eat at dixiebelle's: :: Kefir

I have been making water kefir, and milk kefir, since January and I've improved my method, so thought I would do an update on it.

What is Kefir?

Sounds weird, doesn’t it. There are two types of kefir, milk and water. Both are lacto-fermented drinks, full of good properties to help your health in many ways, but for us, we particularly wanted to improve our GI health and strengthen our immunity. The milk one is sort of like a yoghurt drink, but they apparently have way more good bacterias and yeasts than yoghurt does. The water kefir gives you a fizzy drink (with just a touch of sweetness if you like). The kefirs are fermented from ‘grains’ (which are like crystals or granules, not an actual grain, they are gluten free) using a growing medium. You brew, or ferment the drinks by ‘feeding’ the grains, either with sugar-water (non-chlorinated, non-fluoridated) for the water kefir, or with milk sugars from fresh milk, for the milk kefir. The sugars are consumed by the colonies, so you are not consuming any sugar. The grains also pre-digest the lactose and protein in the milk too, making milk kefir products easier to digest, apparently.

How Do You Make Kefir?

You can make them at home just using glass jars, strainers and lids (no fancy equipment needed). I am using Fowlers Vacola preserving jars with Snap On lids, because that is what I had. I have a small plastic strainer & funnel. You may be able to source kefir grains from someone you know, or buy from a website or eBay. Instructions for both water kefir, milk kefir and kefir yoghurt follow below.

Stir the milk kefir after it has fermented, then scoop out the clump of grains, put those into a new jar and add fresh milk.

You can see the milk kefir is starting to curdle, or separate the curds and whey.

Basic Milk Kefir Instructions

Place the grains in a clean (not-warm-or-hot) jar. (I use the jars that have been washed by the dishwasher overnight, and are cool by the morning).

Add about 1 cup of milk for every 1 tablespoons worth of grains. I use milk straight from the fridge. Some warm theirs up first. You can use cows or goats milk, raw or pasteurised. Some use coconut milk too, check this out.

I then put a lid on, and the jar stays on your kitchen bench, in a position that is warm but not too hot, and no direct sunlight. (You can wrap or cover them with a tea towel if need be).
Each day at about the same time, you gently stir the milk kefir, and then lift the grains out with a spoon, and put them into another clean glass jar, with new milk. The clusters of grains will form a sticky clump, which should grow if they are healthy (see photos above). Your milk kefir may have begun to 'curdle', and become separated (see photo above), but this is fine. You may need to stir it up to combine it again, otherwise when you lift the clump of grains out, it will be covered in all the good kefir 'yoghurt' that you want to consume. Sometimes if my milk kefir has been fermenting too long, or the weather was warm, or there wasn't enough milk in there, it ferments too much and can become too sour to enjoy, so I strain it, and give the milk kefir liquid to the chooks.

You may need to leave them more or less than 24 hours, depending on the warmth and health of your grains. In Summer, I found that the kefir was 'ready' (ie. thickening up but not too sour) after only 12 hours. This was too fast a turn-over for me, and would make too much kefir for our needs, as well as going through a lot of milk. If I left it longer, it would be too sour. Adding more milk can slow it down, but it is still making a lot and using a lot of milk. Despite trying to slow the milk kefir by putting it in the fridge for a while, it became too much, and I stopped doing milk kefir for a while because of that. This year, if we make a lot, it will get used up when I make ice cream!

The kefir liquid (now minus the grains) can be drunk straight up (noting that it is an acquired taste), or you can use it in smoothies. If you want a thicker 'yoghurt' or cream-cheese type thickness, you can then strain the milk kefir liquid (see instructions below).

Using a large size paper coffee filter to strain the whey out of the milk kefir. You may be able to find a coffee filter from a coffee machine that can be washed and re-used instead.

You can use any bowl and sieve for the straining. Some say do not use a metal sieve, but the kefir is not directly sitting against it. Just make sure the bowl is the right size/ shape to keep the sieve and kefir up out of the whey, or it won't strain properly!

I keep the milk kefir yoghurt over several days in a lidded bowl in the fridge until I am ready to use it.

Making Kefir ‘Yoghurt’ or ‘Cheese’

You can also make a thicker kefir ‘cheese' or ‘yoghurt’ product, which is like a tart yoghurt, sour cream or cream cheese. I find it is more sour than if you had bought those items, and making it into something else is easier to eat! If I am eating the kefir yoghurt on cereal, or with dessert, I will add honey to it, though you could also use maple syrup!

Place a filter (I use a coffee filter, as layers of muslin didn’t work for me) into a sieve and place over a bowl. Pour the strained milk kefir into the filter, carefully making sure it doesn’t overflow or knock the sieve off. The bowl will catch the whey as it separates from the 'cheese'.
Leave the bowl & sieve in the fridge until the desired thickness/ dryness is reached (overnight is OK).
I put the strained kefir yoghurt into a lidded container in the fridge, and usually save up a few days worth, then make it into ice cream, or use it up. I also put the whey into a separate lidded bowl and add to it over several days too, before finding a use for it!

NOTE If it doesn’t seem to be straining easily, you should try leave the straining kefir/ sieve & bowl on the bench to drain for a while before transferring to the fridge, or perhaps your milk kefir needed to ferment for longer.

You can use kefir or the kefir cheese/ yoghurt in dips, smoothies, ice cream, fruche etc. It may be used in baking, but I believe that heat destroys the good stuff though. I also do not know how much good stuff is retained once they've been through my ice cream maker, but you can apparently freeze the grains and then revive them, so I am hoping the good stuff survived when being made into ice cream.

Strain the water kefir into a bottle, through a sieve and funnel.

Strain the water kefir through a strainer, and using a funnel, into a swing-top bottle. Then the strained grains can go into the new jar, with fresh sugar-water.

Put the sugar into the new jar with fresh, chlorine-free water, stir it to dissolve, then put the water kefir grains from the old jar into the fresh sugar-water.

Basic Water Kefir Instructions

In a clean (not-warm-or-hot) jar, add about 1 cup of filtered (or Spring water). I use a bit more, but I don't measure, just know by looking at my FV jar when I am filling up from the water filter.
Add 1 tablespoon of sugar (raw, rapadura, palm sugar, muscavado) and stir to dissolve.
(Using ¼ tsp blackstrap molasses really gives great minerals to help the water kefir grains thrive. Add it in with the sugar, and stir to dissolve. I use it every second day or so).
Then add about 1 tablespoons worth of water kefir grains, and then I put the lid on.
The jar stays on your kitchen bench, or in a position that is warm but not too hot, and no direct sunlight. (Cover/ wrap with a teatowel, if necessary).
Each day (more or less than 24 hours, depending on the warmth and health of your grains) you strain the grains out and put them into a clean glass jar with new sugar-water. You can look for little bubbles, or floating grains, as a sign that enough fermentation has occured, but a good way is to smell it. If it smelling slight sour, time to process it. If you leave it longer, it isn't a problem, though it may become too sour to enjoy (we always second ferment ours anyway, which gives it a subtle flavour).
You can experiment with flavours in a second ferment (see below), or use any excess grains you have grown to try experimenting with flavours, but it is a good idea to keep a basic plain sugar-water kefir ferment alive at the same time (so you have a back up of basic water kefir grains, which don't have any flavours in them that you don't like).

NOTE One of the companies I bought from said there was no need to add anything else other than sugar-water, but some recipes use dried fruit (no sulphur), dried egg shell or coral, molasses and bicarb. I found that the water kefir grains grow well when I use fresh sugar-water each day, and a small amount of blackstrap molasses every second or third day. (You could also use a tiny pinch of bicarb about once a week). This provides them with enough minerals and nutrition to grow their colonies!

A Note on Jars, Lids & Equipment

There is debate about whether kefirs need to live in an anaerobic environment, that is, one without air. There are many articles you can read about this controversy, including those about whether jars such as Mason jars (or similiar Fowlers Vacola jars) can provide enough of an airtight seal to allow this. If you want to know more, please Google it, as there are many blog posts/ article about it. You can find some links on my Pinterest board, The Year of Eating Nutritiously.
I am currently using Fowlers Vacola jars with Snap On FV lids for both my water & milk kefirs. I considered buying Pickl-It jars (as I use those for LF vege's and sauces) but they are not cheap, and the FV jars have been working for me (so far).
Carbon dioxide (carbonation) will occur during fermentation, so be careful. The Snap On lids (that go with Fowlers Vacola jars) allow this to escape. The Pickl-It jar which has a valve which allows the gas to escape and no oxygen in, but that are expensive and you would need two for each kefir batch.
If you want the bubbles to stay in during second fermentation, you can use a good quality bottle with a swing-top lid, like Grolsch bottles. We got the Grolsch bottles (used during second fermentation), by buying the beer. You can sometimes buy or get them for free, ask neighbours or check local classifieds.
I bought small metal stainless steel sieves to use, but then found the mini Tupperware sieve (shown in the photos) in the back of my utensils drawer!

What is Second Fermenting?

We’ve found that the water kefir after the first ferment is a little sour (though my husband likes it) so we mix the strained water kefir liquid with preservative-free juice and second-ferment it on the bench top (allowing the good stuff in the liquid to keep feeding and growing, even though the main grains are not in there anymore). This produces a nicer flavoured, but not too sweet, fizzy drink. With second fermenting, make sure the juice you use is preservative-free, any fruit or rinds are organic, and dried fruits are sulphur-free. Otherwise you may be inhibiting the fermentation process. We have done some flavoured first-ferments too, using ginger and lemon, but it is not my favourite. Our favourite is done using a small amount of apple juice, which tastes like a dry cider once done. You need to experiment with amounts, but I have about 300mls of water kefir in the Grolsch bottle (about 3/4 full) then add about 50 to 100mls of juice. This then sits on the kitchen bench again, for a day (up to 3 in Winter) and then into the fridge, as we prefer to drink them cold. If you leave them for several days, the sugar in the fruit juice gets fermented more, which means a fizzier, 'dry' drink, with quite a loud pop as we open the Grolsch swing top bottle!

You can second ferment the milk kefir (after removing the grains), using flavours, such as lemon rind, vanilla bean, coffee beans, and letting it sit for longer on the benchtop. I tried once using lemon rind, which was nice enough. I have also tried adding vanilla bean to the fermenting milk kefir, for a lovely flavour, which then makes a really great kefir yoghurt/ cheese too! I've heard of coffee flavoured second ferments too.

Excess Grains, Preserving Grains & Using Whey

I find the kefir grains start multiplying quickly, when they are healthy by being fed well, kept at the right temperatures, and avoid heat/ chemicals they don't like. But what to do with all those excess grains? You don't want to waste them (esp. if you paid money for them originally, they seem even more valuable) but you can't keep them in the jar, as they mean your kefir ferment quicker, or you need to use more milk or more sugar!

You can swallow/ eat the grains, feed them to your pets or compost.
You can share them around to friends/ family/ colleagues/ neighbours who might like to try making kefir.
Apparently you can preserving them by freezing/ fridging, or dehydrating them, so you will always have a source. I have tried reviving grains that I had frozen, and also, kept in the fridge (you are supposed to change their milk), but neither worked because I neglected them too much.
If you need to go away, or want a break from kefir, you can put them in the fridge in some sugar-water or fresh milk, and this keeps them alive, without growing, apparently!

Some ways to use whey, include using them in lacto-fermenting vegetables and condiments, give it to your chooks, or soak your grains/ nuts/ seeds in it.

Warnings & Tips

I am not an expert on this! Please do your own research, but here are some things I have learnt.

There are always food safety concerns in lacto-fermenting, so use clean equipment, wash your hands and if in doubt, throw it out... go by appearance & smell (it smells sour, like a strong sour cream smell, really).
The kefirs don't like heat, which can destroy them. You can apparently warm the milk to get them culturing faster in Winter, but no hot jars.
Limit the amount of metal they come in contact with (it can 'leach' into the kefirs over time & be toxic to your health). Stainless Steel is apparently not as 'reactive' as other metals.
Don't use water that contains fluoride or chlorine, which inhibit the fermenting & growth of the kefir grains. We use our own rainwater, which has been filtered in our water purifier, that way avoiding both chlorine and fluoride.
You can’t go too crazy overindulging in kefirs at the start, apparently, because you can feel unwell from any toxins being released into your body when the good bacterias knock out the bad ones! We haven’t really had that, as we took it slow.
There is also a certain low percentage of alcohol that can be produced, esp. with the second ferments. Before giving any to my kids (they have a small amount in juice a couple of times a week, maybe less often, mostly if they have any tummy issues) I test the kefir from the bottle myself. You can smell and taste if it is really fermented.
If your water kefir grains are not multiplying, or producing fizzy water kefir, might be worth adding some blackstrap molasses or bi-carb (or I've been told they like calcium carbonate too) to boost them, or buy/ get some new ones. You could check your Grolsch bottles are def. sealing well too, or try leaving them on the bench longer whilst second fermenting.

The biggest thing is that making kefir can be such a variable thing! Different people do it different ways. Variances such as temperature, time, amount of grains, amount of growing mediums, all make a difference! Experiment with it yourself, finding what works in your kitchen and for your needs.