KEFIR grains-Mind if we give them their own thread?

[ORChick]

ORChick I got a chance to get in to the post and your packet is on the way and I look forward to getting Kefir going !!!! I've read thru this thread twice! and since I have done Kombucha I am very familiar with Dom's site so will be reading that and the other links provided.
I found that I don't like yogurt.. at all but when I make my own for my kids and take a quart of it and drain it overnight and make yo-cheese I love it so if I don't like the kefir I'll make cheese!
I'm hoping that the grand kids who love that liquid yogurt that comes in the tiny expensive bottles will take to kefir with some of the berries that I have frozen from my garden.

Emerald, I hope that I have not promised more than I can deliver :/. The grains that I started re-hydrating last week (from the same batch as those I sent you) are still not doing much. The grains are softening, and appear as they ought, but I'm not getting any thickening of the milk at all yet. Could be that I'm just changing the milk too often, and not giving it a chance; so today I left them in yesterday's milk. We'll see. They are smelling as I remember from the last time I did this, which gives me hope.
Interesting that you don't like yogurt, but hope to like kefir. It is the opposite for me. I love yogurt - home made, plain with no sweetening or fruit, though garlic and herbs are a nice combination - but I had a really hard time getting into a relationship with the kefir. For awhile it reminded me of cultured buttermilk, which I also like, but then it just didn't appeal to me anymore - which is why I dried the grains, and stopped production. I want to like it because I know how healthy it is, and (now that I have a source for raw milk) I like that I can make kefir at room temperature. So I hope that these grains (as well as those I sent you) will revive.

 

[Hinotori]

I like the kefir best blended with fruit. I can drink it plain but hubby can't. He can handle it with the fruit as a smoothie.

 

[ORChick]

I like the kefir best blended with fruit. I can drink it plain but hubby can't. He can handle it with the fruit as a smoothie.

That seems to be the best solution for me as well --- but I can't face a cold smoothie on these chilly winter mornings I also used it in place of yogurt or buttermilk in some recipes --- but, of course, once heated the nice probiotics are no longer working. DH won't touch kefir, but then, he doesn't like home made yogurt either.

 

[Emerald]

I've had a bit of store bought kefir. not super impressed but then store bought anything isn't always impressive if you know what I mean! lol
I want it for my grand kids and my son likes it so I at least have to try. I do like buttermilk but not for drinking straight I make a couple different salad dressings with it.. ranch and my version of green goddess. the green goddess has different stuff in it depending on what I have on hand. yup. I am one of "those" types of cooks. Green onion tops and maybe a bit of fresh spinach and the peeling from cucumber and a bit of dill or any other herbs that are going good and I puree the hooey out of them and add it to buttermilk and a glop of mayo(or even sour cream or yo-cheese) and put it in a mason jar and let the kids shake it up. looks green green.. I like a bit of garlic in there and have even gone out and clipped the green tops of spring garlic to puree in. I can't say that it is like what you would get bottled but we like it here. I've even slipped in avocado when out of sour cream or mayo or yo-cheese. it goes well on my mock cobb salads.

and reading up on how you rehydrate the grains it could just be that it is cold now.. I mean it is really cold here so will have to bring it in and put it on top of the mantle by the fireplace with the little cuties tangerine seed that I found(they are almost never seeded so I am gonna try to get one going). it is the only consistently warm place in the house.

 

[Hinotori]

Oh, I think draining off the kefir whey some and using the curds for making dressing would be great. I didn't think of doing that. I'm the only one who eats salads here though. Hubby doesn't care for salad.

I have added some of the curds in with the sour cream when I make baked potato salad. I've been meaning to try it when I do german potato salad. I am not a fan of mayonaise so I don't make that often.

 

[Emerald]

Oh, I think draining off the kefir whey some and using the curds for making dressing would be great. I didn't think of doing that. I'm the only one who eats salads here though. Hubby doesn't care for salad.

I have added some of the curds in with the sour cream when I make baked potato salad. I've been meaning to try it when I do german potato salad. I am not a fan of mayonnaise so I don't make that often.

I'd bet that draining till it was firmer would really give it the consistency of mayo in things and give it a more creamy tang than mayo in a potato salad. Now me I love mayo and have even made my own with olive oil and lemon a bit of mustard. Freaks folks out if you tell them how you make it so I don't do that anymore haha.
My favorite way to eat mayo. on good big french fries!

I got the grains rinsed in fresh well water I hope that doesn't freak them out and they are covered in milk and on the mantle this morning. at least there are in here with me and I can keep an eye on them all the time.. they won't be forgotten or pushed to the back of the counter in the kitchen.

 

[ORChick]

The kefir grains are finally showing signs of being viable, and not just the dead lumps that I was beginning to think my neglect over the last 2 years had turned them into. Today the milk was curdled. Still didn't smell right, and not something I would choose to drink yet, but it shows that something is happening. It has been 10 days since I first put them into the milk, which is several days longer than it took last time to reach this stage. But last time they were still reasonably freshly dehydrated, and hadn't been stuck in a jar in the fridge for 2 years. So Emerald, don't give up hope even if it seems to not be working.

By the way, your Green Goddess dressing sounds scrumptious; definitely something I will need to keep in mind. I especially like the idea of the avocado.

And a last note: I'm sure it has been mentioned somewhere, but just in case you haven't read it --- don't tighten the lid on your jar of fermenting kefir, just put it on loosely to keep the dust out (or, in my case, cat hairs ). Screw it down tight once the kefir is ready to use, and the grains have been transferred to new milk.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I've been making kefir for about 8 or 9 months now. I usually just put a coffee filter over my jar and put a rubber band around it then set it in a dark corner for a day or so. I do have a question for you more experienced kefir-ers. When I first started making kefir my grains grew like mad. I had so much that I put some of it in a jar of milk and refrigerated it. About once a week I'd change out the milk and everything went well for a couple of months. Then I neglected to change the milk for a couple of weeks (maybe a month) .... When I finally went to change the milk I couldn't find most of the grains. It was like they had dissolved! I still have a couple tablespoons that I keep going all the time - but they aren't growing. They work great and the kefir is very good - but no growth.... Any ideas?

p.s. I use raw goats milk

 

[ORChick]

I've been making kefir for about 8 or 9 months now. I usually just put a coffee filter over my jar and put a rubber band around it then set it in a dark corner for a day or so. I do have a question for you more experienced kefir-ers. When I first started making kefir my grains grew like mad. I had so much that I put some of it in a jar of milk and refrigerated it. About once a week I'd change out the milk and everything went well for a couple of months. Then I neglected to change the milk for a couple of weeks (maybe a month) .... When I finally went to change the milk I couldn't find most of the grains. It was like they had dissolved! I still have a couple tablespoons that I keep going all the time - but they aren't growing. They work great and the kefir is very good - but no growth.... Any ideas?

p.s. I use raw goats milk

How are you straining your kefir? It is sometimes hard to tell the difference between curds of milk and the kefir grains by sight, so it might be possible that you have been discarding, or eating, grains thinking they are curds. I have found that the very best way, for me, to separate out the grains from the kefir is to strain the whole lot through my fingers -- I pour everything into a bowl, and stick my hand in, feeling out the solid bits (the grains), and letting the curds through. I toss the grains back in their jar, and pour whatever is left into another jar, and top off the first jar with more milk.

If you have been doing something similar, and the grains still seem to be disappearing I'm not sure what to say. I don't think that the grains dissolve, though sometimes they don't grow much. I might suggest that, if you feel you can spare a bit (and still produce the kefir you need) that you dehydrate some so that you have a back up in the future. You will want to use the lowest heat possible for this - a dehydrator is perfect, if you have one; otherwise I would turn your oven on Warm, put the kefir grains in, and turn off the heat, leaving the light on and the door open a bit (stick a wooden spoon handle in the door so it can't close entirely). When they are dry and hard put them in a jar with a tight lid, and store in the 'fridge. I would suggest re-hydrating every 6 months or so (not like me - leaving them for 2 years ), following the suggestions on this thread.

As I mentioned earlier, I have left kefir grains in the fridge (by accident and inattention), covered with milk, for 4 months or so, and everything was fine.

Has anything changed with the milk you are using?

 

[Emerald]

I am a papertowel snob and use my favorite ones (viva) and they work beautifully as tops for my kombucha jars and that is what I have on the top of the kefir jar. lol I was sure I saw not to put a tight lid on them.