little chunk a day to get the benefits of resistant starch. The other sources are very green bananas and some legumes. Cooked potatoes that were cooled down are high in RS as well. Try this mushroom potato salad, this fermented vegetable vinegret, or this salmon salad to get cold potatoes into your meals. Pros recommend to start slow and gradually increase the amount of those starches as they can cause some belly upsets initially. I personally haven’t noticed that to be a problem at all. This is a good article from Dr. Davis going a little more in depth on the subject.
How to make kefir
There are a ton of resources online on how to make kefir at home. I am going to share mine that worked for me for a long time. I make a pint each day, and use both raw goat or cow milk. I like the taste of goat milk but it has a peculiar flavor that not all people enjoy.
Update 2020
These days I mostly use full-fat Kalona milk to make kefir. After the fermentation is done in about 24 hours, I scoop off the layer of fat that formed on top, and strain the kefir.
I regularly put my kefir grains (more like one grain right now) in the refrigerator for a day or two, then bring it back out. This lets me use all the kefir I have on hand, and also – most importantly! – it keeps my grains making kefir that’s smooth like yogurt and without those unsightly curds. I swear this is doing the trick!
INGREDIENTS
- One pint of full fat milk, any kind. I prefer raw, but pasteurized also works well. When I ferment cow milk, I normally skim the cream off the milk, it makes the texture smoother, otherwise the cream will turn into sour cream, which is quite a bit thicker and more yellow than kefir. By all means, there is nothing wrong with sour cream, but kefir looks more esthetically pleasing when it doesn’t have chunks of sour cream in it.
- 1/4 teaspoon kefir grains. You can order them dried from Cultures for Health, or hydrated from Yemoos Market. After ordering from both places at the same time once, to compare them to each other, I decided I prefer Cultures for Health by far. It became active a lot quicker than Yemoos grains, even though it comes dry and should technically take longer to get activated. Also, Yemoos grains gave my kefir ‘stretchy’ consistency, which I don’t care for. I wound up using Yemoos kefir for baking, and then putting the grains into fridge hibernation.
EQUIPMENT
- One pint mason jar, or equivalent glass container
- Small funnel (canning funnel works great)
- Fine strainer
- Rubber band
- Small paper towel
INSTRUCTIONS
Put kefir grains in a pint jar. Don’t use metal containers for storage because metals can react with some of the acids in kefir. Using metal stainless steel utensils is okay. You need very little grains. When I see folks on the internet showing big batches of kefir grains I always think that this is enough to make kefir for an army. This is how much you need to make a pint:
Pour milk into the jar, cover with a paper towel and secure with a rubber band:
Allow to ferment for about 24 hours. During this time I take the jar and gently shake it whenever I get a chance. This movement helps the grains to come in contact with more milk.
Once the milk starts to thicken, smell tangy, the kefir is ready. Sometimes the grains come up to the top. If you let it sit too long, it will separate into curds and whey. There is nothing wrong with that, and I normally just shake it up and drink it, but some people might find the texture to be odd.
Once the kefir is done fermenting, strain it to another pint jar using funnel and strainer:
Once strained, the grains will look something like this (look for the yellowish grains):
Then scoop the grains and start a new batch:
WHAT IS SECONDARY FERMENTATION?
After the 24 hour period, when the kefir grains are removed, you can leave the kefir unrefrigerated for another one or two days. It allows the yeast that we inoculated into the milk to continue working on the remaining lactose. It makes kefir taste less acidic and also increases its nutrient content, especially the amount of B vitamins (23).
SOME NOTES
- When a new grain appears, I separate it, put it in a small dish and cover it with a paper towel until it’s completely dry. Then I add it to the rest of my dried kefir grains that I keep in a glass bowl in the fridge. I had to use this stash a couple of times when I accidentally dumped the grains into the sink. It was good to have on hand.
- Every now and then my grains start making kefir that’s stinky, I can’t really describe the smell, it’s not bad like spoiled milk but quite unpleasant. I used to toss the grains, and use new ones, but once I tried soaking them in a small mason jar of water with a teaspoon of raw apple cider vinegar. I kept the grains in vinegar water for 2 days (48 hours), and after I put them in milk, they made a perfect, great smelling and tasting kefir. I’ve been using that trick ever since, and it has worked for me every time.
- My home dried grains become active a lot faster than the ones I bought from a store the first time.
- All the kefir pros say that you are not supposed to use the same grains on different types of milk (cow, goat, sheep) or switch from raw to pasteurized. I haven’t found that to be an issue. I used the same grains with goat and cow milk, and a few times when traveling I used pasteurized milk because my favorite raw kind wasn’t available. It was completely fine.
- If your kefir ferments too quickly and becomes very thick or separates – you are using too many grains. Cut the amount, and your kefir will be smooth and creamy again.
- In Russia folks ferment kefir in dark jars. I haven’t found any research to why that would be necessary, but I believe that food making tradition is a powerful thing, normally based on long term observation, and try to keep my fermenting jars in a dark spot.
WHAT TO DO WITH KEFIR
- Use it in your smoothies instead of yogurt.
- Drink it plain (my favorite way).
- Make a frozen treat like this or add it to your eggnog.
- Make tangy salad dressings, or add to salads like this.
- Add it to homemade ice cream.
- Use it as a face or hair mask.
82 comments
Hi Valeria, I have taken inspiration for my recent post from this informative post of yours. Thanks.
http://www.cookingsutra.com/kefir-and-turmeric-lassi/
Hi Ratna, so happy to hear that! I am a huge believer in kefir health properties, and hope that you benefit from it.
Also – great blog! I see myself getting a lot of ideas from you, with my love for the Indian cuisine and culture 🙂
Hi Valeria,
Great running in to your article. I got some kefir grain recently and have started making it and love it!
I have a question for you: When do Russian folks usually have kefir? Yogurt is a staple in South India and we usually have it with every meal usually at the end of each meal. What we were told as kids is that it helps us digest the food. We had it with rice.
Thanks
Veggie Sutra.
Hi 🙂 We had it probably with everything, kind of like you’d have milk, with dinner, or with a sweet roll, or as a snack. It was always plain, so all the super flavored and sweet stuff that’s sold here is still weird to me. I don’t remember being told that’s it’s good for us, it was just kind of there all the time.
Rice with yogurt sounds great! I add sour cream to my rice all the time. I guess your folks knew what they were talking about, it’s so neat!
I am with you, Valeria!! I totally do not get sweetened yogurt and fruit-at-the-bottom yogurt and such and found it weird when I came to this country and still do.
Kefir is yummy. I usually let it sour a lot because I am intolerant to lactose. Thanks for the reply. Will keep an eye on your blog for more such great tips.
I love your blog! Thank you for sharing your culinary talents. I am curious if you have refined the traditional Russian way of making kefir or are you making it in the traditional way? Do you have an image of the traditional containers used? I am now doing the secondary ferment and it has sat for less than a day so far but has separated. Is that normal? If not, what have I done wrong? Thank you again.
Hi Eli, thank you very much!
The way described here is how a lot of Russian folks make kefir, there is no right or wrong way, really. This is how it was made when I was little, and when I read all the Russian forums, it’s still the same. Containers can be anything people have on hand, normally glass jars, again – no rules..
Separation is completely normal! I’d skip the secondary ferment; or if you do it to add flavor – I would put flavored kefir in the fridge, fermentation continues there, just slower. Separation is the sign of fermentation moving along, and kefir is just one of the steps between milk and cheese, so got to catch that right moment 🙂 When I start seeing separation, I reduce the amount of grains, and watch closely for the signs of readiness. I only use two-three grains per quart, I know it doesn’t seem like a lot but that really works well for me. Hope that helps!!
There is no need to stir during the secondary ferment, in my opinion. You can do it if you want to but definitely not a requirement
I am sorry, I forgot to ask, when you are doing the secondary ferment, do you need to stir it several times a day?
I sure appreciate your help!
Can you make kifir from plain store bought kifir?
Yep, you should be able to, but I haven’t tried it. From what I understand, it won’t have the same amount of kefir cultures as kefir made from the grains, just because commercial kefir supposedly has less, according to everything you read on the internet. I know folks add a couple of tablespoons of store bought kefir to a quart of milk and leave it overnight, if it sours – you have kefir, if it doesn’t – your store bought kefir didn’t have enough live cultures, and you are out of luck 🙁 I might experiment sometime just out of curiosity..
If I forgot the kefir out of the fridge for 3 days……is it spoiled? Should I throw it? Or can I rinse it with apple cider can I reuse it???appreciate your answer،،
The kefir itself probably turned to cheese? 🙂 If your house is cool, and it doesn’t smell funny, I would strain the cheese and use whey for cooking. If it smells really funny (=bad), I would discard the milk/cheese/whey, and rinse the grains with water and apple cider vinegar, like you mentioned. I do that every now and then.
Hello. I found your article very helpful. I recently went to a healthy living place and was given a huge jar of kefir to help my digestion. it was at least half gallon mason jar. it was very thin with just a bit of curds. It was cold so I took it home and refrigerated it. I have been snaking it up each day and adding fruit blending it into a smoothie. After reading your site I’m wondering if I should have left it to sit out on the counter as it was very thin. Thinner than milk.. Each day ive! Noticed more of the curds but it’s still very thin. Should it be stored in the fridge for daily use? I’ve never used this before so I’m not familiar with how to properly use or store it. It sounds as if it should be made daily. Not one big jar. Please help. Thank you.
Hi Elizabeth, it sounds like you got kefir that was slightly overfermented since you were able to see the curds and it seemed to be watery. Overfermenting turns it into whey and curds, instead of your kefir having a smooth and creamy consistency. There is nothing wrong with it! You certainly don’t want to keep it at room temperature at this point; and to be honest I wouldn’t leave kefir that I didn’t make myself at room temperature after buying it. I’m sure it still has all the kefir probiotics in it so keep drinking it 🙂 To make kefir at home, you would need kefir grains like described in the post. Hope this helps!
Thank you so much. I’m going to pick up some grains and try it!
Hi Valeria, A friend gave me some kefir and I’ve started making it. I love the slightly acidic flavour and think I’ll drink it every day. Yum..
A question for you : I will be traveling overseas for an extended period and would like to take some with me in my suitcase to make while I’m there. I thought of about a tablespoon of kefir in a 1/4 cup of milk placed in a jam jar with a vacuum lid, straight from the frig into a plastic bag and my suitcase. Do you think that a 24 hour flight could cause so much fermentation and gas that the jar might explode (or be discovered and confiscated by the powers-that-be?) I don’t know where to obtain kefir where I will be going, and don’t wish to miss out on my daily “nip”. Thanks for your advice.
Hey Lyrrem, that’s a tough recommendation to make! I personally took a couple of 17-18 hour car trips with a half-pint mason jar with one teaspoon of kefir grains, and it was completely fine, the milk just turned to kefir without any pressure. That said, I haven’t taken in on a plane! I really can’t tell you one way or another.. Intuitively, there is not enough volume in a tiny mason jar to create any significant pressure. Also, if you want to be completely worry free, just dry your grains for a couple of days, and take them in a plastic bag with a bit of dry milk powder (I wrap the grains in unbleached baking paper, then stick them in a plastic bag). When I do that, it only takes 2 days for the grains to start making good kefir again. Good luck! 🙂
Hi Valeria,
A few things.. Thanks for your site. I am only healthy when I am consuming fermented food, but when it comes to making kefir, I get confused becasue I cant consume it fast enough. The grains increase, and they stock pile and am not confident about how long they stay good in the fridge not being used. When you say that it takes them a few days to get up and running again after you dry them, does that mean that that batch of kefir will sit out taking an extra day or two to make kefir? or am I suppose to do something with them first? I have read that I can actually eat grains that are extra. What do you know about that. And what do you mean “dry” them. Just rinsing in water and detting them on counter to dry and putting them in fridge? Indefinitely? I have gone through periods making kefir but get exhausted from keeping the cycle going. Which brings me to the next problem (or not) I want to get a sourdough starter going but only eat bread rarely. How do I keep the starter that is not being used all the time? Thanks, Valeria!
Hi Karen, I can see how it’s confusing 🙂 I believe you can store extra grains in the fridge submerged in milk for a long time as long as you change the milk once a week or so. I don’t do it because I always forget to add extra milk and wind up with a bunch of stinky cheese curds.. This method works well when you need to take a short break from kefir but not as a long term solution, at least for me. When I get extra grains, I put them in a small dish lined with parchment paper, stick the grains on the paper, cover with a paper towel and leave for a couple of days, until completely dry. Then I store them in the fridge, sprinkled with dried milk powder, in a paper bag and a plastic bag. To rehydrate, I would put the grains back into milk at room temperature, and change milk daily until the grains start making kefir. You are probably familiar with that process. When the grains aren’t active yet, they still change the consistency of the milk but the milk doesn’t taste pleasant. So once it tastes ‘kefiry’, the grains are officially active. What I meant in the post is that the grains that I dried at home rehydrate a lot faster than the ones I would get at Cultures for Health. Not sure what the reason is, but you can pretty much have good kefir very quickly from home dried grains. Yep, I eat the grains sometimes, why not 🙂 if I’m too lazy to dry. They don’t really have any particular taste, kind of chewy and plain.
If you want to keep sourdough culture going but don’t bake a lot, you can keep it in the fridge, feed it once a week, and get it out when ready to bake. You just need extra planning, to get the starter active again but only a day or a day and a half. You would get it out of the fridge, feed it, wait for a good rise, then feed it again. I actually kept a starter in the fridge without feeding for a month a couple of times, and it still came back to life, so that was good for those times when I broke my counter starter jar, lol. Hope it helps!
Thank you so much. My kefir has been turning to curds and whey in 8 hours and couldn’t understand why. A lot of the sites talk about a tablespoon of grains to 2 1/2 cups of milk. Now I have cut down to a couple in 1 pint milk like you have suggested I am back to lovely creamy kefir. I have also dried the excess ones like you suggested.
So glad it was helpful, Deborah! 🙂
Hi Valeria,
I was searching how to make own kefir at home, … and I founded your blog… I really like your blog !
I am from Russia too… and I live in UK for 16 years now. Here / in UK they have no idea what is a kefir ! … usually I buy kefir from Polish / Russian shops here in London, which is very different not like the real one from Russia. Now I will make my own 😉
I have ordered from Amazon / kefir starter and will try it !
Thanks for your blog ! …
Lara
Yeay! Glad you like it, Lara! I cannot live without kefir 🙂
Sadly, I didn’t read your website when a friend handed my husband a jar of kefir a week ago. I put it in the fridge after it had already been fermented for 12-48 hours. Now a week later, I took it out, strained it, and the ‘kefir’ is on the runny side and smells awful. I blended a half of a banana and added that that to the kefir, wrapped the top with saran wrap and it’s sitting on my kitchen counter. Do you think this is salvageable? Should I keep the kefir grains?
Hi Janina, it’s hard to tell without looking to check what kind of smell it is! ? I would rinse the grains and put them in some milk again to see what happens, maybe even do a couple of changes of small amounts of milk without the intention of drinking it. If the unpleasant (not just the sour, but really off-putting) smell is there, I’d toss the grains. If the smell was just from milk getting overly fermented – acidic, vinegary – and the grains go on to make normal consistency kefir, all’s good. Hope it works out!
Im practically living on this page, you have helped me make some lovely kefir and have now told me why my last batch separated. Thank you so much. I’m following the Trim Healthy Mama eating plan and the weight is flying off but more importantly I’m feeling 100% better in myself. So glad I found your page thank you very much.
I’m very happy to hear this, Lynnette!! Thank you for sharing. And I’m so glad you are feeling your best 🙂
Help! I accidently put my mason jar of cultures in the microwave instead of my overnight oatmeal. Have I killed them?
Ouch.. I’d say yes. Unless you only had them there for a couple of seconds, then you can put them in fresh milk and see if they ferment?
I recently was diagnosed with SIBO-do you think it is okay to have Kefir?
I don’t really know the answer, Susan.. I’m better at cooking rather than giving advice 🙂 I think ‘Dr. Google’ still debates on how to answer that. Technically, you want the beneficial bacteria to populate your gut but at the same time you should not be consuming dairy (lactose). Then again, well-fermented kefir doesn’t have much lactose left, but on the other hand – do we really know? I think it’s something you should decide for yourself, sorry if this isn’t very helpful!
Hello, Valeria!
You have some nice recipes here! I also enjoy reading about your growing up in Russia amongst traditional ways.
I have a question for you:
I’ve had my milk kefir grains sitting in water for almost a month now. The water smells like….fruity flatulence?
In your experience, does it seem that it would be best to purchase some fresh grains, or could mine be saved?
Thanks!
Thank you so much, Bethany!
If it wasn’t for the word ‘fruity’, I thought you were describing my husband, ‘sitting for a month’ and umm.. ‘flatulence’..
I can’t talk from my experience on this but if I was to guess, the odds of the kefir grains being healthy are pretty slim.. You can experiment if you have some milk to spare, and place them in milk (just a little) at room temp for a couple of days to see if anything happens. Just make sure to change the milk once a day. 🙂
My kefir grains just arrived yesterday from Cultures For Health and I am confused on how to rehydrate them. would you mind walking me through the steps? I bought organic milk that is ultra pasteurized which I see is a no no! I do not have access to raw milk, unfortunately.
Hi Susan, if you want to make a little kefir at a time (for example, I do a pint a day), take three grains, and place them in a mason jar or a plain glass and pour a cup of milk over them. The next day, strain the milk and place the grains into a cleaned jar or glass and pour a cup of milk again. Do that for several days until the milk starts to thicken plus another day or two, just discarding the milk. I’m not a fan of ultra pasteurized milk but it still has lactose (milk sugar), which is the main food source for kefir grains so it’s a good use of that milk. Raw milk is not necessary for making good kefir 🙂
Thank you so much!! If I am understanding correctly, once the grains are rehydrated and I have my first glass of kefir, I strain and reuse the grains to make my next glass. Do the grains have a “shelf life”? How many times can I reuse the original 3 grains? I so appreciate your advise!
Yes, exactly! Once those original grains are rehydrated, just keep using them, they will grow and probably multiply too. They don’t technically have a shelf life, since they are growing organisms, they can be active and thriving for a very long time. They can become infected (stinky) or just stop producing good kefir, and that’s what would indicate that you should probably start new. It doesn’t happen very often though.
I can’t wait to get started!
Valarie I have just found your website – brilliant! I see myself trying a lot of your recipes in the future. As a newbie to fermenting I love all the info provided alongside your recipes, as well as own your personal experience. Thank you.
Thank you very much, Emma! Glad you stumbled on my blog, hope you will find something you enjoy! 🙂
The fermentation in dark jars or in dark areas is done to protect the product from losing nutrition as there are some nutrients that break down from exposure to light. Even plain milk loses nutrients if exposed to light too long.
Hello, and thank you for all the information! I have a question that you have probably already answered somewhere before. I left my kerfir for 48 hours, and now it smells tangy and has separated into curds and whey. My question is, can I still use this batch? I’ve started a new batch, but I’d like to use this for something if I can.
Thank you again!
Hi Mary, I think it should still be good – shake it well, it will become drinkable; if you don’t like the texture, use it for cooking – as you would buttermilk or in place of milk for pancakes. I wonder if you have too many kefir grains, or maybe you can ferment it a little less? 🙂
Should my kefir smell yeasty? I did the initial rehydrating with a small amount of the Cultures of Health grains. Nothing much happened for the first 24 hours. I put it in a new jar of milk, but I got delayed that time and left it for probably more like 31 hours. It had separated and did not smell or taste pleasant. I drained the grains and put them in a new batch and left it for 24 hours. It was somewhat separated, thick, smells slightly yeasty. I took out the grains and will start again. But I’m not sure if it should smell yeasty. I put the last batch and this one in the fridge. Will refrigerating it change the yeasty smell at all? Or does that mean it’s gone bad? Thanks. I’m super excited about this (eventually) working.
I guess partly what I want to know is – is it ever dangerous to drink kefir that has fermented too long or not quite right?
Hi Christina, slightly yeasty smell is normal, it doesn’t mean spoilage, after all kefir grains contain yeast species. Yeast starts working later in the fermentation process, after lactic acid bacteria broke down a certain amount of lactose into lactic acid (acidification of the medium). Commercial production uses shorter fermentation time/higher temperatures to slow down, or even prevent, yeast activity, which otherwise results in insignificant amount of alcohol development (ethanol + carbon dioxide). On a positive note, allowing yeast to proliferate breaks down the majority of any remaining lactose (which is what folks who cannot consume dairy are sensitive to).
I don’t think it’s dangerous to drink overfermented kefir, I avoid it only if it smells unpleasant, and you know right away when it does, it’s almost ‘throw-up’ kind of smell, please forgive the graphic description. Separation is normal and can be prevented when you figure out the working pattern of your grains, which is based on your home temperature and grains-to-milk ratio. I’d give it a few more days if you just received your grains so recently. I found that when I was waiting on the kefir grains to activate, the milk that they were in – even though it fermented – didn’t taste good, kind of bland and tasteless. Make sure you don’t use too many grains, I personally think the amount of grains recommended by Cultures for Health is a bit much 🙂 Hope this helps!
In your notes section, you mention separating out a new grain. Um, how do you know which grains are new?? Silly question perhaps, haha!
Good question! I guess I should say I separate a grain without knowing if it’s new or not, lol, when I see more grains than what I put in. New grains actually start pretty small, then grow and I let them. Sometime the old grains grow big so I might separate them into a couple of pieces, then save one. So no rhyme or reason 🙂
Just drank our first homemade kefir! The flavor was perfect with fresh fruit, and it felt soothing and satisfying to the stomach. I look forward to regularly reinforcing and nourishing an army of super bacteria in our guts! 😀 Thanks, Valeria!
So glad you are enjoying it! Loving my kefir routine!! 🙂
Great points you have here Valeria. For me, you should make your own Kefir drink and recipe because it’s healthy to our body. It offers a lot of health benefits. I am sure of that because I was also once a sickly lady before I started taking kefir drink regularly. And, if you prepare your own, you are sure that the one you are drinking is sterile and it is as well more economical.
Thank you so much, Valeria, for all the helpful information regarding kefir — you are a treasure!
I have a question about how you describe soaking your misbehaving grains 🙂 in water and raw apple cider vinegar: what ind of water (tap, distilled?) and how much?
Thank you!
Hi Carol, I don’t really have a formula, just maybe a third of a cup of water (I use filtered tap) and maybe a teaspoon of vinegar, I use raw apple cider kind. 🙂
Thank you, Valeria – the day after I wrote to you I did on my own come up with just about the same proportions you suggested, great minds 🙂
It seemed to make a difference at first, my kefir grains seemed to produce better smelling/textured kefir, but the taste was still off. But, now, the past few days, ugh, it is back to pretty bad results – the smell is not too pleasant, the texture seems pretty grainy, and it separates very soon, plus, taste is not good.
I’ve been trying to play around with amount of milk, temperature (I’m using a folding proofer to keep things consistently warm, because here in Minnesota it is cold!), but it seems like my kefir grains are cursed, sigh. I’m thinking about ordering a new set of kefir grains (I’ve been using ones from Cultures for Health), In your experience, does the brand of original grains make much of a difference?
I was having a great experience kefir-ing this summer, and then after a mishap (don’t put produce from the garden on the same table as your culturing kefir!) had ordered new grains from CFH. That set never seemed to do well (probably because of temperature swings), so I ordered a third set (and the proofer to keep temps consistent), but they just seem to be having the same problems – smell, texture and taste just never getting pleasant like the first set I had this summer..
I feel like I am wasting so much good milk in the meanwhile – and I miss having yummy kefir! Do you know if certain brands of kefir grains work better maybe for different locations, times of the year, or? Any thoughts are much appreciated, Valeria. Thank you for your expertise and time.
Hi Carol, kefir grains can be pretty tricky to deal with! And if I was to guess, the bad taste you get is baby throw-up like? That’s what I get when my grains misbehave 🙁 When you mentioned trying to keep them warmer, first thing that came to mind is I have more success when I keep them at cooler temperature. In fact, when I have an oversupply of kefir, I do what I call fridge culturing, I keep new jar of milk with grains at room temperature for 3-4 hours, then move it to the fridge. It takes a lot longer, as you would expect, probably anywhere from 3 to 5 days to turn into kefir, but the result is always creamy kefir with no separation.
I’m not sure which brand I prefer, I’ve changed my mind too many times. At this point, I would say I trust Yemoos more, I get less funk out of them, and also less souring. They make kefir that’s kind of like yogurt, and every now and then I get that yogurt stretchiness from them. Hope this helps!!
LOL! Yes, like baby throw-up like, exactly! I appreciate your blunt description 🙂
Interesting what you say about temperature and the idea of fridge culturing — I might try that with some of my grains. I guess I just believed what I read about kefir liking 68-85 degrees, but, then, what did our great-grandmothers do in the winter? Hah!
Also, I have always assumed that because our house is so cold in the winter (we would rather put on sweaters and pay less for heat!), I have assumed that I couldn’t make some of your other amazing recipes for cultured/fermented foods (like Kvass – sounds so good!), but, maybe even though house is 60 degrees, would work?
I was just so happy this summer culturing – such a good texture and flavor — and aroma, just loved smelling the kefir — and then, now with the new grains (which replaced my ones that had the cross-contamination problem) I just haven’t had any luck. Always the baby throw-up taste and smell 🙂 and very broken texture. I don’t mind experimenting (it is kind of fun) but I do mind having to throw out so much milk that yields an undrinkable result, you know?
I was thinking of trying the Yemoos or some from Fusion Tea — I figure, maybe some grains do better in some situations than others, and let’s face it, milk from all our different locations has got to have differences in it, so maybe reacts differently to the kefir grains, too – makes sense, yes?
Well, again, thank you for your time and your years of expertise/experience. I will keep experimenting, eventually I hope I will get back to my delicious creamy kefir — it is just so much better than store bought!
Thank you, Valeria!
Carol
Hi again, Valeria! Wanted to report that I did order some of the Yemoos milk kefir grains, and wow, they really seem to produce well for me. Thank you for the suggestion. At least for me, these kefir grains are producing wonderfully textured and very good tasting kefir. Hah, no more baby throw-up smell like with my previous brand of grains :).
Perhaps some kefir grains just do better in some places that others do? All I know is that I am so happy to have my yummy, creamy kefir again! I love it.
Thanks again,
Carol
Great to hear that you are enjoying it again, Carol!! 🙂
I wish I had found your blog half an hour ago. I had a jar of kefir I added orange peel to for the second fermentation. I was so excited for it but then read elsewhere that you had to have 2 TBL. I only have about half tsp. Maybe a little more. I panicked and threw it out. Ugh!
Thanks for your informative article. I can’t wait to check out the rest of your blog.
Bummer that you had to toss it! Glad it was helpful though, better luck next time 🙂
Hi Valeria, great blog. I was wondering if you are still happy with the kefir grains from Cultures for Health. In the past I didn’t have very good luck with their yogurt starters. Thanks.
Hi Elena – thank you so much!! I’ve gone back and forth. I have to say I’ve had better luck with Yemoos kefir grains, I think they grow faster and make smoother, more yogurt-like kefir.
Thank you, Valeria. I guess I’ll try the Yemoos kefir. I had great success with their Viili culture which I purchased based on the recommendation on your blog.
By the way, I had to chuckle when I read about bread, butter, and soup. It is so ingrained in me that I have been feeding that to my kids every day 🙂
Lol, seriously! I’m trying to be more creative but those things still seem like something I will never break away from 🙂
HI! You say that pasteurized milk can be used to make kefir. My stores around here only sell ULTRA pasteurized milk, halfnhalf, cream, sour cream etc–all of it ULTRA pasteurized. I’ve heard while pasteurized works to ferment ultra pasteurized doesn’t. Do you know if I will be able to do it? I have no way to access raw milk(wish I did) even in a healthfood store. I NEED the healing and nutrition for my gut badly and don’t know what to do because even Kefir at store is ultra pasteurized and when I tried it about 2 yrs ago it really made me bloat BAD and have some issues. I have tons of health issues but slowly getting better. I have been steadily consuming store brand kombucha for well over a yr now..i would like to add many more fermented prod to my diet and making my own kefir sounds great. Also by chance I can use the UH Pasteurized milk how do I avoid the sour cream texture as I don’t think pasteurized milk ‘seperates’ cream to the top? I can not digest fat very well and would like to have a lighter product. I too love your wisdom for the traditional foods and access to natural health I feel America has been robbed of. Do you have a book? I appreciate your wisdom and thanks.
Hi Kim, ultra pasteurized milk is fine to use and will make kefir, you can buy 1 or 2% milk for pretty lean kefir. I know all the internet sources tell not to use it but it actually works just fine and makes kefir that’s smoother in consistency. There are some traditional fermented dairy recipes that use cooked milk (which is what ultra pasteurized milk is), like ryazhenka. 🙂
after reading this i’m going to begin making kefir once again. the amount of kefir this makes fits my life without having to buy a gallon of milk so frequently! you’re the first blog i’ve read with such a thorough article on making kefir based on decades of experience! thank you for sharing your knowledge, Russian heritage, and culture on this website. i believe it’s invaluable. . .
When activating grains you bought online, do you have to do it with pasteurized milk first like the cultures for health website says or can you place them in raw milk straight away?
Hi Ruth, I haven’t bought new grains in forever, I have the same batch going for so many years now..! In the past, I did use raw milk to activate my grains, I’m kind of bad at following directions. There is probably a reason why they recommend that so I’d probably stick with that. At this point, I use Kalona full-fat milk for all of my kefir. Kalona is pasteurized but not homogenized, and it’s been consistently producing great results for me, and is a lot cheaper than raw milk where I live now.
Valeria: a question, in the second paragraph – this may be addressed in comments already but maybe others have not read them all, or finished the article. I came back here on a search, ‘raw potatoes second ferment kefir’ – and already know of the pair, kefir and resistant starch. People who are using Bob’s Red Mill RS (which the company says, I contacted them, is not resistant starch and can’t be marketed as such because BRM uses high heat in the drying of the potatoes), and Anthony’s Potato Starch which IS resistant starch since they use a different method ….folks who are using resistant starch specifically pair it with kefir before bed. RS is very sleep inducing, relaxing, specifically potato starch is. Potatoes are addressed in a Pegasus products pdf on spiritual properties, metaphysical properties of foods and flowers. It is to be found on line. Potatoes are addressed in that book, a pdf. Very interesting.
What do you think of second fermenting kefir with raw white potatoes? Please comment. Kefir is like a life-line, for me.
Hi Nancy – I don’t know that fermenting kefir with potatoes sounds good to me. If I understand you correctly, your theory is that resistant starch will transfer over to kefir, allowing to ‘kill two birds with one stone’? The way I look at it – we are not trying to feed kefir bacteria with RS but our gut bacteria so it doesn’t really matter that RS and kefir are delivered to our gut at the same time. I really enjoy the taste of kefir by itself and without raw potato flavor in it. That’s just my thoughts, let me know if you try it and the outcome 🙂
post script to clarify: a life-line from God, not merely material, its effects are broader. Kefir = a gift from God. It is that, in my life.
Here’s to you for replying to such a question. Soon after writing I realized what do I think of it? Not tasty. I won’t be trying it or if I do, with a small of kefir and I will write back.. Yes; I agree of course exact timing isn’t the point. I was just fascinated by reading of people who focus on each together before bed, and then reading of the meaning and effects of potatoes on another level than physical. Again, Pegasus Products has the pdf, rather old, and based on an older book, now out of print, which goes into a lot of detail about spiritual properties, physical properties reflected In them, of flowers, and their associated fruits. Flower Essences and Vibrational Healing, by someone named ‘Gurudas.’ It is probably available somewhere on line as a used book. The physical correspondences may include the eyes of the potato. All the physical properties have a relationship to the ethereal properties. They are ‘signatures.’
Here is a site that focuses on RS in case you haven’t seen it. https://resistantstarchresearch.com/
In case this can help others and isn’t unique to me… kefir is a major part of night routine, and later a little sharp if available, but at least mild, grass fed cheddar cheese, a little chunk. How wonderfully does this relax…. I read somewhere once a suggestion that even just a touch of some good salt on the tongue helps to calm and ready for sleep. Salt is really a soporific like celery is in a way, which has a fair amount of sodium.
Thank you for sharing this, Nancy! I found that PDF, it’s very interesting
The name of the older books to pay a lot for if you find them: Gem Elixirs and Vibrational Healing, Volumes One and Two, and Spiritual Properties of Herbs, and the one mentioned Flower Essences and Vibrational Healing, all by Gurudas, and all a few decades old but not ancient…. although the information is, and I learned a lot about Hawai’i from one of them, associated with ‘Lemuria.’ Also note, there exists a Gems pdf like the Flowers and Foods pdf.
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Recipe: Grated Potato and Carrot Second Ferment, Milk Kefir
After removing grains:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Russet potato, grated
1/2 cup grated carrot [optional; add if worried this will help make the recipe taste better]
1/2 gallon jug
6-7 cups of kefir
1. Grate ingredients and add to kefir.
2. Allow to ferment close to 24 hours at room temperature and then refrigerate. It is perhaps possible to lessen this time but note:. at first, no bubbles appear and after some time, they do.
Reasons why to do this: if sweet second ferments as with dates, pieces of orange or tangerine with bits of peel, and raw honey have not worked optimally, for different reasons – another subject – it may surprise to find that using white potato seems to fit with the taste of kefir better than sweet taste does, which seems to go away from the essence of milk kefir which is sour. White potato and kefir seem a closer partnership if you are not ‘craving’ sweet. Potato has much health benefit; people have survived on them for long periods. Carrots adds peachy color and more nutrition.
Another plus is that the grated vegetables can be used to ferment a smoothie, soaking grains, or beans, or whatever – a little bit does this within a few hours.
I will be using white potato as sop, standard operating procedure from now on for a while. Be sure to make enough to last several days to save on time it takes to grate if you don’t enjoy grating. Next time, I will use more potato and no carrot, just to taste. For me, the taste is good, solid and earthy, and could be changed by addition of a little honey but not necessary, or stevia.
Another idea, based on high nutrition is using grated sweet potato. I will report when have tried that.
Valeria! I have been trying on and off in a sense, to find someone who would like the old book, Flower Essences and Vibrational Healing. I’m moving from Hawai’i…. allow me to say why: to find and be in a traditional real not modernist Roman Catholic Church community – Hawai’i has only the modernist version one sees everywhere. ANYWAY…. I would I think like you to have it… I have ‘lots’ of books and can’t carry them all around. We can communicate about this as time goes on… won’t be moving until later this year God wiling. That book is very rare by now. Have known several Russians and carry a deep appreciation for the character, so tried by adversity and with such a compelling, at least to me, history … the character and history resonate with me.
Three things I forgot in the recipe!
1. keep lid on it;
2. grate potatoes and carrot finely; let the kefir ‘have at’ the juices of the potato, as they will in a ferment I prepared today, without carrots. Such a lot of juice comes from a Russet potato when grated finely.
3. Grate skin of potato too; since I use organic I don’t wash. Whatever is on them is cleaned by the kefir maybe in any case I do not worry and want the bacteria from the soil.
Remember one of the reasons to do any of this at all is to help with sleep. I will probably report whether it works for that or not.
Hope someone reads this…. it is a God send regarding milk kefir second ferment. I’ve tried these, except for golden beet *bought, and waiting. Health and taste await: more so than sweet ferments.
Here are suggestions for second ferments that work better than sweet ones and are still sweet (!) Using honey, dates, even apples and pears…. do not work so well. Honey changes the nature of the kefir itself in my experience anyway. The others can only be used once and don’t have as much nutrition as root vegetables do. Once…. in my opinion; some say reuse… it does not work as well.
But! Reusing… and even not reusing, ROOTs grated… yield more health and not only that, but fermented heath. Just a heaping tablespoon is enough for a smoothie of the pulp if you reuse it. Think what is in the kefir!
IDEAS!
1. White potato Russet, alone, a cup per 6-7 cups. Try and see the effects.
2. White potato and carrot.
3. Sweet potato alone;
4. Beet alone, red. A scant 1/2 cup is enough for 6-7 cups of kefir.
5. Golden beet and potato; golden beet is sweeter than red but has the same nutritional advantages.
6. Beet alone, golden.
7. Other combinations of these three so healthful, colorful roots.
the wealth of information you provide, your technicality, informative tone with striking ease of understanding, im blessed to have come across your website.
Hi Valeria,
Thank you so much for sharing your information with us. I am very new to do fermanaion process and tryig to learn. My question is that if I order grains from Cultures for Health, they are going to be dry? Do I have to activate them? If yes, how should I do?