Kefir from grains

Having had some success with making kefir (or maybe yogurt) from store-bought kefir, (See my blog post about that process) I decided to try making it from grains. I found the grains on etsy.com. There were many sellers to choose from. One of the sources was a farm (I think it's a farm) in the state where I live. I figured that minimizing the travel was a good idea. I ordered my grains, and they arrived in a couple of days in a small jar with some milk.

I followed the procedure from this video

How To Make Milk Kefir 101

My product did not thicken up like pudding as the video suggested, but it looked much like her product. The result was so sour it was undrinkable! 😜 It was much improved with a teaspoon of honey. Still, it wasn't as good as the store-bought beverage or the kefir that I made from the store-bought beverage.

I do seem to get more grains out than I started with. That suggests that something right is happening.

The vendor who sold me the grains suggested that it might take several cycles before the result is satisfactory. I've heard that from other sources, too. I'm still working on that.

A video from Cultures for Health suggested that my result might be due to a cooler fermentation location, and it might take longer than 24 hours. I culture my kefir in the storage room where our heater is. It's the warmest place in the house. It's in the mid 70s Fahrenheit in there.

My grain source suggested that if the kefir is too thin, I should try adding less milk. I've been using about a tablespoon of grains and one cup of milk. Cultures for Health suggests that one teaspoon is enough for up to 4 cups of milk. This is going to take some experimentation.

I have used my kefir in cooking with good results. I substitute it for the milk in my sourdough bread.

For drinking, though, I think I need to go back to the Google search to see how I know if I made kefir or just sour milk. 🙂

Maybe paying five bucks a quart for something that tastes good isn't so bad. I'm not giving up, yet, though.