How to Make Homemade Kefir Make Your Own Kefir at Home

Table of Content

• Finding your Kefir grains
• HOW TO MAKE KEFIR FROM STORE-BOUGHT KEFIR
• How do I know if my kefir grains have gone bad?
• Multiplying the Grains
• What equipment do I need to make kefir?
• How to make Kefir at home?
• How should kefir be stored and how long does it keep?

First, when you open the lid, you should notice a sour, lactic smell. Next, you should notice that the milk changed from liquid to solid or semi-solid. Depending on the nature of your grains and how much you tightened the lid, you may see bubbles--an indication that some of the milk sugar was fermented by yeasts. Fruits are also important for water kefir culture. Every time you prepare a new batch of water kefir, add a few slices of lemon. Also ensure that you include some dried fruits such as cranberries, figs, and raisins.

Once you start making kefir often, that shouldn’t be a problem because the kefir grains multiply quickly when cultured in milk. Stir together your kefir and grains and pour them through a strainer into another glass container to strain out your kefir grains. If your kefir is thick, you can try to help the process along by stirring the kefir and grains in the strainer or tapping the strainer against your container. Over the hours, the milk will start to ferment, and you will see the kefir and whey separating. The whey is the yellowish liquid that separates from the kefir, just like the liquid that floats on yogurt.

Finding your Kefir grains

Cultures for Health is a great online resource for home fermentation and they have a great kefir starter kit. In addition to the milk kefir grain, there is a non-dairy source of kefir in the form of water kefir grains. Water Kefir grains can be purchased in a dry dehydrated form. Put harvested kefir grains into a jar with 4 cups (946.35 mL) of animal milk. Place the grains you strained out of a batch of kefir you made carefully back into the jar you used to make the kefir or a clean jar.

If you don’t have a suitable cloth to cover the jar with, you can use a paper towel instead. Or you can strain the kefir to make sure you get out any of the grains (which aren’t exactly pleasant to find in your cup). Another advantage of straining your kefir is that is makes for a smoother end product. I suggest straining if you’re going to drink your kefir plain.

HOW TO MAKE KEFIR FROM STORE-BOUGHT KEFIR

After 2-3 days the kefir will have fermented slightly, taste tangy or lightly sour, but there is one more step which gives it flavor and makes it effervescent and bubbly. If water kefir is not bubbling or not fermenting, it can be due to a lack of minerals. Use the mineralized sugar mixture, or try adding a pinch of sea salt. Filtered water, reverse osmosis water, or soft water or highly chlorinated water can actually inhibit growth or even lead to the kefir grains dying. This will activate them and help keep them alive.

Pour in enough powdered milk to cover the grains. Simple and straightforward process that involves only two steps. You should add one tablespoon of kefir per one cup of fresh milk. Mix the contents well then you can culture at room temperature for a period of about 12 to 24 hours.

How do I know if my kefir grains have gone bad?

Like the ones people use for kombucha or home brew beers. Can I use more cane sugar and omit the coconut sugar due to my son’s allergy? You can tell if the grains are “hungry” by tasting the liquid- if it is not sweet, but tangier, they are probably ready to be fed. If the water is sweet, they are not hungry and do not need to be fed. Fill two, half-gallon mason jars with 4 cups cool tap water in each.

The water is kept at a room temperature range of 20–30 °C (70–85 °F). If the temperature is towards the upper end of this range, the fermentation period is shortened. A typical recipe might contain the tibicos culture, a citrus fruit, and water. Some ingredients will inhibit fermentation, such as chlorine in tap water or preservatives in dried fruit .

You will need 1 cup of special water kefir grains which do not require lactose to sustain. At first, it might take up to 48 hours for the milk to thicken. You can tell it’s ready as the milk will set just like yogurt.

These kits are easy to work with, and can help you establish a focused solution that produces the grains that you’re seeking. Kefir kits are easy to procure, and are essentially probiotics and active cultures that will help with turning your milk (or non-dairy milk substance), into kefir. This takes a little bit of time, but in time it can work well.

Grains which is taken care of well can be used more than 100 times. The wooden spoon should be used to split kefir grains and scrap any newly produced grains from the bottom of the jar. Kefir is a fermented dairy product packed with the richness of probiotics. In the sieve will be left with a bunch of milky grains. Save these because you're going to use them to start the cycle again.

If they arrive in the post, they may need a little reinvigorating after their journey – put them in a small jar and cover with whole milk (you won’t need more than 100ml). Cover and leave at room temperature for hours until the milk has set . If you want to grow kefir grains of your own, acquire some active grains and then multiply them by fermenting several batches of kefir consecutively. Once your grains begin to multiply, keep going until you have a sufficient amount of kefir grains for your purposes.