I use this glass (250ml?) for 10g and leave it 24hours. I left it there for three days and it looks like this. The funny part is that usually my kefir is just like this (tasteless thick yougurt) after just a day. 😂
I’ve been fermenting kefir for about 2 weeks now and have started to have some good batches. However, I live in an NYC apt that doesn’t have the best temperature regulation and it runs quite warm/we’re currently experiencing a heat wave. The past two batches of kefir have a really slimy texture to them that I am concerned by- is this normal in the warmer months? The kefir looked fine before I strained it (a few whey pockets and a layer of texture-y curds at the top), but was so slimy when I strained it :( I’m attempting a fridge ferment for my next batch as a part of my troubleshooting but any advice or insight is appreciated!
Hard to describe. They started as beautiful congealed, clear lumps. After many months, they have now turned mushy and there are many tiny tiny grains.
What's happened to them? They seem to ferment a little faster than previously, even though the weather is cooler. I still like the flavour. It doesn't taste off or bad.
Alright, so last post got me the knowledge to get started. I got excited and ordered my live grains from Fusion Tea directly. Yay.
Then I realized they're going to arrive Thursday/Friday. Im leaving town Fri night til Sun night. So....
Before I leave, should I start the first batch, or wait til im back?
Also did make me wonder how to handle the grains when I travel. I go out of town over weekends often, sometimes up to a week. Curious about what to do them while not around.
Thanks for the help again!
Or should you use it always?
I mean, I have good effects on my digestive system, but I have other bad effects and I wanna know when is it "enough".
Hi All
This is my first post.
I have been consuming supermarket Kefir for some time now and I have finally managed to source some grains from a German chap who tells me his grains are from his grandmother.
So, i bring a jar of his grains home, add full fat milk in a glass jar covered with kitchen paper wrapped in rubber band at the top.
I have left this at 11pm last night in my cupboard and I come home today at 4pm to see my jar. It looks amazing- it’s just that I don’t know if it’s over fermented.
Can someone please comment and let me know if this is done correctly- it smells slightly tangy but doesn’t taste too bad, although not like the supermarket version- I know I can become accustomed to this taste.
I’ve strained the grains and left them in a jar in the fridge- would I need to clean the grains with water to store them for a short while?
Thank you- appreciate all your suggestions and advice
————————————
UPDATE-
Separated the grains yesterday and gave the mixture a good stir- it tasted way too sour.
I have left it in the fridge overnight and have strained again with a finer sieve and boy….did it taste phenomenal. It was creamy, yoghurty and the sourness was roughly 10% compared to yesterday
Thank you to everyone who commented and shared all this lovely information!!!!
What an amazing community
So I went away for a few weeks and left my kefir grains in milk in the fridge. Came back and strained it and it was a bit weak, but not totally unpleasant. However a week later, having kept the grains out of the fridge and trying to make kefir as normal, and changing the milk room at temperature every day, it’s still not right. The grains look fine, they smell fine, but the kefir is just not really taking. When I strain it it’s all thin, the grains aren’t increasing. I’m thinking that I’ve permanently damaged my grains so they just won’t recover to make the thick kefir I’m used to.
Kefir rookie here. I read some posts of people with a LOT of Kefir grains (anything above 15 grams / 0.5 ounce).
So wondering... What do you Kefir Masters do turbo charge your Kefir? Any recommendation?
My 1.7 grams Kefir will appreciate it. (Last week 1.5 grams)
I got grains over 3 weeks ago now and they have shown only signs of yeast and zero thickening of the milk. The grains rise to the top immediately when milk is poured over them and they clump up there without fermenting the milk evenly too.
Im on my 4th gallon I think now. Very sick of wasting good milk at this point.
I got the temperature at 68-75 and go for about 24 hours. I just changed the ratio of grains to milk because the grains grew too much. 5 grams of grains to 250ml milk.
Hope it finally works, but next week I am going to buy different grains
TLDR; grains yeasty af for weeks after arriving.
Buongiorno, questi sono i grani che ho ricevuto. Avevano un aspetto strano, sembravano un placenta o un foglio. Li ho spezzettati e messi a mollo nel latte con kefir industriale e yogurt bianco, tenendoli in frigorifero per favorire i batteri lattici e contrastare i lieviti.Attualmente, l'aspetto visivo del prodotto è positivo, però producono un kefir liquido piuttosto frizzante e che si separa velocemente in cagliata. Potreste darmi qualche consiglio per favore? Sarei davvero grato.🫶🏻
I've got some starter cultures, and am waiting on grains, for water and milk kefir. I'm not new to fermenting in general, but am to kefir. I'd prefer not to keep my Instant Pot occupied too much, over time, too.
If room temps go above recommended temps (seems to be either ~70F or ~80F), which is certain to start happening in just a few weeks, is that going to do anything more than make it ferment faster? If so, like becoming yeast-dominant, once it's gone a many cycles, is there any harm, or will it just lower the speed, in storing it at a nominal 55F (beer fridge for drinks and ferments, about 50-65F actual) or 50F (haven't tracked actual temps in that one), to try to keep it more LAB-dominant?
Among the things I'd like to try are a modern kefir-based oat kissel drink, juice kefirs, and to see if I can make fermented pea or bean kissels (sour/savory pudding type) without a high natto-ization risk (I've had so-so results with store-bought yogurt, and water kimchi brine, but they impart a lot of their own flavors). Assuming I have some success, would the water kefir grains used differently than with sugar water need to be kept split up, or can they all be mixed back together alright?
I got really icked out after pouring myself a glass of kefir and when I sipped it there was something hard and crunchy in it, I quickly dumped the glass down the sink. Does anyone know if that's common with kefir and whether not I can try again or maybe try and strain it?
Will be going away for around 2 weeks and I've read that you can essentially leave the grains in a jar of milk and put them in the fridge and it will keep them fine for that duration of time.
My question is when putting them in the fridge, do I seal the jar with a plastic cap or just the regular breathable cloth? ( I use table napkin sealed with a rubber band when fermenting in room temp). I've seen recommendations for both so now I'm a bit confused.
Looking to start as a newbie for homemade Kefir. Store bought was helping so can only imagine how much better I can get. 41m with IBS symptoms and high physical activities.
Is there a highly recommended kit I can buy to get started quicker? Been reading and theres quite a few recommendations on strainers, jar types, and that. My ADD kicks in on new things so trying not to go overboard and buy all these things and not truly need.
Great community here, love all the chats so thank you in advance!
Hi! I’m very new to kefir and currently trying to revive some grains that I received in the mail last week. As you can see, when I strain the grains there is also lots of milk fat left behind, is it okay to leave those in and just carry on adding the grains and milk fat to another jar of milk? I was thinking I could skim the milk fat off the top of the jar before draining the grains, but it seems like lots of the kefir grains rise to the top too and I don’t want to go discarding those…any suggestions? thanks!
Hi all,
I was recently gifted some milk kefir. The first batch cracked around the base of the jar. The following ones crack in the upper half, as you see. If I serve it now it tastes a bit stronger than commercial kefir, it seems fine.
I've seen suggestions here of people telling when to stir it, when to not stir it, how to do second fermentation in the fridge with the open lid to avoid explosions, how to store it in the fridge with tight lid... But all batches seem to have whey at the bottom. Mine doesn't.
I'm using commercial milk from the fridge, but this crack happens overnight when the temperature is about 20ºC, the standard everyone loves.
So, is my kefir fine or does it need some more love? Should I leave it a few more hours (up to 48 hours instead of 24) to see if the whey appears at the bottom?
Yesterday, after months of good looking kefir - my most recent batch was kind of slimy.
At first I was alarmed. Reading up, I saw that the reason was a substance called "kefiran". It seems that this kind of kefir is even healthier to drink, because the slimy layer protects more bacteria from going through stomach acid and making it into the intestines.
In the name of health, I can get over the weird feeling I get when drinking it if I'm convinced it's better for my dear insides. Any experiences with your own kefir?
So I watched a non-dairy milk kefir tutorial on YouTube and they just used normal milk grains with almond/coconut milk and it worked? I currently make kefir using normal cow‘s milk however I have a thing of oat milk and I’m curious what will happen if try to ferment it.
I don’t really want to sacrifice any of my grains on this experiment, though. Will the grains die if they go without lactose for a day or two or are they hardier than that?
I let it ferment in the fridge for 2 1/2 months (health issues) … my fridge freezes water so slow fermentation … I strained the kefir from the granules and didn’t see any discoloration…. but it’s lemon juice sour and I usually drink it straight…. I have 4 cups worth any suggestions on what to do with it.
don’t worry…. kefir granules got some fresh whole milk and back in the fridge.
This is only the 3rd time I refreshed the water of my water kefir. First time it went great, lots of bubbles, great taste.
2nd time, there already seemed to be fewer bubbles, but it still fermented. It tasted slightly different, but still good.
But now... there seems to be no activity at all. It's been 2 days already...
Also there seems to be no/minimal growth of the kefir vs when I first got it.
I have to say, the 1st time I measured everything, but the 2nd and 3rd time I got lazy and eyeballed it all... perhaps the grains are more vulnerable than I thought? (I used to have a kombutcha scoby too, and that seemed to do fine on my guesswork 🫣)
Any tips?
I already googled what could be wrong, but find no conclusive answers.
The water I used is not chlorinated, I added some salt for minerals (maybe too much??? Idk I also eyeballed this), and used raw cane sugar.