Can someone walk me through how to make kefir please
I have my grains on the way. I have raw milk. Do I just put the grains in the milk leave them in a warm place until ready and then take the grains out? Or is there more to it than that? What's the best way to store the grains?
Thank you
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Deborah
Mama to: Ginny 18, Sasha 11, and Toby 8
Separated at birth? Toby and his soccer coach, CO Rapids goalie, Justin Hughes.
I commend you on your move to better health!! I received my first Kefir Grains in the middle of this past December. They will grow, so either think ahead to the time when you will be making more Kefir, or find some friends who you can divide them with. I divided my supply 4 weeks after I got them, then just divided them again last week, which was just over 6 weeks from the last time that I divided them. I made some fantastic cottage cheese, that really become something more along the lines of a cream cheese, to which I added a bit of dill and garlic salt. YUM!!
There are a couple of websites that I have for you to take a look at. The first one will give you a concise understanding in how to handle your Kefir Grains. This site was set up by the woman who sent me my Kefir Grains. http://www.keywriter.org/kefir.html
This next site is LOADED, LOADED, LOADED with information!!! Dom, the owner, has packed his site with just about anything one can do with Kefir. He has even made a skin lotion using nothing less than his wife's breastmilk. NO KIDDING!!
Let me walk you through a couple of preliminary things, until you can bite, chew, then digest the knowledge in those two sites.
When you first get your grains, strain them with a non-metal strainer. I have one from Tupperware that works BEAUTIFULLY. Go ahead and dump this particular batch of Kefir. Take the Kefir Grains, that you have strained, and put them into a glass jar. Depending on how much you have in Kefir Grains, you might be able to utilize a canning jar. The rule of thumb is, to use 1 large T. of Kefir Grains, per cup of milk, whole milk is preferred. Set the jar in an out of the way place, agitate twice or three times over the next 12-24 hours, which depends on how "aggressive" your Kefir Grains are, then strain using a non-metal strainer. You now have Kefir! Follow the process of putting the strained Kefir Grains back into the glass jar, then add the appropriate amount of milk and do it all again.
Do you know if your Kefir Grains originated from Dom's stock? This does seem to be of some importance, due to his having a much higher quality and a broader probiotic content. The Kefir starter is not the same thing.
We have made some very yummy smoothies with ours, by putting the Kefir in our Osterizer, adding whatever frozen fruit we are hungry for, a bit of "BAD" white sugar (honey just doesn't cut it for me). I have noticed that I no longer get the reddish patches of skin under my breast, in my armpits, or in my groin, since I started using Kefir.
I'll stop now, so that you will have an opportunity to "digest" what you are being exposed to. <G>
Oh, there is one more thing for you to know. There is a Real Kefir Making Yahoo Group, that is a great resource for direct information. Dom is the gentleman who has set this group up. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Real_Kefir_Making/
Thanks Susannah for the info. I am so excited to start. I will have to ask where the grains came from originally, as I don't know. I do know the owner used raw milk which made me feel good about getting them from her. Thanks for the link to the yahoo group, I will join.
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