Kefir Fermenters Unite!

[iamfaithful]

Originally Posted by terez

Sounds awesome Metqa! I think I'm going to stick with the boat milk kefir. I really love it.

boat milk???? Bought or goat milk????? If bought then........

PLEAE DON'T DO THAT!!!

Put your grains in Whole Milk - about a cup or two & put them in the fridge for a few days (up to 5) then strain -u can drink what you strain...then put in new milk (whole) & kefir for 12 hours starting early evening the refrigerate in the morning til early evening. Your grains may need to reset themselves, your room may be too warm for them & you hopefully will get a better ferment. Some of us use a 12/12 ferment & it works very well.

There is so much JUNK in store bought kefir & they don't use grains but another source to culture the kefir.

[iamfaithful]

Originally Posted by metqa

That is interesting. I have noticed that I have the most grown from the cultures I "neglected" in the fridge. They seem to culture slower, but grow more, and the kefir seems smoother yet still retains the tang and more of the bubbles I enjoy, I guess the cold keeps the carbonation in.

I think, Once I've gotten settled in a bit more, I might look into fridge culturing, depending on how much I'll be drinking in the future.

I've had my first cup of kefir in my new place! What a way to break in the new home to culturing, with a nice blueberry lime kefir smoothie!

Wonderful to be getting settled. Have you got your KT going yet & did your hotel survive the move? I hope you found a cozy spot for them...

[metqa]

Originally Posted by iamfaithful

I look forward to mine every day! I might slow in drinking KT but the kefir is close to a quart a day. I do all my kefiring in the fridge now & have a gallon culturing non stop with about 14 wuart jars waiting in rotation. Somedays when I stir it up (my whey goes to the top) it bubbles so much it rises & bubbles out of the jar so I have to watch it

Originally Posted by iamfaithful

Wonderful to be getting settled. Have you got your KT going yet & did your hotel survive the move? I hope you found a cozy spot for them...

My whey goes to the bottom now. I don't remember when it started doing that but it's pretty much the standard routine with my kefir now. The solids float and the whey sinks, the opposite of yoghurt.

Well, I'm anything but settled, but I'm making progress. My hotel is on the counter, but my brewer is at BF's. they are both dormant, since I haven't got the kitchen setup yet. But I'm so excited, I'm eager to start it back up again, I just don't know if I'll start it before fall and winter.

It's been so long I hope my scobys don't hate me. I had to throw out my oldest ones because their hotel had a breach and fruit flies build a nest in them, I couldn't even salvage them for the health mask. The younger scoby hotel is intact, and safe.

Sugar and Tea are on my shopping list. Oh and even though ihad a bad experience with my newest brewer container, I'm gonna try again and hope I didn't waste my money on just a pretty lemonade dispenser.

[vjsibley]

Hi everyone! My name is Vickii and I've been lurking around here for a bit, reading through the thread and boy is my head spinning with all this info. I just discovered this world of goodies and am currently trying to birth my own scoby for kombucha. Not sure if I'm having a successful run at that,lol not sure what I'm looking at in my jar,lol. I'm very curious about these cool little kefir creatures. Especially the water variety. I have issues with milk with the exception of yogurt and sour cream. I love the idea of being able to make "healthy pop" but leary about fermenting milk on the counter for x number of days. Once I get my hands on these little gems, can I use soy milk? Or do I have to use cows milk? And could anyone help guide me thru this komucha thing? Thanks for all the information everyone is sharing here!

[terez]

Originally Posted by iamfaithful

boat milk???? Bought or goat milk????? If bought then........

PLEAE DON'T DO THAT!!!

Put your grains in Whole Milk - about a cup or two & put them in the fridge for a few days (up to 5) then strain -u can drink what you strain...then put in new milk (whole) & kefir for 12 hours starting early evening the refrigerate in the morning til early evening. Your grains may need to reset themselves, your room may be too warm for them & you hopefully will get a better ferment. Some of us use a 12/12 ferment & it works very well.

There is so much JUNK in store bought kefir & they don't use grains but another source to culture the kefir.

I bought the Trader Joe's kefir and I can honestly say that, when I started drinking their kefir, that's when I started noticing big improvements. I bought it because the cow/goat milk batch curdled and became really sour and I didn't want to skip days before my homemade batch was ready. But now, I don't want to make a habit of it. I had success with goat milk kefir before.

So, the 12/12 is when you leave it out for 12 hours and then refrigerate for 12, I guess. That sounds like a good plan.

[metqa]

Originally Posted by vjsibley

Hi everyone! My name is Vickii and I've been lurking around here for a bit, reading through the thread and boy is my head spinning with all this info. I just discovered this world of goodies and am currently trying to birth my own scoby for kombucha. Not sure if I'm having a successful run at that,lol not sure what I'm looking at in my jar,lol. I'm very curious about these cool little kefir creatures. Especially the water variety. I have issues with milk with the exception of yogurt and sour cream. I love the idea of being able to make "healthy pop" but leary about fermenting milk on the counter for x number of days. Once I get my hands on these little gems, can I use soy milk? Or do I have to use cows milk? And could anyone help guide me thru this komucha thing? Thanks for all the information everyone is sharing here!

Welcome Vickii,
Good luck on starting your kombucha culture. What you want to look for is a translucent skin on the surface that gradually gets thicker over days.

If you enjoy yogurt the you should have no fears of kefir. Good kefir grains will convert milk quite quickly. My grains were converting the milk in 8 hours, I had to start refrigerating it after that or it'd get super cheesy. Yogurt is fermented milk as well. I ferment my yogurt for 8-12 hours for the best results, reduced sugar, great tartness, and maximum probiotics.
You don't have to use cows milk for each ferment but milk kefir grains will not grow in non dairy milks, so you'd have to refresh them every other batch or every few batches if you use a non-dairy. But if the only thing keeping you from trying milk kefir is the wait time, just remember that kefir culture is about as vigorous or more vigorous than yogurt cultures and it's vigorous at room temperature so it's less likely to have trouble than the thermophilic culture of yogurt which can be overwhelmed by invading other bacteria if not kept at the "right" temp. People have fermented kefir on the counter in hot climates, in cold climates, and even in the fridge. I can't think of a more forgivable and invasion resistant culture for milk.

Why not get some grains and give it a try, you can always quit if you don't like it or if for some reason it doesn't work for you. Heck I've got tonnes of extra grains and I'm fermenting them half on the counter half in the fridge. If you want some free milk grains to try, then post around the board till you get at least 20 posts then PM me so we can exchange contact info! I could throw in a piece of scoby from my young scoby hotel to give you another source of kombucha starter.

[metqa]

Originally Posted by terez

I bought the Trader Joe's kefir and I can honestly say that, when I started drinking their kefir, that's when I started noticing big improvements. I bought it because the cow/goat milk batch curdled and became really sour and I didn't want to skip days before my homemade batch was ready. But now, I don't want to make a habit of it. I had success with goat milk kefir before.

So, the 12/12 is when you leave it out for 12 hours and then refrigerate for 12, I guess. That sounds like a good plan.

I cannot do a 24 hour culture, my grains would explode out of the jar. 12/12 is on the counter/in the fridge. In the summer, I'd often only do 8 hours on the counter, and then in the fridge till it was complete enough to drain.

Also, if I drained the grains and the kefir wasn't as thick or tart as I'd like , I'd just leave the drained kefir out for a few hours to warm up and let residual action keep working it. But I have to be careful cause it's full of biotics and they will get super happy if the kitchen is warm and convert the kefir to cheese just like the grains.

I think my best tasting kefir has been strained and refrigerated a while with a few extra grains plopped in and let sit in the fridge for a few more days. The extra grains keep eating and making the viscous goo that binds the milk particles but the cool keeps the acidity from separating the milk so violently. It's a revolving dance and balancing act for the rich, thick, tangy, bubbly, soda-like kefir texture that I personally like.

[terez]

Originally Posted by metqa

I cannot do a 24 hour culture, my grains would explode out of the jar. 12/12 is on the counter/in the fridge. In the summer, I'd often only do 8 hours on the counter, and then in the fridge till it was complete enough to drain.

Also, if I drained the grains and the kefir wasn't as thick or tart as I'd like , I'd just leave the drained kefir out for a few hours to warm up and let residual action keep working it. But I have to be careful cause it's full of biotics and they will get super happy if the kitchen is warm and convert the kefir to cheese just like the grains.

I think my best tasting kefir has been strained and refrigerated a while with a few extra grains plopped in and let sit in the fridge for a few more days. The extra grains keep eating and making the viscous goo that binds the milk particles but the cool keeps the acidity from separating the milk so violently. It's a revolving dance and balancing act for the rich, thick, tangy, bubbly, soda-like kefir texture that I personally like.

I just keep checking the taste and when it tastes like buttermilk, I know it's ready. This is just my second batch and I don't have that many grains. I think I started out with a teaspoon on my first batch and had to leave it out for at least two days in around 80 degree weather until it was ready. Now I have about a tablespoon for two quarts. I would love to have more grains, but I have to just wait until they grow.

[metqa]

I have the equivalent of a mason jar volume of grains now that have grown from the small spoonful of grains I got originally. they will eventually grow.

I got the best growth with whole fat milk.

[E.W.]

I just bought some Lifeway kefer it says it has live cultures i wonder if it realy does?

Where isthe cheapest place to get a few grains grow my own?

[porcupine73]

It does have live and active cultures, but it isn't the same as that made with kefir grains. The commercial kefir just uses a powdered starter that might have say 7 organisms in it, and it is not propagable, at least not for more than a few generations. The cheapest grain source would be if you can find someone to gift some to you. Otherwise there are some sellers on ebay that can be inexpensive, there was a cat in Colorado selling them saying raised in raw grass fed cow's milk, his amount shipped was very very generous.

[E.W.]

Thanks for the reply.....

Here is a little article that's kind of related at least as far as healpful bacteria is concerned.

A Dose of 'Good' Bacteria Could Help Your Sinus Problems - Yahoo! News

[porcupine73]

Ah yes that is an interesting article thanks. Yes I read something similar about mouths, that a healthy mouth actually has a variety of different flora in it. So the mouthwash and toothpaste commercials that would have us kill anything living in our mouth are quite a bit off base, because ideally there should be beneficial organisms in there. Granted like any other part of the body a poor diet can let bad organisms start to proliferate though.

[vjsibley]

Originally Posted by metqa;

Why not get some grains and give it a try, you can always quit if you don't like it or if for some reason it doesn't work for you. Heck I've got tonnes of extra grains and I'm fermenting them half on the counter half in the fridge. If you want some free milk grains to try, then post around the board till you get at least 20 posts then PM me so we can exchange contact info! I could throw in a piece of scoby from my young scoby hotel to give you another source of kombucha starter.

I can't pm anyone till October
Anywho, what does water kefir taste like? I havent been able to find it here at the stores.

[iamfaithful]

Water kefir can taste like anything you want to flavor it with & you can make it flat for use in iced tea (use concentrated tea & you will not have to add sugar) or very fizzy (I use fruit juices &/or ginger/fruit & put in plastic pop bottles.) You can see some picts of my ferments if you look at some of my picts on my FB page... it might help you... to see them you may need to inbox me to see them as some people have difficulity getting there....

[metqa]

Been drinking plain kefir the past few days instead of flavored/sweetened. It's quite refreshing cause it's tart and not sweet and no lingering flavor.

Faithful, were you the one talking about putting turmeric in the kefir?

I've been reading about golden milk and plan to make some paste soon.

I've never gotten around to trying to kefir almond or coconut milk. I'm quite satisfied with dairy milk kefir. Since I find I don't like to drink milk as a beverage, it leaves a film I dislike, but not when it's kefired. So Ive been using coconut/almond milks in place of dairy milk for beverages and kefiring my dairy milk to drink.

[pepperette]

Ever think about using hemp milk? I recently have gotten hemp hearts and find they are a nice nutty flavor , and can be made into milk if you don't want the expense of buying the pre-made. Just some thoughts I was going through myself. (unable to get raw milk and the store bought still bothers me ).

[iamfaithful]

Pepperette I am so you are back with us... not the same without your humor added in
Metqa, yes it was me.... I will post a recipe for the tumeric paste... just add it to the kefir... I had to start with a little to get my tasters accustomed to the tumeric flavor... now it just gets chugged down.



FOUND THIS BUT SEE MY NOTES:
Combine one-quarter cup of turmeric powder and one-half cup of water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir together using a whisk or fork.
Bring the turmeric and water mixture to a boil. Stir until the mixture begins to form a thick paste.

MY NOTES: Be careful as the turmeric will stain clothing... I add some VCO as it needs oil for proper absorption & also 1/3 tsp black pepper... it is also needed for absorption. Keep covered in a glass jar in the fridge... I put it in my MK (whole milk) every morning & just drink it down quickly... I had to start with 1/4 tsp but now I just grab a big spoonfull Mix it in & chug it down like any medicine... get the turmeric & kefir in one dose... but then I get my plain kefir later like a good girl

[pepperette]

I am growing quite fond of tumeric- in soups, salads, on my meats (especially kabob meat and peppers!). Do not know about it in ANY liquids, yet. Still trying to get settled- seems my metabolic syndrome is fighting me tooth and nail- sugars up, fatigue way up. I think I prolly have adrenal fatigue, but no MD is going to help that- at least not without more deadly chemical concoctions!

You like my warped sense of humor, huh?

[metqa]

Posted in DE Thread:
Well, I just made some Turmeric Paste on the stove with about 1/4-1/2t ground black pepper from my pepper mill.

I've left it on the counter to cool. The pan had a lot of residue so I poured some kefir into the pan and stirred it about to "clean out" the residue, than I added a half teaspoon of paste to it.

I forgot I was supposed to add an oil, but I'm drinking the turmeric kefir and honestly I can't taste any difference. Maybe my kefir is just really strong ( how I like it) but with no change in taste I can see how this would be easy for me to take in my kefir.

Okay, since we've already established that I'm forgetful, do you think it would be okay to premix in the healthy oil of my choice with the paste so that I just have to scoop it out and go? I'm thinking if I have to pull out two or three additional containers each time I'll just either forget something or quit doing it. The lady in the video said to take a milk, add the tumeric paste and a healthy oil. I'm not sure if the oil is necessary to make the turmeric/piperin absorb better or not. I have coconut oil, MCT oil, and cod Liver Oil ( lemon flavored ) Video lady suggested sesame oil or Udo's .

[iamfaithful]

Originally Posted by metqa

Posted in DE Thread:
Well, I just made some Turmeric Paste on the stove with about 1/4-1/2t ground black pepper from my pepper mill.

I've left it on the counter to cool. The pan had a lot of residue so I poured some kefir into the pan and stirred it about to "clean out" the residue, than I added a half teaspoon of paste to it.

I forgot I was supposed to add an oil, but I'm drinking the turmeric kefir and honestly I can't taste any difference. Maybe my kefir is just really strong ( how I like it) but with no change in taste I can see how this would be easy for me to take in my kefir.

Okay, since we've already established that I'm forgetful, do you think it would be okay to premix in the healthy oil of my choice with the paste so that I just have to scoop it out and go? I'm thinking if I have to pull out two or three additional containers each time I'll just either forget something or quit doing it. The lady in the video said to take a milk, add the tumeric paste and a healthy oil. I'm not sure if the oil is necessary to make the turmeric/piperin absorb better or not. I have coconut oil, MCT oil, and cod Liver Oil ( lemon flavored ) Video lady suggested sesame oil or Udo's .

If you are using full fat milk in your kefir that is enough fat for the absorption factor... you can always add more any time....

[metqa]

Whoohoo!!!!

[iamfaithful]

Let me know what if any changes you notice....
I found turmeric at Rual King in with their other spices... very good price dont know how potent it is but for the price you can eat a boat load to get the results you need. Hugs!

[metqa]

2nd Day of Golden Kefir.
I'm hoping to notice a change in the noises I hear in my ears.
I got my turmeric in the bulk spices section of our local Health food store. It was a good price and seems very potent. I put some on popcorn and it turned really yellow. I sauteed some cauliflower and added some and it was a beautiful golden color.

[Maid of Erin]

Originally Posted by metqa

2nd Day of Golden Kefir.
I'm hoping to notice a change in the noises I hear in my ears.
I got my turmeric in the bulk spices section of our local Health food store. It was a good price and seems very potent. I put some on popcorn and it turned really yellow. I sauteed some cauliflower and added some and it was a beautiful golden color.

This isn't lowcarb, but my Czech grandma used to bake an Easter loaf of bread, in a round loaf or baked in a coffee can. She would take a ball of dough and mix tumeric in it, then surround that ball with more dough. When you sliced into it, it looked like a boiled egg. All this tumeric talk reminded me of her.

[metqa]

Originally Posted by Maid of Erin

This isn't lowcarb, but my Czech grandma used to bake an Easter loaf of bread, in a round loaf or baked in a coffee can. She would take a ball of dough and mix tumeric in it, then surround that ball with more dough. When you sliced into it, it looked like a boiled egg. All this tumeric talk reminded me of her.

Oh, how lovely! I could try that with some low carb bread mix.

[iamfaithful]

I have to drive 60 miles round trip to find a place like that & I am not sure IF they have spices in bulk. Just got to use what is available & PRAY it works! Maybe it is the prayer that is really working. I can rell when I have missed two days of my Golden Kefir! Let us know how it goes!

[iamfaithful]

Originally Posted by Maid of Erin

This isn't lowcarb, but my Czech grandma used to bake an Easter loaf of bread, in a round loaf or baked in a coffee can. She would take a ball of dough and mix tumeric in it, then surround that ball with more dough. When you sliced into it, it looked like a boiled egg. All this tumeric talk reminded me of her.

What a lovely remembrance!

[metqa]

American Spice has bulk turmeric with flat rate shipping if you were willing to order online. I'm lucky in that we have a college town hippy culture to keep up with hence the health food store bulk spices section. Otherwise I'd have to buy it in the cooking section and pay for the jar and mark up for a small amount each time.

[metqa]

Golden Kefir with a hint of Lemon ( Lemon flavored Cod Liver Oil)
No sweet, but very tasty!