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[big brown horse]

The grains are the culture and they do grow then split off or you can pull them apart. I split mine when they are as big as, say a tablespoon or bigger.

They would work even if you rinsed them well in water and put them in fresh milk, you don't have to save any starter from the first batch of kefir.

If your house's temp is average to warm then you should have kefir every 24 hours.

 

[Neko-chan]

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[TanksHill]

Is this the first batch? Some people like to sacrifice the first couple quarts of milk to be sure the grains have "settled". It sounds like its right where it needs to be. Kefir is great in smoothies, you can sweeten it a bit and drink it cold and straight. You can strain it through cheesecloth and have sour cream, strain more and have kefir cheese.

There are soooo many ways you can substitute kefir for other things. Have you seen Doms website? I am on my phone or I would find you a link.

G

 

[moolie]

Dom's got everything you need to know on his sites:

http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/Makekefir.html
http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefirpage.html

 

[big brown horse]

Moolie, I didn't have time to check out your sites you listed, so I may be repeating them...

Kefir smells like plain yogurt when it is finished. Mine forms a creamy crust (raw whole milk) on top so I can't smell it until I stir it in.

Kefir isn't as firm as yogurt, it is more like drinkable yogurt. I've let mine go a few days (like right now) so it gets even more tart and even a bit fizzy. Usually I can get away with this b/c our house is on the cooler side year round. During a rare hot spell (we don't have an air conditioner) it has to be changed out every 24 hours.

Once (or twice) I totally forgot about it for more than 3 days and though I didn't drink the kefir at that point, the grain was fine and even made a nice batch of kefir the next time. It is pretty hardy. I've had my grains for over 3 years now, and I'm definitely not the best kefir mom.

Have you done a taste test? I can't remember if I mentioned that I've put it in whipping cream or heavy cream and it makes a nice custard style kefir!

One of my favorite ways to drink it is to add raw honey, cinnamon and a sliced frozen banana. Reminds me of the goat milk yogurt smoothies I would get down in Mexico. YUM!

 

[miss_thenorth]

My mom got some kefir grains from me, and she used skim milk. She said the kefir was grainy and she couldn''t blend out the lumps, so she gave up on it, b/c she didn't like it. I couldn't convince her to use whole or even 2% milk. My sis, who is also a low fatter, uses 2% for her kefir grains and has great success. she understood that it needed fat to ferment properly. there is no way I can convince either of them that low fat is bad.

My favourite way to use kefir is to drain it and make kefir cheese. I use the whey for lactofermenting, and with the kefir cheese I make a veggie dip by adding dehydrated vegetable mix (homemade with carrots, celery, red pepper, green pepper), a bit of salt and onion powder. I always have veggies cut up and in the fridge, sometimes I add in a dollop of mayonnaise, and the dip never seems to last long enough. I usually make about 2 litres of kefir a week. None of us like it as a yogurt substitute or in smoothies, it has a bit of an off flavour we can't get used to, so this is how we like it best. I still make yogurt for eating, and lately the family has been just using our raw milk for smoothies.

 

[Neko-chan]

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[thebirdguy]

Where's the best place to get some Kefir grains?

 

[Neko-chan]

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[moolie]

My kefir smells a bit more "yeasty" than yogurt, which I find smells more "sweet but with an edge"--does that make sense? Difficult to describe smells...